Why Jesus Keeps Standing on the “Wrong” Side of Religious Lines

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How fences meant to protect faith often reveal who we’re really following

The Pharisees drew lines. Jesus crossed them.

When the Pharisees dragged a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, they thought the line was clear. She’s guilty. She’s unworthy. She’s out.

But Jesus knelt in the dirt with her, not with them. He stood on the other side of their line and said, “Let the one without sin throw the first stone.”

No stones flew that day.

When Peter pulled out his sword to protect Jesus in Gethsemane, he was drawing a line between “us” and “them.”

Jesus rebuked him and healed the enemy’s ear. Translation: the people you want to fight are the people He came to love.

When the disciples tried to keep the children away, Jesus got indignant—angry—and said, “Let the little children come to me.”

Another line erased.

And when He shared dinner with tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus, the religious crowd grumbled, “This man eats with sinners.”

They saw scandal. Jesus saw salvation.

He didn’t protect His reputation— He pursued their redemption.

Over and over, the Gospels show that every time religion, tradition, or pride draws a line, Jesus steps across it.

He eats with sinners. He touches lepers. He talks with Samaritans. He blesses the poor, the meek, the persecuted. When religion excludes, Jesus includes. When the crowd walks away, Jesus walks toward.

He moved into the mess, not around it. He sat at tables some of today’s church would boycott. He loved people some pew-dwellers still cross the street to avoid.

So if your faith has you constantly building fences, you might be worshiping the fence more than the Jesus who tears it down.

The question isn’t: “Who’s on my side of the line?” The question is: “Am I on His?”