It is evident that he didn't like money changers and eventually was at odds with certain religious groups. In one verse he talks about, "They have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof."

I believe that he was more spiritual. To my understanding I have a persoonal relationship with God and religion is not what it is about.

I concur. I like the spiritual aspect of it. It works well with my belief in the great spirit because I have Native American heritage and the Bible tells me that God is spirit. When two are gathered together in my name there I will be in midst also lets me know that I am dealing with a spiritual entity. At my meetings I try to work the spiritual principles. I was glad to learn I could overcome religious intolerance of spiritual principles because I try to work spiritual principles in all of my affairs.

The Scribes and Pharasees were Religious men and Christ balked at them ...Jesus was a simple man with a simple plan, BUT an AMAZING plan to come and save us and those around could only think of Jesus building a Physical Kingdom and they were afrid of Him taking over, but They had no clue He was talking about a Spiritual Kingdom...Religion seperates people where as being spiritual minded can bring people together,,its about a RELATIONSHIP with Christ, a personal one...its not about what you call yourself, so I would have to say He was more Spiritual minded, but over all..He was here to Serve as He gave the ultimate sacrifice..through love for US...His life!

I like this verse in John.

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Yes, I think it's the difference between what man wants and what God wants. Spiritual means we seek him, religious may mean what we think we need on earth. God loved David because he was a man after God's own heart. He took Enoch because Enoch was his friend (if I recall correctly). I'd rather sit in a church and say nothing than spout all kinds of words I dio not mean. God knows I don't mean saying them. God's Kingdom is about how we treat one another. There are things we do now that will never change when His Kingdom arrives: we will still pray, sing, and love one another -- these will never change. Jesus went as far as to let the woman at the well keep her religion, he never belittled anyone's faith, he encouraged faith always. But he frowned upon ritual that existed only to please men, or existed only to be seen by men, as if men were more important than God. When Jesus was born the nation did not celebrate, instead many babies died. Not one leader came to see him, they expected him to come to them, as if. When they arrested him they came at night like thieves. We as Christians know these ways to be false.

The personal relationship with Jesus is important to me. For I accept God as a spirit and as love. For the Bible says that God is spirit and it also says God is love. But even more important we know that Jesus is the grace of that spirit of love. For it is how we are forgiven we learn in John 3:16. Jesus is such a wonderful conforter.

yes, He is Rainbow... :)
Without Him, we are just wondering souls without a purpose..HE gives us each purpose! :)

AMEN!! :D praise the lord.

So true. I don't mean to knock religion but I worship the UNKNOWN GOD. It does give me purpose. In my meetings we have talk of higher powers.

Act 17:23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

1 Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Hey SSS, yes, many times Jesus was referring to a spiritual kingdom but there were also times he mentioned His earthly reign as well. Remember in Matthew 24:1 when Jesus and his disciples were leaving the temple & He called their attention to the fact the temple was to be destroyed & in verse 3 the disciples, in response to this, asked Him a 3 part question. Here is the passage.

1Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25See, I have told you ahead of time.

26"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29"Immediately after the distress of those days
" 'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'[c]

30"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[d]is near, right at the door. 34I tell you the truth, this generation[e] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

tf73

Jesus was spiritual. Through Moses the law was given but it was not enough to save people from their sins(Heb. 10:1-18). Jesus came so we may have life through Him by faith(Jhn 1:4,Rom.10:1-13).Religion places God in a box. My God is omnipotent - "For nothing is impossible wth God." Lke.1:37. Who are we to limit His Grace and to whom it is given. I thank Jesus for freeing me from my bondage and allowing me to have that personal relationship with him. Amen

I believe He was more spiritual. The spirit is another part of Him. Religion isn't.

I can see that very clearly when he speaks to the lady at the well. "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." He doesn't show that he condones but neither does he condemn. They were so ready to condemn and stone her. But Jesus says, "He that is without sin cast the first stone."

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/spiritual-rebirth-the-samaritan-woman-at-the-well.html

I had no idea there was a Bible For Dummies book out there.

I'd like to get my 2 cents in on this. I agree with all of you about Jesus being more spiritual than religious. He didn't say for us to go to a church building but he did say 'where 2 or more are gathered in my name...' but he didn't say where the 2 or more should gather in his name. Religion does. Not that that's wrong! It's not always possible to get to church but according to Jesus we can still worship him wherever we are & whenever the Spirit moves us. I might be wrong here. Somebody tell me if I am! But this is why I think Jesus was more spiritual than religious.

he was spiritual but sometimes he show himself a little religious that way he move away the people from the temple show them some respect for Gods house