This sermon explores the growing internal conflict in Israel as Jesus comes closer to the cross and exposes the difference between legalism and the mercy of God. Preaching from Matthew 12:1-14, the message shows how people who considered themselves experts on the Messiah could still fail to recognize him because their boundaries had become obstacles to God rather than expressions of relationship with him. The sermon carefully distinguishes true reverence for God from the legalistic instinct that walls off his character and makes him seem harder to approach than he really is. The hope of the message is that Jesus does not abolish holiness, but restores mercy to its rightful place at the center of how God's people are meant to live. Examine whether your boundaries with God are helping you stay in relationship with him or quietly keeping him at a distance. Refuse the version of holiness that makes God seem harder to approach than Jesus reveals him to be. Let mercy shape the way you interpret obedience, correction, and the people around you. Lord Jesus, save us from the kind of legalism that hides your mercy and distorts your heart. Teach us to honor your holiness without losing your compassion, and let your mercy reshape the way we approach you and others.