by Harry BuererIn the gospels and Acts we run into a group of people called Pharisees. The accounts of them are mixed. Jesus had interactions, both positive and negative with them, and had some harsh things to say about some of them. But many of us tend to form our opinions based on the negative things, and disregard the positive things.
In the gospels we see Jesus accepting the hospitality of the Pharisees on more than one occasion. In Luke 7 a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to eat with him, and they had a fruitful discussion. Again in Luke 14 Jesus was invited for a Sabbath dinner in the house of a prominant Pharisee.
Jesus does have some harsh things to say about some of the Pharisees. But we need to notice that the Pharisees are mostly absent from the accounts of Jesus’ final days. His opponents at that time were mostly the scribes and priests, the temple authorities.
In the book of Acts, Pharisees are mostly the good guys. In Acts 5 the disciples were being persecuted by the Sadducees and priests, and a Pharisee named Gamaliel stands up to defend them and persuades the priests not to jail them.
In Acts 15 many of the believers in Jerusalem were said to be Pharisees. They do try to make a point that Gentile believers should convert to Judaism, which Paul and the apostles refute.
Later in Acts Paul visits Jerusalem again, and is arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Here he makes the statement that he is a Pharisee (present tense), and is being accused for defending things that the Pharisees support. (23:6)
In another place in Acts he is talking to Agrippa about the Jews accusing him, and says, “They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.” (26:5) Paul here not only claims a background as a Pharisee, but describes Pharisaism as a “sect of our religion”. Clearly the “our religion” that he is talking about is Judaism.
But the main point that I want to make is how Jesus talks about the Pharisees. We often get the impression that the Pharisees were pushing for people to follow the law strictly, while Jesus was more lenient. That, however, is not what the text tells us. In fact, if we look closely, we see almost the opposite.
In Matthew 23, where Jesus gives a lengthy speech calling some of the Pharisees hypocrites, we often pass over what Jesus says at the beginning of this portion. “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (23:2-3)
Most Christian readers tend not to take this statement of Jesus seriously. But as Jesus calls them hypocrites, we need to remember what a hypocrite is. It is commonly accepted to be someone who claims to uphold a certain standard, but doesn’t live by it. And that was exactly what Jesus was accusing the Pharisees of doing, claiming to live according to God’s law, but falling short of that in practice.
In Matthew 23:23 Jesus says that they tithe their spices, which they ought to do. But they neglect the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. Yes, Jesus is accusing these Pharisees of not following the law closely enough.
The same thing happens in Mark 7 when some Pharisees accuse the disciples of not doing a ceremonial hand-washing before they ate. Jesus points out that these were traditions, not scripture. But he accuses the Pharisees of avoiding the commands of God in the law. The example he gives is that instead of supporting aging parents, they claim to be piously giving that money to the temple. Jesus calls this nullifying the word of God.
This image of Jesus pushing for closer obedience to the Torah than the Pharisees did runs contrary to the picture of Jesus that many of us hold. But that is how the gospels portray him. In Matthew 5, after commending the law and those who practice and teach it, he says, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees…, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (5:20)
It’s certainly true that one point he’s making is that nobody is good enough to earn his way to heaven. But Jesus is also clearly holding up the law of God as a model for how his followers ought to live.