Anyone with even a passing familiarity of the Bible has heard about the Pharisees. This group is mentioned dozens of times in the New Testament. They were often bitter opponents of Jesus and his kingdom movement.
The term Pharisee comes from the Hebrew word for “separate.” By living in strict adherence to the Torah, the Pharisees attempted to separate themselves from the Gentiles (who they considered to be hopeless sinners) as well as from less devoted Jews.
I’m frequently struck by one particular misconception held by many folks in the church regarding the Pharisees. It goes something like this: “The Pharisees were the ultimate rule followers. They scrupulously followed each and every command that God had given to people of Israel. But Jesus rejected the philosophy of the Pharisees, because they thought that God’s salvation would come about through their obedience. No one can possibly hope to attain God’s standard. We must recognize that our efforts are hopeless, and simply trust in Jesus’ forgiveness instead.”
This misconception – perhaps we might call it “the myth of the Pharisees” – fails to account for what Jesus actually says about them. Jesus certainly had plenty of criticism for the Pharisees, but the nature of his critique was fundamentally different from the way it’s often portrayed in churches today.
Jesus unleashed a scathing rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. If we want to learn more about the fault lines that lay between the prophet from Nazareth and the Pharisees, this passage is an excellent place to start.
“Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ‘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.” (Matthew 23:3)
This single verse ought to completely sweep away the misperception stated above.
Jesus begins by strongly emphasizing that obedience to the Torah is vitally important. Throughout his ministry, the Lord never downplayed the importance of behavior. In fact, in many ways, Jesus raised the bar!
Consider the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount. Whereas the law forbids outright murder, Jesus warned against smoldering anger, resentment and harsh words. Whereas the law forbids adultery, Jesus also condemned the lust of the eyes and the heart. Jesus indicates that righteousness (that is, right conduct) is absolutely necessary for those who wish to enter the kingdom of God. And Jesus never, ever takes anyone to task – neither the Pharisees nor anyone else – for keeping the law or sincerely attempting to do so.
In the second part of this verse, Jesus offers his true critique of the Pharisees: they were hypocrites who did not practice what they preached. In making this accusation, Jesus reaffirms the “preaching” of the Pharisees; they were correct to insist upon reverence for the law of Moses. But their “practice” was a disaster; despite superficial appearances, the Pharisees were badly out of step with the Torah.
Please take a moment to let this sink in. Despite an abundance of Biblical material to the contrary, many folks in the church today sincerely think that the Pharisees were strict keepers of the law. This is simply not true. Rather, Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees focuses on their outright disobedience.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25)
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)
Jesus did not regard the Pharisees as righteous people living in pious obedience to the Torah. They were certainly not people who had succeeded in “following the rules.” His critique was precisely that, despite presenting themselves as lovers of the Torah, the Pharisees were flagrant breakers of the law.
The Pharisees went to great lengths to appear as righteous. But Jesus saw to the heart of the matter. In reality, the Pharisees were men of evil, greed, enmity, hatred and pride. Their lives were like dirty dishes, or even worse, like tombs which contained the decomposing flesh of rotting corpses. They were not children of God, but sons of hell! (Matthew 23:15)
Even when the Pharisees “kept” the law, it was the only the incidentals. But when it came to the most vital issues, they had utterly failed. “You give a tenth of your spices… But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”
Although the Pharisees had a veneer of covenant devotion, they were in compete rebellion against God. Not only had they completely missed the way to God’s kingdom, but they misled anyone who followed in their footsteps. “You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, not will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matt. 23:13)
This discussion is highly relevant to the contemporary church, because failure to rightly understand the Pharisees threatens to distort the way we see Jesus himself.
Many churchgoers (even pastors!) have been fooled into believing that the Pharisees succeeded in strict obedience to the Torah. They then postulate that Jesus came to bring a radical end to the Old Testament principle of blessing upon righteousness. According to this line of thinking, Jesus instead taught that effort is hopeless. The true way to salvation is by simply trusting in Jesus to provide forgiveness.
This leads to a very interesting phenomenon. Folks who hold this view often end up acting as if attempts to behave righteously are the primary impediment to salvation. Christians who have fallen into this trap strangely spend a great deal of time and energy preaching against any effort people might make to do what is good and right.
Suffice it to say, the Bible never takes this view. Throughout the scriptures, the main obstacle to salvation is actual human wickedness and sin. The great enemies of God’s purposes are idolatry, murder, violence, adultery, greed, enmity & sexual immortality. These are the corrupt behaviors prohibited by God’s commands.
We must remind ourselves as many times as is necessary: authentic human efforts to live in accordance with God’s commands are not the problem. The issue is that, apart from Jesus and the power of his Spirit, we cannot live in a way that is pleasing to God.
Centuries before the time of Jesus, the prophet Jeremiah spoke of the “new covenant” God would establish: “The time is coming…when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers…because they broke my covenant…This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
Jeremiah gives us the proper framework for understanding Jesus. The Old Covenant failed because the people of Israel (representing all humanity) had hearts of stone, full of rebellion and wickedness. The New Covenant promised to inscribe the law upon their very hearts and minds. In other words, the New Covenant would make a way for God’s people to genuinely “keep the rules.”
On this side of the resurrection, we can now see how this works out.
The principle of “rule keeping” has not been discarded but fulfilled. The standard is no longer Torah, but the imitation of Jesus himself – the true human being who reflects the image of God.
The myth of the Pharisees threatens to distort this glorious truth. Don’t get fooled into thinking that the Pharisees succeeded in keeping the rules, but that Jesus came to do away with all that “rule keeping” nonsense.
The pattern of salvation is the same; God is still determined to produce genuine human beings who will offer him true worship and obedience. But this can only be achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus himself, living within us. “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”
