Pharisees

[Mikeyjay]

Matthew 23

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

[Guest shiloh357]

A little something needs to added to this. In first century Israel, they were the largest single religious sect, numbering in the tens of thousands all over Israel.

Thanks to some historically inaccurate movies, we get the impression that there about twenty or thirty men called Pharisees that followed Jesus around, harassing him at every turn.

The Pharisees were not a monolith. There nine different orders of Pharisees in the 1st century. Each had a different perspective on the Torah, and how it should be observed. While they differed on particulars, and peripherals, there were some core beliefs that they all had in common, such as the belief in angels, and the resurrection.

One point I would like to stress. Not ALL Pharisees were hypocrites. You cannot say that the Pharisees were this or that. Jesus had both his supporters and his detractors among the Pharisees. You cannot label all Pharisees the same anymore than you can say that all Methodists, or Baptists are the same.

Jesus was a Rabbi "Rabbi" is an earned title. You have to study to earn that title. Jesus would not only have studied, but would himself been ordained as a Rabbi by another Rabbi under whom He studied. The ONLY reason Jesus could teach in a synagogue or in the Temple would have been His rabbinic credentials. They did not allow just anyone to get up and teach. The Pharisees were the Rabbis of the time period. Jesus, as a Rabbi, would have been a member of one of the orders of Pharisees. In fact, it is believed that Jesus was a member of the school of Hillel. Hillel was Israel's greatest scholar, or so it is said. His nemesis was Shammai. Shammai was known for being much more stringent, and Hillel was known for being more lenient.

When you learn the differences between the various schools of Pharisees you can tell which ones Jesus is talking to. For example, in Luke 6, when Jesus was confronted about why he was allowing his disciples to pluck wheat on the Sabbath while walking through a field, Jesus responded that even David took bread from the table of shewbread which was only allowed for the priests. In another account Jesus also stated that the priests of the Temple work on the Sabbath and are held blameless. Jesus' point was that human need trumped strict Torah observance (a very Jewish way of thinking). It can be seen by those who are familiar with the different schools, that it was, most likely, the school of Shammai being addressed.

A good many of Jesus' debates with the Pharisees were nothing more than typical rabbinic debates.

I will close this post by saying that I am concerned that all too often, the Pharisees are misunderstood, and as a result, Jewish people are cast into the same mold. The Pharisee has become, in the minds of many Christians, the quintessential "Jew." There are many Christians who, when they hear "Jew," their image is that of a Pharisee, and "Pharisee" is a dirty word among Christians. They take what they think they understand about the Pharisees and apply it across the board to all Jews, and this has contributed to a great deal of animosity among Jewish people. To often Christians wonder why Jews will not accept Christ, while not realizing that it is they who are reinforcing Jewish unbelief by applying inaccurate and hateful stereotypes to the Jewish people.

I am not accusing you of that MikeJay, I am just making an observation.

BTW, the Pharisees were the only religous group, other than Messianic Jews to survive the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In 72 A.D. in a city called Yavneh, under the leadership of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zachai, it was decided that Torah observance would take the place of the sacrifices since there ws no longer any Temple. It was then that Pharisasim became "Judaism."

[Mikeyjay]

Shiloh...i am deeply remorseful that this post has offended you...it was not my intention to discredit Jewish people accross the board...my intention was just to point out Jesus' opinion of those Pharisees that were hyper-religeous and legalistic in their mindsets...i in no way have any hatred towards Jews...nor do i stereotype Jews with those Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking!!!

Please accept my deepest apologies!!!

[Guest shiloh357]

No, no... I am not offended at all. That was not my point. My point is that more needs to be added in order to put the Pharisees in their historic context. You did nothing wrong, Mike.

[Mikeyjay]

No, no...  I am not offended at all.  That was not my point.  My point is that more needs to be added in order to put the Pharisees in their historic context.  You did nothing wrong, Mike. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i am very glad that you are not offended...i didn't want you to think i was being racist or discriminative towards Jews...Shalom to you my friend!!!

[Guest shiloh357]

No, no...

[nebula]

BTW, the Pharisees were the only religous group, other than Messianic Jews to survive the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D.  In 72 A.D. in a city called Yavneh, under the leadership of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zachai, it was decided that Torah observance would take the place of the sacrifices since there ws no longer any Temple.  It was then that Pharisasim became "Judaism."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very interesting, Shiloh!

BTW, do you know of which school Rabbi Yochanan was a part of?

[Guest shiloh357]

BTW, the Pharisees were the only religous group, other than Messianic Jews to survive the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

[JesusisGod2]

Hi Shiloh,

Wow!!! That is very interesting stuff and exactly why we should be reaching out to our Jewish brothers. We can learn so much from them.

Its kinda ironic, when we reach out to our Jewish brothers and teach them about Jesus, they in turn will teach us about the bible All the Jewish customs point to Jesus, even He said so more or less.

This is very interesting about the Pharasee's and how they had in effect different denominations with in although had the same core beliefs. It reminds you of Christianity today.

Thanks for that teaching, I was blessed by it

In Jesus

kevin