The Pharisees and the Law

[tsth]

Matthew 5:17-20,

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaben and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The scribes and Pharisees kept Moses' law to the 't'. Outwardly, they were superbly righteous before men. Those of Jesus' day would have considered no one more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees. But in Romans 3 and in Romans 9, we find a righteousnes that is greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees because it is an inward righteousness, not only imputed but imparted (see Matthew 5:6).

Dear Victor,

I wanted to point out something about the Pharisees with regard to your statement. (I didn't want to get the other topic off-track.)

I always see people posting about how righteous the Pharisees were, when in fact, Jesus continually spoke of the fact that they were not righteous but were hypocrites. They talked the talk, BUT they did NOT walk the walk. The whole chapter of Matthew 23, is Jesus pointing this out. I don't know how many times Jesus warned the disciples to keep from falling into the hypocrisy that the Pharisees practiced. Here are a few though:

Luke 12:1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Matthew 23:28 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 15:7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Jesus, on the other hand, was blessing those who really longed for TRUE righteousness, and a right heart!

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Matthew 5:10

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:20

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 6:33

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 21:32

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Guest shiloh357]

I always see people posting about how righteous the Pharisees were, when in fact, Jesus continually spoke of the fact that they were not righteous but were hypocrites. They talked the talk, BUT they did NOT walk the walk. The whole chapter of Matthew 23, is Jesus pointing this out. I don't know how many times Jesus warned the disciples to keep from falling into the hypocrisy that the Pharisees practiced. Here are a few though:

Except when you place Jesus' remarks back into the original first century context as well as the context of the passage, Jesus was not talking all Pharisees. Not all of the Pharisees were hypocrites. Jesus was taking aim at His detractors. Every example you provide from the scriptures pertain to an event where Jesus was confronting His detractors. His comments need to be limited to those with whom He was speaking not to all pharisees in general.

Jesus was a Pharisee, Himself. Jesus was a bonafide Rabbi and all of the Rabbis of the 1st century belonged to one of the 9 schools of Pharisees that existed at that time.

The Pharisees, like any religious group, were not a monolith. Unfortunately, this does not come across in most of the literature and modern movies on the life of Christ. Most of these are produced without the benefit of an accurate understanding of 1st century Israel.

Jesus was not making a blanket condemnation of ALL pharisees, but only of those who practiced said hypocrisy.

[tsth]

If you think about it, Jesus very clearly explained the role that righteousness plays in a heart that wants to receive HIM as LORD. Those who did not want the message that John the Baptist preached, did not receive Jesus, because they did not really desire righteousness. Yet, here were the tax-collectors and hookers who did! John the Baptist, indeed, was preparing the way, preparing the heart, for the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 21:28 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 29 "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[tsth]

Dear shiloh,

I don't see a distinction within the words of Christ. He merely says "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees". The term is used in general, and is not clarified as distinguishing one group over another. He says........The Pharisees........not, Those Pharisees.

Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Guest shiloh357]

Dear shiloh,

I don't see a distinction within the words of Christ. He merely says "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees". The term is used in general, and is not clarified as distinguishing one group over another. He says........The Pharisees........not, Those Pharisees.

Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

In His Love,

Suzanne

yes, you don't see the distinction because you are not familiar with the culture and religious setting of 1st century Israel. Most people aren't and that is why the Jews all get dumped into the same basket and why they have always been treated as "villains" of the New Testament.

The truth is that if you would bother to examine just the literary contexts of the passages you cite, including Matt. 5:20, you would see that Jesus comments and criticisms do not pertain to the ALL of the Pharisees but to those who were hypocrites or were false teachers.

The reason I know this is because after he makes this comment concerning "surpassing the rightesousness of the Pharisees," he proceeds to explain what He means, "you have heard it said...." "but I say unto you." Jesus then begins correct false teachings about exacting revenge, adultery and so forth. Jesus was not ascribing all of those teachings to every Pharisee, and those Jews listening to the sermon on the mount, living in the 1st century, would have understood that. In fact, they would have known which school of pharisaic thought Jesus was referring to when he cites those teachings in the verses that follow Matt. 5:20.

Our modern disconnect with Israel of the first century has not only stunted us spiritually, but it has led to kind of erroneous ideas about the Pharisees ( the type you express) which has in turn, led to horrific acts of anti-Semitism and persecution of the Jews by the church.

[tsth]

I don't believe you have to be a Jewish historian to understand the words of Christ within Scripture.

The concept and idea is clear: Don't be a hypocrite in regard to the Law.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Guest shiloh357]

I don't believe you have to be a Jewish historian to understand the words of Christ within Scripture.

The concept and idea is clear: Don't be a hypocrite in regard to the Law.

In His Love,

Suzanne

The Bible is book of history, written to and about a people in history. There just some historical facts that are there, and a competent and skillful workman would understand that events in the Bible were connected to surrounding culture and time period and flavored by contemporay events that people in that day and age would have been familiar with. In fact, it is this manner in which the Bible so completely agrees with the history of the region and events contemporary with the biblical writings that stand as one of our most compelling evidences of the Bible's unswerving reliability.

The truth of Scripture and the uniqueness of the Christian faith is that it is couched in historical and geographical fact. The events of the Bible are rooted in real places, and times. That is why every claim made by the Bible is testable, because these things are linked to real history, real places and real people.

I realize you would prefer to take the lazy approach and just pretend that Jesus was making blanket condemnations on the Pharisees, but this view of yours has created more problems than solutions especially where Jewish evanegelism is concerned and I am going to confront you and correct your error, whether you like it or not.

[tsth]

Jesus was the one who generalized by stating "Pharisees". He used the term for "the group", rather than naming names, which He very easily could have, if He had wanted to. I am stating in the general term "Pharisees", because Jesus did. There is no question about it, He was speaking to THE group. I don't know why this is complicated. It seems very clear in Scripture and there is no question in my mind, that in that day, as a whole, the Pharisees were corrupt, greedy and hypocritical as a whole, that is why there is a whole chapter in Matthew devoted to Jesus addressing the corruption and hypocrisy. It had become prevalent among the leaders as a whole, just as it is becoming with the leaders of today's worldly church.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Guest shiloh357]

Jesus was the one who generalized by stating "Pharisees". He used the term for "the group", rather than naming names, which He very easily could have, if He had wanted to. I am stating in the general term "Pharisees", because Jesus did. There is no question about it, He was speaking to THE group. I don't know why this is complicated. It seems very clear in Scripture and there is no question in my mind, that in that day, as a whole, the Pharisees were corrupt, greedy and hypocritical as a whole, that is why there is a whole chapter in Matthew devoted to Jesus addressing the corruption and hypocrisy. It had become prevalent among the leaders as a whole, just as it is becoming with the leaders of today's worldly church.

In His Love,

Suzanne

No, Jesus wasn't generalizing. It appears to YOU as a generalization because you don't understand what you are reading from the historical perspective. To Jesus' original audience, Jesus would not have been generalizing at all. They would have understood by His remarks that He was not condemning ALL Pharisees. They would have recognized the different teachings as coming from different schools of thought and not indicative of all Pharisees much less, all Jews. Of course you are still too lazy or prideful to admit the deficit of your knowledge in this area. It would steal your thunder from trying compare other Christians to people who you believe to so horrible.

In Matthew as in the other gospels, Jesus confronts His enemies and it is against them that he levels his hardest criticisms. Even in the text we can see this.

The fact is Suzzanne, you dont know beans about the Pharisees and you don't know much about the church outside of what your little stuck up, self-righteous cult believes.

It all ties into your silly notion that you are the beacon of righteousness and the rest of us are a bunch of godless pagans.

[tsth]

It all ties into your silly notion that you are the beacon of righteousness and the rest of us are a bunch of godless pagans.

That is YOUR comment shiloh, not mine. I have not addressed you personally, yet seemingly you take it as though I have.

Maybe you should examine why you are so bothered, personally?

In His Love,

Suzanne