I have heard quite a bit of pastors castigate the Pharisees in their sermons. Whenever a pastor or a teacher preaches about the Pharisees, there is often a distaste that goes along with it. Average American Christians, who may not have a complete understanding of Scriptural implications, label the Pharisees as "one of the bad guys" or "religious leaders" that were roadblocks in Jesus' ministry. Though not completely inaccurate, there is a common misconception among Christians that Pharisees were just the religious killjoys of Jesus' ministry. However, I do want to suggest that there might be more involved with the Pharisees than just being a "religious killjoy". In this piece, I will seek to explain the reasons behind the Pharisees, where they came from, and why they rejected Jesus.

Why did the Pharisees do what they did? The answer can be traced back to the Old Testament. Through a covenantal promise with Abraham, Israel was designated as God's people. Because Israel was designated as God's people, they were held to a higher standard than all the other pagan nations; as a result, they were required to follow the Mosaic Law (Exodus-Deuteronomy). Unfortunately, the name 'Israel' literally means, "He who wrestles with God" (Genesis 32:28); this sets the precedent for how Israel will act throughout the Old Testament. Instead of keeping the Law, a majority of Israel's history revolved around breaking the Law. Israel, though pledged to be faithful to God, succumbed to the temptations of idolatry from other pagan nations (Joshua 2:12, 1 Kings 11:4, 1 Chronicles 5:25). It is estimated that Israel served at least five foreign gods during their rebellion against God ('Milcom' (1 Kings 11:5, 33), 'Chemosh' (1 Kings 11:7, 33), 'Molech' (1 Kings 11:7, Isaiah 57:9), 'Asherah' (1 Kings 11:5, 2 Kings 17:10), and 'Baal' (2 Kings 17:16)). Israel, for all intents and purposes, was becoming very liberal in their theology. For hundreds of years, God was patient with this troubled nation and sent multiple prophets to the Israelites in hopes of their repentance. However, Israel didn't listen to the prophets and killed some of them (Matthew 23:31). As a result of their very liberal theology and rebellion against Him, God promises a severe judgement over his people. Enough is enough. Addressing the wicked king Manasseh, God says: "I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of Ahab’s house; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down" (2 Kings 21:13, WEB). This prophecy is a foretelling of the great exile done by the Babylonians. Countless lives were lost that day (2 Chronicles 36:17), and every person in Israel went into captivity by the Babylonians (2 Chronicles 36:20); the only ones who stayed were the poor (2 Kings 25:12). It was only until the reign of Cyrus King of Persia that the Israelites were able to return back to Israel. Those that returned vowed not to make the same errors as their predecessors did and committed themselves to God's Law (Nehemiah 9:1-3). It was then that Judaism was born, a religion that placed a strong emphasis on serving God and the Scripture, especially the Law.

From Judaism, around 100 years before Jesus' birth, there emerged two factions: the Sadducees and the Sadducees. The Sadducees were, as the Jewish Virtual Library calls them, "elitists who wanted to maintain the priestly caste, but they were also liberal in their willingness to incorporate Hellenism into their lives". The Sadducees did not believe in the spiritual, denied the resurrection (Luke 20:27), and only believed in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah). This upset the Pharisees, the middle-class law keepers who firmly believed in the spiritual and in the resurrection. The Pharisees, in seeing what happened to their theologically liberal ancestors, desired to keep to the Oral Law and abstained from any sort of impurity. Unlike the Sadducees or even their rebellious ancestors, the Pharisees sought to obey God with everything they had. They didn't intermingle with the Gentiles, and they followed ritually the practices and traditions the Law told them. Now, the fatal flaw in the Pharisees was their hypocrisy. Jesus, in His ministry, calls out the Pharisees for their hypocritical nature (Matthew 15:7, 16:3, 23:13-14, 23:27, Luke 11:44). According to Jesus, the Pharisees were cleaning "the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness" (Matthew 23:25, WEB). Despite their pious outward appearance, the Pharisees had underlying motives and not honored God with their whole heart (Matthew 15:7-9, Mark 7:6). Still, the Pharisees were determined not make the same mistakes their ancestors did. This was why they condemned Jesus.

For the Pharisees, Jesus claiming Godship (John 10:30) and others proclaiming His Messiahship was very problematic. First, to the assumption of the Pharisees, Jesus was violating some of the sections in the Law, including Exodus 20:3, Exodus 34:14, and Deuteronomy 6:4. To the Pharisees, Jesus was systematically dismantling the Law and claiming it to be of God (even though Jesus Himself says that "'not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished'" (Matthew 5:18, WEB)). Second, Jesus' Messiahship was at odds with the Pharisees because they had different expectations of the Messiah (or, "Anointed One"). With Jesus being claimed and claiming to be the Christ, the way Jesus did His ministry on earth was radically different than what the Pharisees or devout Jews expected. Jesus did not storm Rome on a horse; He told others to turn to the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). Jesus did not rally up armed forces for a Jewish insurrection; He taught that it would be the peacemakers that are the true children of God (Matthew 5:9). The Jewish expectations of a Messiah were limited to the nation of Israel being restored again under the reign of a triumphant King. Though certainly not nationalistic, the Jewish expectation was for liberation from an oppressive nation. This "oppressive nation" changed hands at least three times (Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks) before handing into the clutches of the Roman Empire. From their perspective, passages like Malachi 4 or Psalm 2 heralded a King that would lead the charge against their oppressive nation (in this case, Rome) and free them from Gentile rule. However, when Jesus neither hinted at nor took any action on this 'promise', the Pharisees and devout Jews were appalled. Because Jesus was not their version of the Messiah, then His teachings were also not to be listened to either; logically speaking, if Jesus was not the Messiah, then He was a madman (obviously not true) who taught radical teachings and claimed to be God Incarnate. In other words, for the Pharisees, if Jesus was not for them, then He was against them. Coupled with the pressures of Hellenization and the Roman occupancy of Israel, the Pharisees could not handle dealing with a third problem, the spreading of madness. In fact, one of their biggest fears was if Jesus converted everyone, then He would be a distraction, resulting in a full-scale Roman takeover (John 11:48). It was for these reasons that the Pharisees opposed Jesus, and ultimately, it was for these reasons that they commanded His crucifixion (Matthew 12:14, Luke 23:20-21).

To conclude, it seems that there is more to the Pharisees than we think. Yes, they were hypocritical, and yes, they did spew vitriol about Jesus. Yet, to every action there is a reason, and to every crime there is a motive. In this case, the Pharisees saw their pagan ancestors and understood very clearly the consequences of idolatry. Because of pre-exile Israel's liberal theology and the resulting punishment for that theology, the Pharisees assumed that it would be critical to keep the Law. And in some sense, they were right. However, these religious leaders missed the mark by a mile, for they failed to understand the true intent of God's Law. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, encapsulates the true intent of the Law perfectly:

"For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4, WEB).

The Law was given by Moses through God to the Israelite nation as a way to point toward Jesus. But the Pharisees viewed the Law as the means to salvation or justification with God. Unfortunately, even with all the religious garb, the Pharisees still fought against God.

In the examination of the Pharisees, it is important to learn from their mistakes, lest we also make the same mistakes they did. The tale of the Pharisees is a cautionary one, as it warns against religious fanaticism, even under a Christian banner. Just like the Pharisees ignored the True God walking among them, so we may also ignore God if we focus on becoming litigious or ritualistic. This is not to say that tradition has no place in the church (I deeply admire the traditions of Eastern Orthodox or Anglican churches), but if we make it our focus, we may lose sight of Who we worship or care about.