A fool's errand

“We have met the enemy and he is us.” ~ Pogo (Walt Kelley)

“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.” ~ Matthew 21:45

If you have spent any time reading the four gospels of your Bible, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you will frequently see certain groups that were constantly in opposition to Jesus Christ. Some of these groups included the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. These three parties were both complicated and somewhat mysterious, and they made up the religious establishment of the day. Often we read passages that detail their anger at Jesus Christ. When we see them plotting and scheming against the promised Messiah “righteous indignation” burns in our hearts. Then our attention drifts and the tendency is to wonder who we know or who we think Jesus would label as a Pharisee or legalist of our era. But we would all do well to stop and consider that if Jesus walked the earth today we would probably be the ones He would single out as hypocrites and white washed tombs, (Matthew 23:27). If we are devoted in our faith we are the “religious establishment.” We have met the enemy and he is us.

When I read and study the Bible I like to get a basic understanding of the cultural background and the mindset of individuals or groups. In a nutshell I am trying to figure out what makes them tick. A very good resource for this is “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” or Z-PEB for short. In Z-PEB the Scribes are described as the scholars and authorities of the rabbinic law and they primarily challenged Jesus for his failure to observe traditions and ritual customs. There were scribes that were affiliated with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. So in simplistic terms the Scribes were all about the tradition of the church. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in their minds tradition trumped God’s Word or needed to be added to it to be “right” with Him.

The Sadducees were the opposition party to the Pharisees, and denied the “supernatural”. The Pharisees believed in resurrection but the Sadducees did not. The fascinating thing was that they did not like each other at all but they joined forces against Jesus Christ. While the Pharisees enjoyed the esteem of the masses, the Sadducees exerted their influence with the aristocracy. According to Z-PEB they were mainly concerned with having political influence and maintaining the status quo. While the Pharisees professed a zeal for their interpretation of “righteousness” and monitored Jesus and his disciples constantly, the Sadducees resided in Jerusalem and only seemed to oppose Him when he wandered into their seat of power.

William L. Coleman has written a little known book titled “The Pharisees’ Guide to Total Holiness” and in it he states; “There are a lot of good reasons to study this ancient fraternity. Their behavior and beliefs tell us a good deal about religion in general. They teach a tremendous amount about the ministry of Jesus Christ. And maybe even more important than these, they give us a chance to look at ourselves. They supply the mirror that will cause us laugh at our own reflection, and then at the next glance we may want to cry.” Coleman goes on to say; “Let the reader beware, because if he is anything like the author, he will be tempted to pick out a contemporary group and say, “Aha! These are the modern Pharisees.” It’s a fool’s sport at best.” Coleman talks about how some scholars believe the Pharisees were the conservatives of their day, while others call them the liberals. He states; “Because of that fruitless game nothing is accomplished except a bit of second-grade name calling. The facts seem to bear out that there is a little Pharisee in me and a little Pharisee in you.”

According to Z-PEB the meaning of Pharisee can be best defined as follows; “The most widely accepted etymology is that which traces back to the Hebrew…which means “to separate". A Pharisee, according to this explanation is a “separatist” or a separated person. This broad definition would apply to any and all Christians who chose to separate themselves from anything that we believe scripture would tell us is not appropriate for a follower of God. It would also apply to our personal application of scripture for activities or practices we would avoid for conscience sake.

Coleman states; “No one is able to pinpoint the day and the hour when the Pharisees officially began. Originally they did not gather as a group of businessmen in a hotel in Jerusalem and decide to inaugurate a fraternity. Rather, they came into existence almost spontaneously in answer to a desperate need. They start as a spirit with a noble cause, during the time of the Babylonian exile.” The Israelites were conquered and taken into captivity and the Pharisees desired to preserve the law and national identity of their faith. Without going into a detailed explanation; the Pharisees were national heroes because they fought to preserve Judaism from the likes of Nebuchadnezzer, Antiochus Epiphanes, John Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus. Coleman quotes the “Concise Dictionary of Judaism” which states; “These men were heroes and champions of Jewish freedom who represented the finest tradition of their people and of human morals.” How does that compare to our view and definition?

In the time of Christ the population in Jerusalem was approximately 25,000 to 30,000. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that there were 6,000 Pharisees in the area, or one out of every ten people. The vast majority were laymen including businessmen, fisherman and carpenters. They were a grass roots organization and they represented the common man. This would seem to mirror the vast majority of local churches today that are made up of all walks of life pursuing a deeper relationship with their Creator.

In Acts 23:6 the Apostle Paul identifies himself as a Pharisee and the son of one. He does not appear to be embarrassed by the association. Coleman writes about the fact that the Pharisees initially stood for something important; protecting and propagating the laws of God. They were dedicated to the laws of God and they possessed a high level of religious zeal. So far that seems like a fairly accurate description for most consistent church-goers and Christians. They were very proud of their moral stand against anything perceived as impure or ungodly. They were dedicated to not violating God’s laws and they set up personal “hedges” or “fences” to avoid anything that might defile them or anger God. So to do this they set up hundreds of oral laws known as the “seyag” or fences. The problem was that these were not viewed as optional and these laws became as important as scripture, and even in some instances they trumped or became more vital than scripture itself.

To boil this down to where we all live; we are the Pharisees when we add anything to Gospel or allow our good qualities and good intentions of our faith to degenerate into a mechanical formalism. We consciously or unconsciously oppose the Gospel and Jesus Christ when we add anything to His Word or expect anyone to conform to a specific religious “code of conduct.” This applies to anyone and everyone because we are all prone to think that someone to the left or right of us in terms of practice and convictions has got it wrong, and they need to see it our way. Coleman states it very clearly; “Christ’s concern over the Pharisees centered around the fact that their opinions, both casual and official, were becoming inseparable with the laws of Moses, and Jesus considered the confusion reprehensible.”

We all run the risk of being more focused on what is going on outside or our externals rather than dealing with our internal heart issues. From that perspective we all can be guilty of a very subtle form of Pharisaical and empty religion. When we hunger and thirst after righteousness we need to be sure that it is a righteousness from God rather than our feeble and misguided attempts to buy God’s favor through what we do. Jesus warnings and castigation of the religious leaders is something you and I would do well to ponder and see if it describes us in any way. I have met the enemy and it is me.

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ~ 1 Samuel 16:7b