Seder 126: Matthew 23---Being Phair to the Pharisees

 The Gospel accounts include frequent interaction between Jesus and a group of Jewish teachers called the Pharisees.  Sadly, naïve readings of these encounters have left this group with an undeservedly negative reputation.  There are several recent books that try to correct negative stereotypes about them and give a more accurate picture, including books by Kent Yinger and Israel Knohl and a collection of essays by a group of scholars.  

There are several things to take into account when reading about the Pharisees in the Gospels:

• Jesus shared many beliefs in common with them.  Brad Young in his book Meet the Rabbis shows, for example, that almost every one of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount is paralleled by teachings of the rabbis, the successors of the Pharisees.
• Jesus' interactions with them were not always hostile--see for example Luke 13:31, where Pharisees warn Jesus that Herod Antipas wishes to kill him.  Paul's teacher Gamaliel, a leading Pharisee, urged toleration toward the Christian movement (Acts 5:33-39).  
• A number of Pharisees became followers of Jesus, most notably the apostle Paul, who was a "Christian Pharisee" rather than a "former Pharisee."  Nicodemus is another example.
• Jesus' critiques of the Pharisees were intra-Jewish discussions.  The Pharisees were innovators, and Jesus sometimes disagreed with their innovations (see Mark 7).
• Jesus corrected Pharisees because he cared about them and believed they were worth correcting.  This correction can be likened to the words of the biblical prophets or to a corrective sermon.  There was also lots of correction of the Pharisees in the literature of later rabbinic Judaism.
• The Pharisees can be compared to deeply religious people in any setting.  When people profess high ideals, they then become subject to close scrutiny on whether they are living up to those ideals.  In order to be accused of hypocrisy, one has to actually believe something.  Jesus wanted them to live up to their high ideals, and his words to them are also a challenge to religious Christians who strive to obey God and have high ideals.   

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 26, 2022, Kyle Kettering brought out many of these points.  In particular, he reflected on the challenge posed in Matthew 23:23, where Jesus says that we should emphasize the "weightier matters of the law" while not neglecting the details.  He observed that there is lots of confusion today in the Christian world; often serious sins are overlooked with appeals to God's love.