The Sin of the Pharisees

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.

—Matthew 23

What were the Pharisees doing that was so terrible? This is a critically important issue, since the consequences were dire, and are still being felt. If you read all of Matthew 23, it appears that the Pharisees were being set up to kill Jesus and have his blood on their hands because of these other iniquities.

Many a nominally Christian anti Semite has used this and similar passages to justify hatred of the Jews. I think they are making a huge error. Nearly all of Jesus’ followers were also Jews. Jesus was criticizing a particular type of Judaism. Moreover, the Pharisees were in a sense obeying the commandments when they crucified Jesus.

1. If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and

2. And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

4. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

5. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

—Deuteronomy 13

The fact that the Pharisees witnessed Jesus performing miracles was not sufficient reason to follow him. Deuteronomy foretells of future false prophets being able to perform wonders. Such false prophets were supposed to be killed. The Pharisees killed Jesus because they thought Jesus was such a false prophet. However, they thought this despite the fact that Jesus did not lead people to other gods or call for breaking the commandments.

17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

—Matthew 5

Jesus did not lead people away from the Law of Moses. What he did do was question the additions to the commandments added by Jewish tradition.

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.

—Matthew 23

There are a great many rulings in the Jewish traditions that go beyond what the Law of Moses called for. If you do follow them, you will indeed be within the actual commandments. But doing so is an unnecessary burden. And the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were apparently unable/unwilling to bear the full weight of the burden themselves.

For now, do note that this is the “legalism” that Jesus was criticizing, not following the Law of Moses. Many a Christian has failed to understand this and claimed that the old commandments were done away with, that we should merely follow the Spirit or some such. A selective reading of Paul’s letters can lead one to this conclusion, but there are many passages in Paul’s letters that indicate that the commandments are still in force, and the letters by the other apostles hammer in this point.

Adding to the Law is a sin [Deuteronomy 4:2], but is it a sufficient sin to justify setting up the Pharisees to have Jesus’ blood on their hands? The additions were not arbitrary; they were based on the Law. The Pharisees were mandating extra measures to ensure the Law was not broken. Jesus did something similar by equating hatred with murder and sexual lust with adultery.

One difference, however, was that Jesus called for these extra measures as a matter of internal discipline. He gave no mandate to prosecute people for such slipping. If the Pharisees were punishing others for not doing their extra measures, then the Pharisees were guilty of injustice. But was this sufficient?

Note the word “hypocrite.” Also note the bits about straining on gnats and swallowing camels, and omitting the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. Making a huge show of being ultra strict in Sabbath observance, tithing, etc. does not compensate for neglecting other parts of the Law.

But which parts?

One part explicitly mentioned is taking care of parents in their old age.

8. "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

9. He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

10. "For Moses said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH';

11. but you say, 'If a man says to {his} father or {his} mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given {to God),}'

12. you no longer permit him to do anything for {his} father or {his} mother;

13. {thus} invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."

—Mark 7 (New American Standard Version)

Another clue can be found in Matthew 23:

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.

—Matthew 23

This quote can be tied to many Gospel passages referring to neglect of the poor. It is safe to say that the Pharisees were found wanting in their treatment of the poor and downtrodden. Note that this was a requirement under the Law of Moses:

7. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

8. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

10. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

—Deuteronomy 15

The well off were required to lend to the poor at zero interest. But the poor were required to pay back or suffer a temporary loss of farm and/or freedom. However, note that there is no enforcement provision for this commandment other than divine wrath.

But does failing to loan constitute robbing the poor? Perhaps. But let us also consider Jesus’ “mission statement.”

17. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

—Luke 4

What is this “acceptable year of the Lord?” My New American Standard Bible has a marginal reference for this passage to Leviticus 25:10, which talks about the year of jubilee, when debt slaves are freed and the land is returned to the people according to their inheritance. The proclamation of jubilee is certainly good news to the poor! I cannot say for certainly that this the passage above refers to the jubilee year, but it definitely fits.

It also meshes with the criticisms of the rich. In an agrarian society the surest way to riches was to accumulate land. Once the fortunate have enough land to generate a surplus, they can reinvest in more land. Over generations you end up with a plantation system or feudal system. The jubilee law (and inheritance laws that forbid primogeniture) prevent this. Matthew 19:20 states that the rich man (whom Jesus asked to sell all his possessions) was a young man. This means that he probably inherited his wealth. Were these possessions land?

Were the Pharisees keeping this law? Do modern Jews keep this law? In my searching around on the web, I can find no reference to indicate such. So far as I know, no one even knows which years are jubilee years any more. The same goes for Sabbath years. If anyone reading this knows different, please let inform me!

Lest any Christians feel smug, how many Christians obey the jubilee law?

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