3 Warnings the Pharisees Have for Us Today

Traci Boland

Writer

Updated June 08, 2022

We have all heard about the Pharisees. The name itself has become synonymous with hypocrisy. But who were they really and what can we learn from the Pharisees of the New Testament?

Who Were the Pharisees of the New Testament?

The origins of the sect of Judaism known as Pharisees is somewhat of a mystery. Scholarly consensus suggests that the name “Pharisee” is derived from a word meaning “separated” ones. It is generally believed that the Pharisees began as a group dedicated to preserving the Jewish faith and way of life against the cultural influence of Hellenism.

Most scholars believe that the Pharisees were a successor to the Hasideans that worked to preserve the Jewish culture in the years before the Maccabean revolt. Historically, the Pharisees are first seen under the rule of John Hyrcanus (135-105 B.C.).

Three extra-biblical, historical sources shed light on the Pharisees. Josephus wrote in his history of the Jewish war that the Pharisees had “a reputation of excelling the rest of their nation in the observance of religion, and as exact exponents of the laws” (Jewish War, I.v.2). Other mention of the Pharisees comes from teachings of the rabbis, parts of the New Testament, and the Pseudepigrapha.

In their first century culture, the Pharisees took upon themselves the task of preserving the written Law and the Oral Tradition. They believed that God’s grace only extended to those who obeyed God’s Law. Not only did the Pharisees decide what broke the Law, they created new laws to “fence in” or prevent people from breaking God’s original Law. For example, the Law of Moses taught that “you will remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The Pharisees would then determine what actions constituted breaking the Sabbath, and add that new law to the Oral Tradition.

Because obedience to the Law was so important, the Pharisees became overly concerned with minute behaviors and whether these behaviors broke the Law or kept it. In this way, as experts of the Law, the Pharisees and their interpretations of the Law became too “burdensome for the people to bear” (Luke 11:46).

Jesus and the Pharisees

Jesus said some harsh things to and about the Pharisees. The most famous confrontations between Jesus and the Pharisees are found in the Gospels and were occasioned by disputes over how to live a pure life, tithing, and Sabbath laws (Matt 12:2, 12-14: 15:1-12; Mark 2:16; Luke 11:32-54).

Matthew records one such example of Jesus speaking of the Pharisees. Jesus told the crowd that because the scribes and Pharisees “sit in Moses’ seat, practice, and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Matt 23:3). In essence, Jesus says that some things that they teach about God and the Scriptures are good and right. So, listen to their teaching. But because the Pharisees do not live the things they preach, Jesus warned, do not live like they do.

Also in Matthew 23, Matthew recorded a scathing denouncement of the Pharisees by Jesus. Jesus knew that the Pharisees were the most influential religious entity within the Jewish culture at the time and yet they were completely unable to lead the people to God. Jesus called them hypocrites numerous times (Matthew 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27).

Jesus warned the disciples to “beware the leaven of the Pharisees” (Matt. 16:6). Jesus’ most pointed accusation of the Pharisees of his day concerned the many laws they imposed upon the people. “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to help” (Matt. 23:4). In Jesus’ estimation, the making of many laws had separated people from God instead of bringing people closer to God.

Were All Pharisees Bad?

Not all Pharisees were hypocritical religious fanatics that caused harm. All of the woes announced by Jesus in Matthew 23 are directed to specific Pharisees. Woe to the Pharisee that “shuts the door to the kingdom in people’s faces (23:13). Woe to the Pharisee who converts people to a broken religion and makes the converts as bad as themselves (23:15), and so forth. The accusations of Jesus are levied to those guilty of certain behaviors, not the entire Pharisee sect.

We also see in Scripture evidence of Pharisees who were genuine and sincere in their faith. Simon the Pharisee made a banquet for Jesus (Luke 7:37). Pharisees warned Jesus of Herod’s plot to kill him (Luke 13:31). Nicodemus (John 3) was a powerful Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus went with Joseph of Arimathea to prepare the body of Jesus for burial (John 19:39).

3 Warning for Us Today from the Pharisees

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were guilty of religious, spiritual, and moral behavior common to all people in every age. The Pharisees are mostly remembered as hypocrites, but there are several human tendencies of the Pharisees we can see in our spiritual lives today.

1. Adding rules to the teachings of Scripture.

The Pharisees added rules to the teachings of God in a misguided attempt to keep people on the right path. This is a human temptation to tell other people when they are or are not living right before God. God gave the Law to His people as a gift of grace so they could be in relationship with a loving God. Jesus told the Pharisees they had “neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness” (Matt. 23:23). When we are too busy enforcing the rules on others, we fail to keep our hearts full of God’s grace.

2. Genuine expression of faith devolves into religious tradition.

The Pharisees began as a group of sincere followers of God wanting to preserve the Israelite covenant with God. Over time, the sincere zeal of the original Pharisees to live holy lives became handed-down traditions of men. Jesus said of the Pharisees, “on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23: 28). Any faith expression can become hollow, empty tradition if we do not guard our hearts. As the Psalmist wrote, we keep our way pure by guarding our hearts with His words so that we will not sin against Him (Psalm 119:9).

3. Missing the Main Thing in the Minutiae

The Pharisees had become so focused on the many tiny rules they had created that they missed God’s overall desire to have a loving relationship based on grace. When our religion becomes about rules and is more focused on right and wrong, we forget the command of Jesus to love God and love others (Matt 22:36-40). We are called to bear fruit, not be fruit inspectors. “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

God Helps Us in Our Humanity

The Pharisees that Jesus encountered were not all bad people. Like many spiritual people today, there were some genuine in their desire to honor God, and some who had missed the mark so badly that Jesus rebuked them harshly. As humans, we have a natural tendency to add rules to God’s grace, perform religious duties without sincerity, and get so caught up in the tiny things that we forget to love.

The good news is that in His mercy and grace, God has given us the Spirit of Christ to indwell us. The Spirit prays for us (Romans 8:26-27) and fills us with “divine power that has given us everything thing we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Through God’s Spirit, we can live a spiritual life that is genuine and sincere.

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

For further study, read The New Testament; It’s Background, Growth, and Content by Bruce M. Metzger, Abington Press, 1983.

Author T.A. Boland holds a BA in Biblical Studies and is working to complete MA in Biblical Exposition.