Pharisees Misunderstood

Isn't it funny when you plan on blogging about a topic and you get beat to the punch? I was planning on doing a couple of posts about Pharisees, but Scot McKnight beat me there, and I'm sure he does a much more thorough job. Also, look here.

When you read the Bible and the Pharisees come into view can you almost hear the Darth Vader music? From the earliest days of Sunday school we are taught that the Pharisees are the "bad guys". Doing some studying the past few months I've discovered that maybe I've misunderstood what was really going on between Jesus and this group of devout Jews. . .

I've always understood the Pharisees to be legalists, plain and simple. This is a group of men that are trying to earn their way to heaven by following the Mosaic Law, and to make matters worse, they are adding their own rules to it! THE HORROR!

The problem is, even if this was true, Jesus really wouldn't have been a threat to them. The issues between Jesus and the Pharisees had more to do with power and nationalism than it did religion.

To be understood correctly, we need to understand that Israel is a nation in exile. Yes, they are living within the boundaries of Israel, but their country is not their own. In truth, they have been in exile since the Babylonian captivity. The Syrians allowed them to come back to the land, but they were still under Syrian authority. They were allowed to rebuild their Temple, but have you noticed that the Shekinah of God never comes back? To make this HORROR even worse, they were being occupied by PAGANS! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON! WE ARE GOD'S CHOSEN! WE HAVE BEEN IN EXILE FOR 600 YEARS! HELD CAPTIVE BY "DOGS"! WE ARE THE "NEW ADAM" THAT SHOULD BE CARING FOR THE "ANIMALS"! WHEN WILL GOD ACT TO FREE US?!

In this context, the scrupulous attention we see the Pharisees giving to the Law was not about earning their way to heaven, it was about marking themselves as separate from the pagans in their midst. This was a critical issue for Israel! If God was expected to act in their behalf, Israel must differentiate themselves from these pagans! They must remain faithful to the Torah in the midst of temptation, foreign customs, idolatry. . .

To make matters worse it is known that the Pharisees were not just "religious", they had political ambitions as well. They had more in common with the Zealots than with the Essenes. They were not opposed to taking Israel from the Romans by force, and were probably just waiting for a good opportunity, but in the meantime, they had to define who the "true Israel" was. . . They didn't view their strict dietary laws and keeping of the Sabbath as merely a way to get to heaven, but a way to define and separate themselves from the Hellenistic influence that surrounded them. They were nationalistic symbols that determined the true Israel.

N.T Wright says, "The focus of such activity would be the standard symbols of the culture and the culture's hope and aspirations. Did he fly the flag? Was he a loyal Torah observing Jew? (Once again we remind ourselves that this question does not mean, "Did he attempt to justify himself by works, to earn God's favor by good morals?" but rather, "Did he exhibit those symbolic actions by which the loyal Jew would show gratitude to God?')"

So, if the Pharisees were not legalists trying to earn their way to heaven, what was the problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees. . .? The answer lies more in nationalistic fervor than in religious observance. . .