Bon dia Conservative! Grüss Gott she who bears nations! May the LORD be with you and provide for your needs. May He be your comfort in trouble. In doubt, may He be your conviction. In ignorance, may He be your revelation. In joy, may he be your glory.
Historical background
The Pharisees and traditions
The leaven of the Pharisees and the race of Pharisees (vipers and whitewashed tombs)
The ancient Pharisees in the early Church
Few verses to meditate on
" How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matthew 16:11-12, NKJV)
" For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20, NKJV)
1. Historical background
Four groups particularly influenced Jewish communities in the first century: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots. Founded in Judea (territory of the tribe of Judah, Kingdom of Judah) some two centuries before the birth of JESUS, they died out at the end of the first century. They were also present in Galilee, but it was in Jerusalem (Judea) that they were most influential. One reason for this was that there were more Jews in Judea than in Galilee, half of whose population was not Jewish. Galilee was the territory of the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali and Issachar. The region included the towns of Nazareth, Capernaum and Bethsaida.
The Pharisees and Sadducees were the ruling class. They made up the Sanhedrin (Acts 23:6), the traditional legislative assembly and supreme court of Israel. The Sanhedrin could therefore influence, even modify and annul, the decisions of the king and the high priest. The Sanhedrin sat in Jerusalem and was composed of seventy men. Its name derives from the Greek sunedrion, meaning "seated assembly".
The Sanhedrin's functions were to promulgate the calendar, officially recognize the prophets (the only ones authorized to identify the Messiah), and interpret and apply Jewish law from its written and oral sources. This work of interpretation culminated in the writing of the Mishna, the compendium of oral Jewish law, nicknamed the Oral Torah.
The Pharisees were a religious and political group. Like the Sadducees, they opposed the ministry of JESUS. But unlike the Sadducees, they were more interested in religion than politics. The Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen. Numerically a minority, their influence on the Sanhedrin was nevertheless far greater than that of the Sadducees, due to their close ties with the people. Despite their disagreements, the Pharisees and Sadducees united to have JESUS CHRIST arrested and crucified (Mark 14.53, 15.1, John 11.48-50).
Parenthèse
** Torah refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
** Pharisaic Judaism dissolved in favor of Rabbinic Judaism. For the rabbis, the Mishna is indispensable for understanding the written Torah. Nevertheless, many of the Mishna's recommendations are unanimously rejected or considered no longer applicable by the rabbis.
** A rabbi is a person (man or woman) authorized to lead a Jewish cult, to make decisions or pass judgment in matters of Jewish law, after having studied and taken courses on the Torah, the Mishna, the founding texts of Judaism and the management of Jewish community life. Not all rabbis are worship leaders.
** Rabbinic Judaism is the doctrine of Judaism based on the Written Law and the Oral Law formulated and transmitted by the rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism is descended from the Pharisees, themselves descendants of the Hassideans (from Hebrew Hassidim, "Integers" or "Pious") or Assideans (from ancient Greek Assidaioi), a Jewish religio-political group opposed to the influence of Greek culture on the Jews, or the mixing of Greek and Jewish culture.
** The word Pharisee comes from the Greek Pharisaios (Strong's no. 5330), meaning "separated". Pharisaios comes from the Aramaic word perishayyā, derived from the Hebrew perushīm which, according to the most likely etymology, means "separated".
2. Pharisees and traditions
The Pharisees took an oath to live by the strictest Levitical rules. In their view, both Scripture and oral tradition were inspired by GOD. They defended their position on the grounds that the Law and oral tradition had been handed down by Moses. But this is not true. In fact, some oral traditions were handed down by the 70 elders in charge of the people, who sat with Moses.
❖" The LORD said to Moses: "Gather to me 70 men from among the elders of Israel, men you know as elders and leaders of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and let them stand there with you. I'll come down and talk to you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and put it upon them, so that they will carry the burden of the people with you and you will not carry it alone." (Numbers 11:16-17, Segond 21)
As time went by, traditions were gradually added to GOD's Word. The Pharisees multiplied obligations. They imposed laws that came from tradition, not from the law given to Moses. Yet it is written, "You shall neither add to nor take away from what I command you; you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your GOD, as I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2)
Actions and traditions became more important than the disposition of the heart. For example, in a parable, JESUS relates that a Pharisee prayed thus: "O God, I thank you that I am not stingy, dishonest and adulterous like other men, and especially like that tax collector over there. As for me, I fast two days a week, I give ten percent of all my income." (Luke 18: 11-12, Sower)
They believed that GOD directed all things, but that individual decisions influenced the course of His existence 🙂 In line with the Christian faith.
They believed in the omnipresence of GOD. Consequently, that he could be worshipped everywhere, inside and outside the temple, and above all by means other than sacrifice 🙂 In line with the Christian faith.
They believed in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23.7-8) 🙂 In line with the Christian faith.
They believed in an afterlife, with rewards and punishments on an individual basis 🙂 In line with the Christian faith.
They believed in the existence of angels and demons (Acts 23.8) 🙂 In line with the Christian faith.
Some habits of the Pharisees: Fasting, offerings, food hygiene, dress code, judging one's neighbor, etc... (Matthew 9:14, Matthew 15:1-9, Matthew 23:5, Matthew 23:1-30, Mark 7:1-23, Luke 11:42).
Contrary to popular belief, not all scribes were Pharisees and not all Pharisees were scribes. Not all scribes were hypocrites, and not all Pharisees were hypocrites. Not all Pharisees were members of the Sanhedrin. There were hypocritical Pharisees, just as there were false prophets and false teachers. The hypocritical scribes, whom JESUS was addressing, were a category of scribes. They were those who studied the Law, memorized it, transcribed it and wrote commentaries on it. These were the so-called Doctors of the Law, specialists in the Law or teachers of the Law.
3. The leaven of the Pharisees and the race of Pharisees (vipers and whitewashed tombs)
The Pharisees opposed cultural assimilation. Cultural assimilation is the process by which one group gradually resembles another through the partial or total adoption or assimilation of that group's values, behaviors and beliefs. Assimilation may be voluntary or forced.
In the beginning, their intentions were good: to preserve the Law and Jewish culture from the influence of the colonists. Unfortunately, along the way, they added a leaven: the traditions of men and the doctrine of justification by works. They replaced substance with form. Their zeal became bitter: filled with pride, comparisons and rivalries. They became hypocrites.
The Pharisees were not encouraging the people to have a personal relationship with GOD. They adopted the traditions of their fathers, without knowing the GOD of their fathers and without understanding why these traditions had been established. They did not ask GOD whether these traditions should be maintained, or in what context they should be applied.
They had the appearance of piety, but denied what makes it strong: love, repentance, sanctification, self-denial, humility, compassion, generosity, integrity, justice, mercy. Their faith seemed sincere, but in reality they had no faith in GOD. They prayed to be seen and gave to be acclaimed.
They took advantage of people's ignorance, people's weakness, and I'd even say people's spiritual laziness. An example of spiritual laziness in our time are Christians who don't read their Bibles and accept all kinds of practices contrary to the Scriptures. For example, addressing prayers to the dead, as Catholics do, or encouraging their children to sing songs addressed to idols, such as "Little Father Christmas".
The Pharisees were full of prejudice, spiritual pride and jealousy. They were controlling. They got angry when their words and opinions were confronted with the Scriptures. When they were wrong, they refused to admit it. They discredited JESUS, pretending they had nothing against him. They didn't give GOD the honor he deserved. In fact, they honored their traditions more than they honored GOD. They had come to believe that they were indistinguishable from GOD. Like, GOD can't do anything without them. Let's read the text below.
❖ (John 9: 24 - 34, Segond 21): "24 The Pharisees called the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, "Give glory to GOD! We know that this man is a sinner." 25 He replied, "If he's a sinner, I don't know. I know one thing: that I was blind and now I see." 26 They said to him [again], "What has he done to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I told you already and you didn't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" 28 They insulted him and said, "You are his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that GOD spoke to Moses, but this one, we don't know where he's from." 30 The man replied, "This is amazing: you don't know where he's from, yet he opened my eyes! 31 We know that GOD doesn't listen to sinners, but if someone honors him and does his will, he does. 32 Never yet have we heard of anyone opening the eyes of a born-blind man. 33 If this man did not come from GOD, he could do nothing." 34 They answered him, "You were born entirely in sin and you teach us!" And they drove him away.
🙂 I urge you to read all of chapter nine of John's Gospel. In the meantime, I'll give you the context => JESUS had just healed a man blind from birth. It was a Sabbath day. Some Pharisees said that JESUS was not of GOD because he didn't keep the Sabbath. In other words, because he had performed a miracle on the Sabbath. Other Pharisees wondered how JESUS, whom they considered a sinner, could perform such miracles.
My comments:
Not once did the Pharisees rejoice at the healing of the blind man.
They said, "Give glory to GOD! We know that this man is a sinner". Questions: What does giving glory to GOD have to do with the fact that, in their eyes, JESUS was a sinner? At what point did man give glory to a man?
The healing of the blind man was for them an embarrassing testimony.
Not only do they try to discredit JESUS, they insult and chase away the healed man when he confronts their words with their teachings and the miracle. This is a characteristic of the controlling esprist.
The Pharisees sought knowledge without applicative revelation. Consequently, through their teachings, they opposed the prophets and influenced the scribes. JESUS told them: "Behold, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes. Some you will kill and crucify, others you will scourge in your synagogues, persecuting them from town to town. "(Matthew 23:34, LSG) I emphasize that the tense used by JESUS in the verse we've just read is the future tense. The prophets, sages and scribes of whom JESUS speaks include the Apostles of the early Church, those who will exercise one of the 5 ministries and the singers under the New Covenant.
JESUS tells us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. By extension, he also asks us not to be Pharisees ourselves in front of others. He asks us to honor the first commandment and not to replace it with another commandment. The first and greatest commandment is to love GOD with all your heart and mind (Matthew 22:37-38, Deuteronomy 6:5). In other words, to know GOD, to have a personal relationship with him and to meditate on his Word. GOD asks us to obey him by loving him, not to be hypocrites, not to be prejudiced against our neighbor. He asks us not to have and not to nourish in our neighbor spiritual pride. He asks us not to place our traditions and denominations above His Word.
❖ "Put my commandments in your heart and in your soul. You will bind them like a sign on your hands and they will be like a mark between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children and tell them about them when you are at home, when you are on a journey, when you go to bed and when you get up. You will write them on the doorposts of your house and on the gates of your cities. Then your life and that of your children in the land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them will last as long as the sky above the earth. For if you keep all the commandments I command you, if you put them into practice, loving the LORD your GOD, walking in all his ways and cleaving to him, the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will make yourselves masters of nations greater and more powerful than yourselves. "(Deuteronomy 11:18-23, Segond 21)
4. The ancient Pharisees in the early Church
In the early Church, there were believers who had descended from the Pharisees (Acts 15:5). These included Gamaliel (a member of the Sanhedrin), Nicodemus (a member of the Sanhedrin), Joseph of Arimathea (a member of the Sanhedrin) and the Apostle Paul (a disciple of Gamaliel). The Apostle Paul said:
❖ "Moreover, you have heard of my former behavior in Judaism: I persecuted the Church of GOD to excess, I sought to destroy it, and I was more advanced in Judaism than many of my age among my people, for I was animated by an excessive zeal for the traditions of my ancestors." (Galatians 1: 13-14, Segond 21)
❖ "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of false circumcision. Indeed, the true circumcision is us, who worship GOD by the Spirit of GOD, who place our pride in JESUS CHRIST and who do not put our trust in our condition. Yet I myself could put my trust in my condition. I was circumcised on the eighth day; I am of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; in regard to the law, I was a Pharisee; in regard to zeal, I was a persecutor of the Church; in regard to the righteousness of the law, I was blameless. "(Philippians 3:21, Segond 21)
5. A few verses to ponder
🙂 Below are some of JESUS' words addressed to the hypocritical scribes and hypocritical Pharisees. I urge you to read and meditate on them. As you read these verses, pay attention to the inner witness the HOLY SPIRIT will give you. Are you a Pharisee? Have you consumed the leaven of the Pharisees? Are you upholding a tradition that GOD rejects? Are your values those of the Kingdom or of the world? Are you the one who tells others what to do, but does the opposite? Are there traditions or people you honor more than the Word? Have you kept traditions contrary to the Word?
The list
Matthew 15:3, Matthew 15:8-9, Matthew 23:1-4, Matthew 23:5, Matthew 23: 13-15,
Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:27- 34, Matthew 12:38-40, (John 3:39 - 41.
❖ "Why do you transgress the commandment of GOD for the sake of your tradition?" (Matthew 15:3, LSG)
❖ "This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. In vain do they honor me, Teaching precepts that are commandments of men. " (Matthew 15:8-9, LSG).
❖ "Then JESUS addressed the crowd and his disciples, saying, "The scholars of the law and the Pharisees have made themselves interpreters of Moses. Whatever they tell you [to observe], do therefore and observe it, but do not act as they do, for they say and do not do." (Matthew 23:1-4, Segond 21)
❖ "They bind heavy burdens and put them on men's shoulders, but they won't stir them with their fingers. They do all their deeds to be seen by men. So they wear broad phylacteries, and they have long bangs to their garments." (Matthew 23:5, Segond 21)
❖ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you close the kingdom of heaven to men; you do not enter it yourselves, and you do not let in those who want to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you devour widows' houses, and make long prayers for the sake of appearances; because of this, you will be judged more severely. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you run over sea and land to make a proselyte; and when he has become one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves." (Matthew 23: 13-15, Segond 21)
❖ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! Because you pay tithes of mint, dill and cumin, and leave what is more important in the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness: that is what should have been practiced, without neglecting the other things. You blind guides, you who swallow the gnat and swallow the camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and intemperance. (Matthew 23:25, LSG)
❖ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones and all manner of uncleanness. You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the graves of the righteous, and say: If we had lived in the time of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets. Thus you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who killed the prophets. Fill, then, the measure of your fathers. How will you escape the punishment of Gehenna? Therefore, behold, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes. Some you will kill and crucify, others you will scourge in your synagogues, persecuting them from town to town. "(Matthew 23:27- 34, LSG)
❖ "Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Master, we desire to see a sign from you. But he, answering, said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, save the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the belly of the cetacean three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the bosom of the earth." (Matthew 12:38-40, Segond 21)
❖ "Then JESUS said, "I have come into this world for a judgment, that those who do not see may see and that those who see may become blind." Some Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, "Are we blind too?" JESUS answered them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin. But in reality, you say, 'We see. [So then,] your sin remains. " (John 3: 39 - 41, Segond 21)
** Bon dia = good morning in Cape Verdean Creole
** Grüss Gott = Good morning in Austrian
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