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| God's Warrior |
Modern Day PhariseesModern Day Phariseessmiln32 Recently, I have had a couple of my friends from Dave’s Garden approach me about the subject of Pharisees and how interesting it is to find people in modern times who live just as the Pharisees did in the time of the New Testament church. I thought it might be worthwhile to study this and present some of the findings here. Halley's Bible Handbook states that the, "Pharisees were the most numerous and influential of the religious sects of Jesus' day. They were strict legalists. They stood for the rigid observance of the letter and forms of the Law, and also for the Traditions". According to Smith's Bible Dictionary, "The fundamental principle of the Pharisees...is that...there was an oral law to complete and explain the written law, given to Moses". A biblical example of that would be Matthew 15:1-2, "Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, 'Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread'". The Pharisees were quite concerned about 'the tradition of the elders' even though there was no biblical requirement to wash hands before eating bread. Some modern Pharisees seem to focus more on traditions. Jesus often called the Pharisees hypocrites (Mat 15:7;16:3;22:18;23:23,25,27,29; Mk 7:6). When Jesus ate with "sinners", it was the Pharisees who made issue of it. Matt. 9:11. Jesus showed His love of all people, sinners especially, in His response. He never condemned anyone, but showed mercy and kindness. The Pharisees of old said, ""Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth" (Mark 12:14), but they did not do what Jesus taught. Modern day Pharisees are the same. They are more focused on pointing fingers at others than being like Jesus and loving them to Himself. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24). There are those today who focus on insignificant points, yet overlook more important ones. How many people do you know who ate all about being perfect, but have no love in their hearts? Who show no mercy to others? "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" (Luke 11:42). Yes, preach the Truth, but don't forget to preach about Love and Spirit also. Jesus condemned the Pharisees and even warned His disciples about them in Matthew 15 and 16. We should be warned to watch out for people like this today. Oh, people such as the Pharisees who live by rules and try to attain perfection have good intentions, but sadly, they spend so much time condemning others that they lose the real meaning behind Jesus's teachings. We are made sufficient not by anything we do, but by God Himself. Pharisees are unable to recognize this. A perfect example comes from Luke 15. "Good Teacher, What must I DO to be saved?" I can imagine Jesus shaking His head and thinking to Himself, "You poor fellow. It's not about what you do. You will never be perfect. Just love Me and also your neighbors (and take care of them). http://www.cogwriter.com http://www.ccel.org http://www.spiritualabuse.org I hope this has given you food for thought. I have truly learned a great deal from studying this topic. |