The Pharisee Problem

It’s easy to dismiss the Pharisees as a group of gnarled old men skulking around in corners – and indeed, that’s how I pictured them for most of my childhood.  And yet rather than vilify them or scoff at their mistakes, I think we’d be well served to see where they stumbled.  Because though every Christian wants to be like Christ, I suspect if we’re honest there are days where we have far more in common with the Pharisees.

So let’s discuss it.  The Pharisees were…

1) Self-proclaimed cultural gatekeepers. The Pharisees believed they’d cornered the market on interpretation of the holy Scriptures.  Their love of legalism and law was bound up in their belief that they were the only ones who could understand or apply Scripture correctly.  And their constant struggle with Jesus might be summed up in one sentence: “You think you’re the authority here, but we