Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Matthew 23:1-8
Throughout the gospels, Jesus spoke several times about the Pharisees and quite frankly, didn't have much good to say about them. As we read through and see the descriptions of the Pharisees, we picture someone of high status that is corrupt, as we would see on the movie The Passion of the Christ. When we hear of people so hypocritical as the Pharisees, we tend to look down on them. We see them as a villain of a movie or time period that could never exist in our world today. Even non-believers condemn hypocrites.
But I want to think about something that brings the teachings about the Pharisees to practical light. Jesus primarily taught people to not be like the Pharisees, not because they were wicked people by the world's standards, but because they lost sight of what God's word is and what it means to have a relationship with God. Yes, they knew the Bible quite well, even prided themselves on having the Bible practically memorized, but they were lacking something.
As we see in the above passage, they knew the Bible, they knew what God commanded, but did not act. These were the leaders who taught the people as we see they sat in Moses' seat as the religious leaders of that time. They would be like today's pastors and were highly regarded by the people, I imagine. But as we see, they did not follow God's law, they took the offerings for themselves, they indulged on their own pleasures without regard to God's word, even though they knew it well, and even paid to have Christ crucified.
Do we not have this problem today? I think what we need to take from this is that the religious leaders aren't the only people who can become the "Pharisees" of today. What the Pharisees were guilty of is the same thing that all too many people are guilty of. How many people study the Bible, memorize verses, read Christian books, read through the entire Bible, attend church faithfully, tithe every week, and know the right verse for each issue? But how many people really act on it?
I know this because I have found that I have been guilty of this. I faithfully read my Bible, memorize scripture, and study the Bible deeply, and see what God wants each of us to do, yet seem to keep it to myself. God calls each of us to spread His word and to live in a way that honors Him. And I believe that the more we know, the more responsibility we have. God calls us to grow and mature as Christians, but that cannot happen without us being willing to live out His word and be the light in this world. He wants us to live a life that reflects Him and grow our relationship with Him. And I'm sure most of us realize this and have even known these truths from a young age, but how many of us act on it? I know some denominations don't even encourage to live out a righteous life and separate ourselves from the world. Some denominations allow a sinful life, as long as you continue to learn the Bible and confess every so often. But my question is how can someone study God's word and see that it is OK to live out a sinful life and still expect rewards from God?
We need to strive to be less like the Pharisees and more like the disciples who lived for Christ and, for some, even died in His name. We have two examples in the Gospels: one of a hypocrite and one of a faithful, dedicated follower of Christ. I encourage each Christian to strive to be more like the disciples and more importantly, like Christ so that in the end, you may hear "well done, good and faithful servant".
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