In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles Paul defends himself before the Jewish Sanhedrin. He claims he is on trial for his belief in the resurrection: “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.” A dispute arose between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Luke explains: “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three.”
Pharisees are often mischaracterized as legalist and hypocrites. While this characterization is true of some Jewish leaders and some Pharisees it is not true of most of these religious leaders just as some, but not most Christian religious leaders, are legalist and hypocrites. The historical Pharisees were a Jewish lay reform movement consisting of people who were zealous for the things of God.
As Paul’s tells us in today’s reading, he himself was a Pharisee. In his letter to the Philippians, he describes himself in these words:
“Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6).
In describing himself as a Pharisee in “observance of the law” he means that he not only accepted the Torah, but also the books of the Prophets and Writings as well as the “tradition of the elders.” These traditions were interpretation of the Scripture passed down through the centuries as we hear in the Jewish text called the Mishnah:
“Moses received Torah at Sinai and handed it on to Joshua, Joshua to elders, and elders to prophets. And prophets handed it on to the men of the great assembly. They said three things: (1) “Be prudent in judgment. (2) “Raise up many disciples. (3) “Make a fence for the Torah.” (m. Pirqe Abot 1).
These “traditions of the elders” helped Jews to observe the Jewish Law by making “a fence for the Torah” by describing what the Law did and did not require. As we hear in today’s reading Paul and the other Pharisee believed in the resurrection whereas the Sadducees did not.
Christians, particularly Christian preachers, need to be careful not to demonize the Pharisees or to make them into scapegoats to avoid looking at their own hypocrisy and legalism. We need to take to heart the words of Jesus:
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged…Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)
Image: “Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee” by lluisribesmateᥩ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.