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The Proud Pharisees

by Bryan Gibson

November 28, 2008

There were some notable exceptions (e.g. Paul), but generally speaking, the Pharisees were a very proud people. The Pharisee Jesus depicted in one of His parables was all too typical: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). Speaking of the Pharisees, Jesus said, “They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’” (Matthew 23:6-7).  This kind of pride will inevitably lead to other problems, and this was certainly the case with the Pharisees. Let’s examine some of the fruits of their pride, just to make sure we’re not guilty of the same.

They did their good works, not to please the Lord, but to be seen of men (Matthew 23:5), an attitude which Jesus warned against in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16). This desire for man’s honor was even one of the obstacles that kept many of them from believing in Jesus (John 5:44). When you’re proud, it’s too easy to do what is popular, instead of what is right.

This desire for man’s praise led them to practice what we might call an “outward only righteousness” (Matthew 23:23-28; Luke 11:42). They were meticulous in doing the things that could be seen by others, but they neglected such things as justice, mercy, faith, and even the love of God.

They failed to see themselves as God saw them—which is easy to do when you are full of yourself. They couldn’t see that they were “full of extortion and self-indulgence...hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25, 28). They couldn’t see their need for Jesus, because they couldn’t see their sin (Luke 7:36-50).

They couldn’t see their own sins, but they could sure see the sins of others. They were surprised that Jesus would eat with “tax collectors and sinners” (Mark 2:16), even thanking God that they were not like these people (Luke 18:9-14). An honest self-examination would have made them more humble in their approach to others (Galatians 6:1-5).

They closed their ears to the truth. When you’re proud, it’s easy to become entrenched in your own view, to reach the point that no amount of evidence can persuade you otherwise. There was no disputing that Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, but they did everything they could to dismiss the evidence (John 9:13-34). When they were proven wrong on a point, they didn’t admit it; they either got mad with the one who proved them wrong (Matthew 12:9-14), or resorted to ridiculous arguments (Matthew 12:22-26).

They loved money (Luke 16:13-15; 11:39), which is not surprising, when you consider that they were all about status. When you’re in love with the praise of men, it’s easy for this to become your focus.

Their traditions became more important to them than God’s word (Mark 7:1-13). Again, we’re not surprised, because these traditions were theirs. Breaking these traditions was an affront to them. It’s a shame that they couldn’t get as upset over violations of God’s commandments.

It’s no wonder that Jesus sounded this warning in the Sermon on the Mount: “...Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).