A Pharisee Attitude

A Pharisee Attitude

By Russ Kujawski

June 20,2018

Question :  Do you have a pharisaical attitude?

pharisaical: practicing or advocating strict observance of external forms and ceremonies of religion or conduct without regard to the spirit; self-righteous; hypocritical.

Matt 23: 1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you--but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their **phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues

**phylacteries Likely refers to small boxes containing Scripture passages that Jews wore on their foreheads or arms. The scribes and Pharisees apparently enlarged these boxes to make them more visible (see Exod 13:9; Deut 6:8; 11:18)

Several times in Chap Matt chap 23 it says “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” From  verse 13-29

Lets take a look at the woe verses.

First Woe

Digging Deeper:

1.       Mat 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.[fn]

{fn}Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation

To get the understanding of this woe and following woes we need to look back to verses 3-7

This woe and the following woes are  an interjection of grief in other words if I may say there is grief to come for these scribes and Pharisees. Why do I say that? Because they preach but do not practice, they are hypocrites a pretender, an actor.  They do not do what they say. Have you ever heard the statement ”do as I say not as I do” There can be consequences for such a statement and that’s a “woe”. They shut the kingdom of heaven to the people and don’t enter themselves. Being a hypocrite I think is why the scribes and Pharisees wont enter but why don’t they allow the people to enter?  Just a thought here maybe its because of the burdens and false teachings laid on them verse 4.yet they don’t do any of the things the people have to do. Sounds like congress.

Do you have this kind of attitude? You say if you’re a Christian then you must do this or that but yet you yourself don’t do what you tell others to do. Are you placing unrealistic burdens on others? What did Jesus say in Matt 11” 28 “Come to me(Jesus the Christ), all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Fortunately its not you or me that the people are to follow its Christ. What’s Christ tell us?  His yoke is easy and burden is light.

2.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them as you are twice as much a child of hell.

Why are they twice as much a child of hell? Because of the teachers of the law and pharisees  legalistic teaching of the law. This kind of teaching is destructive. There are groups out there that teach in this kind of way very legalistic, you cant dance of any kind, you don’t play cards, you don’t go out to eat on a Sunday because you cause someone to work, you don’t do this ,you don’t do that. Rules, rules , rules.  I grew up is such an organization. Is there a problem with rules? No as long as those rule help you develop a relationship with Christ and not a rules based or works based faith. Following rules won’t get you into heaven following Christ will. As a Christian do we continue to sin? NO *before you comment on this answer continue reading*

Romans 6: 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

This is a legalistic example for Christians: Your just one sin away from hell this was told to me once. So in other words if you have any failures in your walk with Christ, you let a curse word slip. You would be in danger of going to hell. Really! There isn’t any of God’s grace or mercy in such a statement. What does Romans 6:1 say? Look at the verbiage.

go on sinning:  If you continue to sin then has anything even changed, when we come to repentance then you turn away from the old way of thinking, turn away from the old way of behavior. I will expand on this in a little bit.

have died to sin: When we come to Christ our old self our old nature is crucified so that sin does not have a strong hold on you, we are no longer slave to sin. (see Romans 6:6)

live in it any longer: This is speaking about a lifestyle of sin. Coming to Christ we can no longer LIVE A LIFE STYLE OF SIN.

As it states in Romans 6 :1 it mentions GRACE  if we have a moment of failure(sin) in our walk  there is God’s grace. Be warned if you are intentionally, willfully, sinning because of God’s grace he may just let you go onto that road of destruction, and if it be possible you can be putting your salvation into jeopardy.

Do you have this Pharisee attitude that you place such burdens on believers that they are bound to fail and maybe even turn away from God?

3.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Woe to you, blind guides: blind fools: blind men!  

I once attended a church and in order to become a member you had to sign a piece of paper saying you will do this or that basically taking an oath. Never did sign the paper because of some of the verbiage in it. Not signing it didn’t prevent me from attending it just kept me from having any say in the governing of the church. I currently and probably will until my dying day will attend a church that I was accepted as a member voted in by the congregation if I remember right. Growing up the church I attended was legalistic in some things and in others not so much . Being a member only meant   you professed Christ as your Lord and Savior and attended regularly. What were these blind guides doing  making the people swear by the things on the alter or in the temple.  They were overlooking the higher principles of the law. In Matt 5:33-37 say’s :verse 33 not to swear falsely, verse 34 do not take an oath at all,  verse 37 yes  or no anything more than that comes from evil. Here is what James has to say about oaths: Jas 5:12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear *(or take and oath), either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

(*) I added for clarification

4.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

I think Micah 6:8 speaks to verse 23 “Mic 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,[fn]
and to walk humbly with your God?”

[fn] Or steadfast love

They the scribes and Pharisees were doing the little things but neglecting the more important things, like justice, steadfast love and walking humbly with God. It would appear at this point that they did things with the wrong motivation with a look at me see how religious I am, instead of truly directing the people to God. They were religious not relational. Do you have an attitude like the Pharisees of being religious and not relational?   

5.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

NASB 25b: but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

KJV 25b: but within they are full of extortion and excess.

NKJ 25b: but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.[fn]

{fn} M-Text reads unrighteousness

Once again the pharisee’s are called hypocrites. Why?  They look good on the outside but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. I looked up the Greek for greedy.

Greek for greedy: harpagē means: extortion, robbery. I think the meaning of the word is better represented in the translations noted above than how the ESV puts it. I use the ESV for my primary translation to study with but the use of “greedy” is weak compared to “extortion or robbery”

The pharisee’s were manipulating the people for their own self-indulgence. To benefit them and not the people whom they were supposed to be teaching, guiding, encouraging. They didn’t have clean hearts Matthew 15:18-19 puts it this way” 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”

The pharisee’s and scribes have a heart issue there desires aren’t of God they are for themselves not for the people’s needs but their own self-indulgences. The scribes and Pharisee’s have become corrupt like many people in the United State Congress and House.

Do you have a Pharisee type attitude? Do you do things because they make you look good or manipulate others so you look good? Yet on the inside you’re a broken man.

6.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

In the construction world when you have a wall that needs repair from dings, dents, and scratches and you don’t want to remove the sheet rock, then you skim coat it. That method covers the damage, it hides the damage, yet the damage is still there. That’s basically the same as whitewashing. In this case it’s a term applied to a hypocrite who conceals his malice under an outward assumption of piety

The outside looks good but the inside is like dead mans bones or the ESV puts it dead people’s bones what does that mean ?

Metaph: spiritually dead

·         destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins

·         inactive as respects doing right

Verse 28 tells us what verse 27  means  you appear in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God but in reality  with in  you have a mask on (hypocrite) your full of contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness (Lawlessness)

This woe # 6  and  woe #5 are very similar. Do you have this pharisee attitude you look righteous on the outside but on the inside you are spiritually dead?

7.       Next Woe

Digging Deeper:

29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, [f] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

[f]  35 Some manuscripts omit the son of Barachiah

Jumping to verse 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Offspring of vipers This phrase could be a generic insult; it also might allude to the Jewish leaders’ cunning.  Condemnation to hell Based on their current actions, the scribes (teachers of the law) and the Pharisees are on their way to experiencing God’s judgment and wrath. Jesus’ rhetorical language warns the Pharisees of the inevitability of their judgment unless they change course.

Do you have this type of attitude were your current actions may lead you to condemnation?

Final thoughts:

As I’m do this study this section of scripture it’s redundant saying pretty much the same thing over and over. Why? Because it’s important the results of having a pharisee attitude can have a negative results, an eternal results  verse 33 make that clear “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”  Two words keep coming to mind here, “Hypocrite and Legalism”

·         Hypocrite: The pharisee attitude is this do as I say, look at me ,see me see how Holy I am. While inside of you are a broken down man or woman. Inside you are broken, in distress, you know not the peace or rest that comes with knowing Christ. You are being religious not relational.  

·         Legalism: The pharisee attitude is you have to do this or that to be a Christian. If you play cards you sin hell bound you go, If you dance you sin hell bound you go, you must pray everyday at noon if you don’t you sin hell bound you go. The list of rules are endless. If mankind could follow rules then Christ would not of had to come and save mankind from his own destruction. With all that said ,yes there are certain behaviors expected from a Christian. As we are continually being sanctified(set apart)  for Christ and grow in the knowledge of Christ those behaviors of one walking in Biblical Christianity will become more life style and less forced. {Just a little side thought may also become harder do to Satan’s intensity of attacks upon you.} As we walk in Christ and we have a slip(sin) Gods grace is great.{I’m speaking of a monetary failure not going back to a lifestyle of sin} yes there are biblical behaviors for the Christian that we are to follow. When we have a momentary failure I truly don’t believe God would say” Sorry dude you just swore and said “##*&*%$#”  As that car hit you and killed you ,Hell bound you go” There is no Grace  in that way of thinking. I know that’s an extreme example but the point is there. Don’t live in fear Gods Grace is sufficient. Live this day in God’s glory, peace, and rest. Don’t haver a Pharisee like attitude have a Christ like attitude

Colo 3:9-10 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.