Don't Be A Pharisee! Series

DON’T BE A PHARISEE!

Matthew 9:11-13

The Pharisees were an influential religious sect within Judaism in the days of Jesus’ earthy ministry. This group was mostly comprised of middle-class businessmen and leaders of the synagogues. Though the Pharisees were a minority within the Sanhedrin (the Jewish High Court), they possessed great power and influence in Israel because of their popularity and support among the common Jews.

The Pharisees were men who put a great emphasis on the observance of the Mosaic Law. It was their belief that the Jews should faithfully observe all of the Laws written in the Torah (over 600 of them). The word “Pharisee” comes from a Hebrew word that means “separated”. Moral separation and obedience to God’s Law was not a bad thing, the problem was that the Pharisees motives were wrong. Their obedience was not based on sorrow for sin and love for God. Moreover, these men clearly lacked love, compassion and mercy for their fellow man.

The Pharisees also added to the commands of God and put a great focus on certain oral traditions that had been handed down from their ancestors. In many cases, these traditions were not inherently bad, but the Pharisees elevated their traditions to the level of scripture. On one occasion, Jesus said of the Pharisees “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.” (Matthew 15:8-9)

Rather than allowing the Law to expose their sin, reveal the glory of God and to serve as a standard for holy living, the Pharisees did what they did to be seen by others. Commenting on this, Jesus said, “They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4).

In their attempt to impress others with their devotion to God’s commands, the Pharisees lost sight of the Law’s true purpose. Several times in the Gospels, Jesus rebuked the pride, hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the Pharisees. The Lord said in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others”.

As Christians, it is good and pleasing to God when we obey His commands. Such obedience is made possible because we are indwelt with and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. However, we must guard against becoming modern day Pharisees. Our obedience should not come from a desire to impress others with our righteousness, nor should we obey in a misguided attempt to impress God. Rather, we should obey God because of our love for Him and our genuine appreciation for all that He has done for us.

As we arrive at our selected text, we find a great contrast in personalities. These verses show us the love and compassion that was exhibited by Matthew, (a man who has just been converted and transformed by Christ) and we also see the self-righteousness and condemnation that is exhibited by the Pharisees. There are many important lessons that we can learn from this event that took place in Matthew’s home. We should seek to be like Matthew and guard against acting like the Pharisees. I would like to survey the scene and consider the thought, “Don’t Be A Pharisee!”

In the opening verses of this chapter Jesus forgave and healed a man who was paralyzed. Moving on from there, Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. He invited that despised tax collector to leave everything behind and become one of His Disciples. Without hesitation, Matthew accepted the Savior’s call and began to follow Jesus.

In response to this new and glorious opportunity, Matthew invited many of his friends to his home and hosted a great feast. His friends were comprised of many other tax collectors and people who are simply described as “sinners”. The people who came to this feast were outcasts, men whom the Pharisees considered to be the scum of the earth. When they saw Jesus, Andrew, Peter, James & John fellowshipping with them, the Pharisees were offended and outraged.

It is a natural response for someone who has been transformed by Christ to reach out to their loved ones and attempt to bring them to Jesus. They have experienced the greatest change that one will ever experience in this life and they desire for those closest to them to experience Jesus as well. Tragically, over time many of these zealous converts experience a harmful transition of priorities. Love, mercy, compassion and devotion are replaced with legalism, judgment and condemnation. This is why it is important for us to survey the scriptures and ensure that we don’t become modern day Pharisees.