THE PHARISEE SYNDROME

“For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes Pharisees, ye shall no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”

The Word of God clearly informs us that we can only enter the Kingdom of God if our faith exceeds that of the Pharisees. To understand and improve our personal walk with the Lord, we must analyze the Pharisees, we must know their behaviour, so we do not fall into the same trap. It is easy to assume we are much better than the Pharisees, but we need to self-introspect in order to align ourselves with God’s word. Unless we analyze the Pharisees, we might not see our own “Pharisee” behaviour. May the Lord open our hearts, our spiritual eyes and ears. May His Word bring transformation upon our lives and may we grow in our walk with Him.

WHO WERE THE PHARISEES?

The Pharisees were Jewish religious leaders who held on tightly to their interpretation of the law of Moses. The Pharisees were quite learned in the law of Moses, and they strictly followed the paths and traditions of their forefathers. They were opposed to Jesus Christ, and they hated His interpretation of the law and how He did things. Their dislike for Christ made them plan to destroy Him.

Matthew 12:14

¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, discussing how they could destroy Him. When we read Luke 13:31, we see that the Pharisees at some point warned Jesus Christ about Herod and cautioned Him.

Luke 13:31

³¹ At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

The Word “Pharisee” comes from the Hebrew word which means “separated”, and true to the meaning, the Pharisees separated themselves from ordinary Jews and considered them to be unclean. The Pharisees had certain characteristics which are common in Believers of today.

1. THE PHARISEES WERE CRITICS OF CHRIST

The Pharisees were the biggest critics of Jesus Christ. They never found anything good about His teachings. Their focus was always on finding fault on the Lord.

Luke 6:7

Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath They followed Jesus Christ and were amongst the crowds that followed Christ not to listen and marvel at the magnificent work the Lord was doing, they were not there for the message either, but they were there to scrutinize and look for fault. They followed Christ to find fault. Today we have Believers who are ever criticizing their Pastors and always find fault in all they do.

2. THE PHARISEES REJECTED JESUS CHRIST BECAUSE HE SAT WITH SINNERS.

One of the reasons they rejected Jesus Christ was because He sat with sinners. They separated themselves from mingling with sinners.

Matthew 9:10-13

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus’s mission is to seek and save the lost, but the Pharisees were blinded by their self-righteousness and missed it. The Pharisees rejected sinners while Jesus Christ embraced them. Jesus’s ministry was to the lost souls and even today He is after the lost souls. A portion of Believers today have shut the door of heaven to those we consider “sinners”, through our attitude. We are self-righteous and we shun and label those in the world. God loves even those we dislike, those we shun away, forgetting we were once sinners ourselves. God loves those we call names; He is after souls, and it is our job to win them for His Kingdom.

3. THE PHARISEES WERE HYPOCRITES

Matthew 23:3 “so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

The teachers of the law were not truly seeking after God, although they presented themselves as though they were. The Pharisees engaged in the same activities they preached against. They claimed to have moral standards and beliefs but their behaviour was the opposite.

4. THE PHARISEES WERE SELF RIGHTEOUS

In Luke 18:9-14, we come across two men who went before God in prayer, a Pharisee, and a Publican (tax collector). The Pharisee prayed about how good he was, better than other men. He went on to state how he fasted twice a week and paid tithes while the tax collector confessed how he was a sinner before God and prayed for His mercy. The Pharisee went before God with pride, informing God of the wrong things he had not done and how he observed religious practices of fasting twice a week and tithing. The Publican humbled himself before God and acknowledged his sins. The Bible instructs us to humble ourselves before the Lord and He will exalt us (James 4:10).

5. THE PHARISEES FOCUSED ON EXTERNAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Pharisees were more concerned with their external appearance and did not work on the inner man. They pretended to be holy by making long prayers just to be seen by the people. Even in today’s church, a lot of Believers play church just to be seen by people while behind closed doors they are totally different. We must desire to impress God more than man.

Matthew 23:14

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation”

The Pharisees even made their phylacteries broad and enlarged the borders of their garments so they would be noticed by people. They loved the attention they received from people.

Matthew 23:7 “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” This is the cancer in the church today. The love of honour and attention. Most churches have different sitting arrangements for the elite in the house of God while the rest of the congregants sit on ordinary chairs. We need to be cautious, so we do not become like the Pharisees. May the Lord help us!

6. THE PHARISEES HAD HARD HEARTS

Mark 3:5

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So, the man held out his hand, and it was restored! The Pharisees had hard hearts. Their hearts would not rejoice at the prospect of a fellow human being receiving a miracle, instead they always found something to criticize. We must introspect as Believers. Are we demonstrating the love of Christ or are we rigid and judgmental? Do we rejoice with those who receive their breakthroughs, or we are no longer moved by God’s power but we are more concerned about religious rituals. May the good Lord help us so we do not miss heaven because of our attitude