During the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, you’ll read in scripture that his main opponents were not the pagans, sorcerers, or even the outright deniers of God.

Instead, what you will find is a constant clash with the religious experts of his day and a display of what happens when the gospel message clashes with the root of pride within a do-it-yourself salvation model.

Hanging on either side of Jesus during his crucifixion we see two different types of sinners — one unrepentant who mocks him unto death, the other who repents and asks for Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom.

Looking at the events that led up to the crucifixion, we see three different types of religious leaders who are scrutinizing every single word coming out of the mouth of Jesus — the Pharisee, the Sadducee, and the Scribe (or also the lawyers).

Each of those three have their differences, and we’ll talk about those soon, but this time around we will focus on answering the question of what it means to be a Pharisee.

Meaning this — what do they believe, why do they believe it, and where are they today?

One of the biggest distinctions between a Pharisee and a Sadducee is a belief in the resurrection of the dead.

Pharisees adopt this belief, while Sadducees reject it - they also reject the existence of angels and spirits.

We can pick up an example highlighting these differing beliefs by jumping into when Jesus is questioned about a woman who is married to multiple men who are brothers — Jesus is specifically asked whose wife the woman will be after they all pass away.

The Sadducees interject with this question right after the Pharisees ask Jesus about whether or not it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not.

Let’s look together, starting in Mark 12:13-27:

13 And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.
14 And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?
15 Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
16 And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
17 And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.
18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
19 Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
20 Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
21 And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise.
22 And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also.
23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

What you’ll notice about how the Pharisees handle conversations with Jesus compared to the Sadducees is that they are always trying to catch him in his words to make him contradict either the law of Rome or the law of God.

In this text example that we’ve looked at, you’ll see that they try to create an impossible-to-answer question to Jesus by pressuring him to answer on his allegiance to the Roman empire on the financial front.

And how does Jesus respond?

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He tells them to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s — and he does so in a masterful way — by telling them to answer whose image is on the coin.

Jesus does this to also illustrate that the currency belongs to the Romans because of the image and in the same way we belong to God because of the fact that man was made in his image and likeness.

By doing this, Jesus also establishes that the Roman authority the Jews were under was legitimate and there was to be honor in their hearts instead of rebellion and that God’s authority over them should also be something that they revere.

From the text that we looked at, we also see the impossible question approach by the Sadducees — but not in an appeal to status, money, or superiority.

They try to ask Jesus a question that they don’t believe there to be an answer to, but he answers with authority and with certainty of the result of the woman the brothers who married her in the kingdom of God — demonstrating his knowledge of the afterlife that they deny.

Not only does he say that they are not married or given in marriage, but he also points out to the Sadducees that they are like the angels — another spiritual area that they deny the existence of.

Then Jesus doubles down on his answer, saying that God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.

Regarding other inputs from the Pharisees on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, we can also see them show up at many key places as mentioned throughout the book of Matthew specifically.

While John the Baptist is baptizing in the wilderness, they approach him and are rebuked by him and are called a “generation of vipers” in Matthew 3.

In Matthew 5, Jesus says that in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven your righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of both the scribes and the Pharisees.

Fast forward to Matthew 9 and we see the Pharisees questioning the disciples of Jesus for the fact that Jesus was seen eating with both publicans and sinners — something they viewed as unclean.

Later on in the same chapter, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out devils “through the prince of the devils” in an attempt to attack the legitimacy of his ministry and power over the spirits.

Matthew 12 highlights both how they try to discredit the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ by accusing him of breaking the sabbath by plucking corn from a field and how they hold a meeting after he refutes their accusations successfully with the intention of creating a plan to destroy him.

Shortly subsequent to meeting to gather council to destroy Jesus, they repeat the error of accusing Jesus of casting out devils through the prince of the devils — namely through Beelzebub.

The Pharisees then come after Jesus and his disciples for violations relating to cleanliness in Matthew 15 by attempting to question Jesus about why the disciples did not wash their hands. We see later in this chapter as well that the disciples even report back to Jesus asking him what he thinks about the fact that he has offended the Pharisees with his response.

Matthew 16 tells us that at this point in the ministry of Jesus they are still trying to demand a sign out of Jesus but Jesus responds by warning the audience about the leaven of the Pharisees in a reference to their corrupted doctrine.

Matthew 19 shows us that the Pharisees further questioned Jesus, this time taking their jab at a marriage related question and demanding an answer regarding whether or not it was lawful for a man to put away his wife because of the fact that Moses allowed for it.

They did this to challenge Jesus and to again try to see if he would contradict the prophet through whom the law came to Israel from God.

Of course, Jesus responds brilliantly by referencing the very beginning of creation and putting their question to rest by saying that putting away (divorce) was not so from the beginning (Adam and Eve).

He also adds to his answer by mentioning that the only reason reason that Moses allowed for that in the first place was due to the hardness of the hearts of men — ultimately defaulting to the way that God established between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

This gave them no room to cross-examine him against a higher authority.

Matthew 21 lays out how they knew full well that Jesus was speaking against them specifically and in the following chapter that they were still actively trying to “entangle him in his talk” and that they were shocked that the Sadducees had been silenced by Jesus.

Matthew 23 quotes Jesus as saying that the Pharisees “neither go in yourselves” to the kingdom of God nor “suffer ye them that are entering to go in” — calling them out for hindering those that would listen willingly to the words of Christ.

Jesus even says about them further into Matthew 23 that when they produce a convert to what they believe, they “make him twofold more the child of hell” than themselves.

The last thing I’ll point out about the Pharisees is that they cared about their outward image so much and the perception of the people that they following the rules of tithing even when it came to mint, anise, and cumin.

This blind spot appears in Matthew 23:23 where Jesus says this to them:

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Why would Jesus say this to them?

This was to point out to them that they were so obsessed with keeping every jot and tittle of the law to the point where they would rather rely on the appearance of over-obedience than the grace and mercy of God.

It revealed who they were ultimately trusting in — it also showed that they didn’t actually care about the true point of having the laws of God in the first place.

Ultimately, the Pharisees were widely respected and in a league of their own when it came to observing the law of Moses. They did not deny the existence of angels or of the spirt and also did not deny the resurrection like the Sadducees.

Instead of grace, they focused on their own abilities and obedience and that is why when Jesus did not do things the way that they demanded him to, they repeatedly missed the point of what Jesus was telling them.

Modern-day Pharisees can have the appearance of holiness and mask themselves with a veil of self-righteous behaviors and standards even in present day. If you see someone emphasizing the law of God over the love of God, there might be more to see than what they are showing you there.

There will be other signs — it won’t be hard to notice if you pay attention.

Things like tithing, keeping the sabbath, and even knowledge of the Bible to a degree will take priority in their mind over the way that we are to treat others either within the brotherhood or without.

Don’t mishear me, either — rest matters.

Being a faithful giver to your local church through tithing — that matters.

Reading your Bible and studying the intricacies of the deep things of God — that also matters.

But if you make a point of those things above trusting in the finished work of what Jesus accomplished on our behalf through his death, burial, and resurrection you will find yourself in the same predicament as the Pharisees in scripture — you will miss out on the weigher matters of the law and you will mistake observance for obedience.

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