Either you’ve been called a Pharisee, or you’ve called someone a Pharisee. There’s hardly a third option.
When people call others Pharisees today, they usually mean, “You’re focusing too much on the details. Being a Christian isn’t about commandments; it’s about grace and love.”
It makes sense, right? Who condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath? The Pharisees. Who regularly tried to trap the Lord in His words? The Pharisees. And who received the harshest scolding from Jesus? Yeah, the Pharisees.
But what if being a Pharisee isn’t always a bad thing?
Of course, Jesus did have some problems with the Pharisees. And by no means would we recommend adding the following qualities to your life.
1. The Pharisees added to God’s word.
On one occasion, Jesus said to them:
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.
Mark 7:8
Sin is rooted in the idea that our ways and ideas are better than God’s. The Pharisees often added to the word of God and defined their own righteousness. Although they worshipped God, because of their treatment of His word, according to verse 8, their worship was in vain.
2. They were hypocrites.
We will have to come back to this point when discussing what the Pharisees did right. But most people are aware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They didn’t practice what they preached. In Matthew 23:4, Jesus said:
They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
3. They focused on appearances and ignored the heart.
In Matthew 23:27–28, Jesus said:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
As much as we may appreciate good behavior from our family and neighbors, most of us also care about what’s inside—what people care about, what motivates them, what they’re thinking. Are they genuine, or just trying to look good? In 1 Thessalonians 3:13, Paul didn’t just pray for outward righteousness, but he also prayed for blameless hearts. Jesus said the Pharisee “honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”
4. They majored in minors.
Jesus noted how the Pharisees tithed from their spice racks but neglected “the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23). They were meticulous about small things but missed the big picture.
5. They were proud and self-righteous.
In Luke 18, Jesus told a story of two guys who were praying. The humble tax collector, who admitted his sinfulness, went home justified. The Pharisee didn’t. Here was his prayer:
God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luke 18:11–12
So, in your pursuit of God’s righteousness, learn from the Pharisees and:
- Don’t add to God’s word.
- Don’t be a hypocrite.
- Don’t miss the importance of the heart.
- Don’t neglect the weightier matters of God’s word.
- Don’t be spiritually arrogant.
But here’s what many people get wrong: Jesus had no issue when the Pharisees taught strict obedience to God’s word. “Don’t be such a Pharisee” is often said when someone thinks a Christian is taking Scripture too seriously. But let’s look at two important passages. First:
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.”
Matthew 23:1–3
Jesus said that, as the self-appointed teachers of God’s Law, the Pharisees sat in Moses’ seat. While they taught the word of God, Jesus told His disciples to observe everything they taught. It was the classic, “Do as they say, not as they do.”
Jesus has no problem with strict observance to God’s word. In fact, Jesus said that obedience is the simplest litmus test of a disciple.
If you love Me, keep My commandments…. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
John 14:15, 20
The second Scripture is:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Matthew 23:23–24
While many are saying you should choose the bigger picture over the details, Jesus says don’t miss the big picture while focusing on the details. It’s not either/or; it’s both/and. I certainly don’t want to swallow a camel. But I also don’t want to swallow a gnat. I want them both out of my soup! Don’t you?
When we are sickened by one extreme, it’s so easy to run to the other extreme, to just swing the pendulum to the other side. Let’s be a bit more responsible in our analysis. It may sound humble or super spiritual to say, “I don’t need all that doctrine. I just need Jesus.” But if we were actually listening to Jesus, we would see how disrespectful that is. He said that love, mercy, and faith are the weightier parts of His word. But doctrine, details, and obedience in the small things also hold weight.
So, the next time someone calls you a Pharisee, ask them why. If it’s because they’ve noticed your devotion to Christ and your care to obey Him in all things, then take it as a strange kind of compliment. In this case, it’s actually good to be classified with the Pharisees.
Jesus didn’t rebuke the Pharisees for taking Scripture too seriously. He rebuked them for pretending to take it seriously while ignoring God’s heart and their own hearts. Let’s not do that. Let’s be the kind of people who love the big picture and the details—because we love the One who gave us both.