The Pharisees

The Pharisees were one of the two major sects of Judaism and the strictest of them all. They believed in Jehovah and urged people to obey the Law. However, they were rigid and stuck to tradition, believing that the interpretations of the Law by their ancestors had the same authority as God’s own interpretation. The Pharisees were generally concerned with outward actions, practicing self-control with religious zeal. Because of this, they believed they could be justified by God, but they neglected “the inner righteousness, mercy, and faithfulness” and the true essence of worshipping God.

The Lord Jesus rebuked them for focusing only on ceremonial cleanness while allowing their hearts to be filled with impurity. He said they were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but full of dead men’s bones and uncleanness inside, making them hypocrites. Jesus also often warned His disciples not to be like the Pharisees. In Matthew 5:20, Jesus told His disciples, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Although the Pharisees were heavily criticized by Jesus, there were some who were willing to seek the truth, such as Nicodemus, who visited the Lord Jesus at night to discuss the issue of being born again and later became one of His disciples. However, most Pharisees were complicit in the plot to kill Jesus.

The Bible records:

[Matthew 23:25-28] 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. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 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. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version Bible and Comprehensive Biblical Interpretation.