Who Are the Pharisees Now?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 8th of November, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

A lot happened during the roughly 400 years between the times of the Old and New Testaments, between the days of the prophet Malachi and the birth of Jesus.  Major world empires rose to prominence, then fell, from Persian to Roman rule.  Synagogues developed as local places for worship, prayer, and study.  Factions formed and grew, each with slightly differing beliefs and policies, including the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Zealots.  The scribes became experts in the Law as handed down by God through Moses.  The Sanhedrin - the Jewish supreme council for religious and civil matters - was established.  And all of this set the stage for the coming Messiah.

Of the religious factions, the Pharisees were the largest and arguably held the most power in Jewish society.  But as far as wielding influence, the Sadducees weren’t far behind.  During those 400 years, the Law kept getting modified, added to, interpreted and reinterpreted – much like what some people today want to do with our Constitution.  I don’t think it would be too far a stretch to say that most of those modifications and additions served the purposes and goals of man, and not of God.  By the time of Jesus’ day, there were 613 commandments the Pharisees expected the people to follow.  Six hundred and thirteen.  Do you remember how many commandments God etched into those stones Moses brought down from the mountain?  It’s safe to say the Pharisees and Sadducees had been quite busy writing and rewriting rules.

These two factions sometimes found themselves at loggerheads, but also worked together when the issue was important enough.  One of those “important issues” was the matter of this Nazarene, Jesus.  He was attracting way too much attention, too many followers, too many Gentiles, of all people.  And He was siphoning off too much of the influence the religious leaders enjoyed.

So these leaders of the people had been trying to trap Jesus, to trick Him into saying something blasphemous or wrong.  They were persistent, asking about paying taxes, about who would be what in the resurrection, about which commandment is the most important, about whose Son the Messiah is.  And every time, His answer amazed and, at least temporarily, silenced them.  His final rebuttal ended with asking them a question they could not answer – we looked at that last week.  So Jesus turned His attention to the multitude around Him.

Please listen and follow along to the blistering rebuke Jesus leveled at the Pharisees and scribes, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in the first 12 verses of the 23rd chapter of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the Easy-to-Read Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to His followers. He said, 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. 3 So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. 4 They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.

5 “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. 6 These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. 7 They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher’.

8 “But you must not be called ‘Teacher’. You are all equal as brothers and sisters. You have only one Teacher. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father’. You have one Father. He is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘Master’. You have only one Master, the Messiah. 11 Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. 12 People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.”

--Matthew 23:1-12 (ERV)

Let us pray…  Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your Holy Spirit that we might look deep within ourselves for signs of hypocrisy, and crush out any we find.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Back in 1989, the periodical Today in the Word shared this truth:

He made free use of Christian vocabulary.  He talked about the blessing of the Almighty and the Christian confessions which would become the pillars of the new government.  He assumed the earnestness of a man weighed down by historic responsibility.  He handed out pious stories to the press, especially to the church papers.  He showed his tattered Bible and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from it as scores of pious people welcomed him as a man sent from God.  Indeed, Adolf Hitler was a master of outward religiosity -- with no inward reality!

It's easy to say anything.  We can open our mouth and let the words tumble out, whether there is any truth in them or not.  Some people are very good at it.  Hitler was just one example.  Con artists have been around pretty much as long as mankind walked the earth.  The serpent in the Garden of Eden did a number on Eve, didn’t he.  Sometimes it’s just really hard to know what is truth, especially if it come from the mouth of a human.

Speaking of the Pharisees, Jesus tells the people, "They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves."  There’s a word for that, one Jesus even uses… repeatedly: hypocrite.  The word "hypocrite" comes from the Greek word for "stage actor", or one who pretends to be what he is not.  That certainly defines our actors and actresses of today, who pretend to be something they're not, and all for our entertainment.

Of course, Jesus wasn't very entertained by the Pharisees and Sadducees.  So He tells the people not to follow their example.  It’s a case of, “Do what they say, not what they do.”  They expect others to follow all those rules, the rules they themselves mostly don’t follow.  They only do the things they do so as to be seen by others.  They seek the places of import and honor at banquets and the synagogue.  Oh, and they thrive on the respect people show them in the marketplace and streets.

Don’t be like them, Jesus warns.  Don’t think yourself to be any better than anyone else.  Be humble, and in that way, be made great.

And then Jesus focuses on the religious leaders again.  We need to read a little further in Matthew’s account for this.  Continuing in chapter 23 of Matthew’s Gospel account, Jesus turns His attention, and His scathing rebuke, back to the religious leaders in verses 13, 14, 23, 27, and 28, when He shouts...

13 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter. 14 It will be bad for you, teachers of the law and you Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You cheat widows and take their homes. Then you make long prayers so that people can see you. So you will have a worse punishment.

23 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law — being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things.

27 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. 28 It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.”

--Matthew 23:13-14,23,27-28 (ERV)

Yep, Jesus knew that word “hypocrite”.  And He used it correctly, for the Pharisees pretended to be so much more than they were, pretended to be so much better than anyone else, pretended to be serving God when they were only benefiting themselves.  They look all holy and righteous on the outside, but on the inside are full of hypocrisy and evil.

I really don't want Jesus to consider me to be like a tomb painted white.  These declarations are reasons enough for us to never want to be hypocrites, or act in a hypocritical manner.  Just reading them makes me cringe.  They had to have infuriated the Pharisees and scribes.

So family, who are the Pharisees now?  Well, if we’re not careful, we could be.  They do exist today, and if we’re not very mindful of what we think, do, and say, in our intent and our actions, we may find ourselves among their numbers.  Now, I’m not talking about a specific religious sect or group or faction – just individuals.

Who are the super-hypocrites of our age?  Who are the blind leaders, taking others down the path to doom?  Can we always recognize them in time?  Can we tell the truth from a good con job?

Maybe not, but what we can always count on are the words from God and from His Son Jesus.  God has given us His Holy Spirit to help us discern the truth from clever lies.  He can help us see through even the most effective hypocrite.  We just need to listen closely to Him, and to follow His lead.

There are hypocrites out there, many doing Satan’s work, rather than just trying to entertain us.  They pretend to be something they are not, benefiting themselves at our expense.  Leading us to hell with promises of heaven.  Listen to the Holy Spirit speaking into Your heart, follow Him, and be safe.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of the one true God.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for always giving us the truth.  And thank You so very much for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, who can help us see the truth from others.  Please help us see through the smooth talkers.  Help us avoid Satan’s traps and snares.  Guide our feet as we walk this path.  And forgive us, please, when we let our gaze slip off the things of heaven and back onto worldly things.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for rebuking the Pharisees so stridently, and in doing so, putting all hypocrites on notice.  And thank You for showing us the evil nature of hypocrisy, both in believing hypocrites or by being a hypocrite ourself.  Lord, please forgive us when we try to be something we’re not, when we think ourself better than others, when we only do things to benefit ourself.  Please help us be truthful in everything we think, do, and say, especially in our dealings with others.  And in all we do, help us show Your love through our love.  In showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.