There is often a misunderstanding of the Pharisees and Jesus’ issue with them. People commonly think the issue Jesus had with the first century leadership is they were “religious” or “works-based”. That was not the issue. God actually did tell us to do stuff, and He actually does require us to obey His commandments. So, obeying God’s commandments can’t be the problem Jesus had with the pharisees.
The problem is many people today fail to distinguish God’s commandments from man-made doctrines.
God’s Law vs Man’s Law
God gave us His Torah (aka “The Law”), which is His teachings, instructions, and commandments. God was always very adamant that He wants us to obey His teachings and walk in His ways. One thing God repeatedly told us not to do is add to or subtract from His Torah.
The Pharisees concocted an “oral Torah” (aka “The Oral Law”), which was later written down as the Talmud. Pharisees taught that God gave special, secret, instructions that were only known by (and passed down to) the priests in Aaron’s line in an oral tradition. The “oral Torah” was presented as necessary to correctly interpret and understand the Biblical Torah that Moses received from God. According to this teaching, only the priests who know the “oral Torah” are capable of correctly understanding and interpreting the Biblical Torah; so, all “laypersons” must yield to their teachings and authority. This is still the teaching of Orthodox Judaism today (now using the written Talmud).
Why Jesus Rebuked the Pharisees
The issue Jesus repeatedly had with the orthodox Pharisees is they taught and enforced their own, man-made, instructions while violating the Torah God gave us through Moses. For example…
Pharisees mandated everyone must perform a ritual hand-washing before eating or else become unclean. This was a made-up human tradition; God never required special hand-washing before eating. And, God never said anyone who fails to do the hand-washing of the Pharisees becomes unclean. (see Matthew 15:1-20 where the Pharisees accused Jesus’ disciples of breaking “the tradition of the elders”)
Another example is the Pharisees accusing Jesus’ disciples of profaning the Sabbath (such as in Matthew 12:1-8). According to “oral Torah”/Talmud, plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath counts as work and is not permissible. However, the Biblical Torah never said one cannot pick and eat a piece of food on the Sabbath. This was just a man-made tradition the Pharisees were enforcing.
In Matthew 23, Jesus actually told his disciples (and us, by extension of the Great Commission) to obey the Pharisees because they “sit on Moses’ seat”. We are supposed to obey what they say but not do what they do. The meaning of this instruction is that the Pharisees read the Biblical Torah verbatim each week (known as reading Torah Parshas). When reading the Biblical text verbatim, Pharisees actually are reading the word of God and we are to obey that. However, after reading from the Torah, the Pharisees would then give and enforce their own made-up doctrines that we are not to practice.
Learning the Messiah’s Lesson
The issue with the Pharisees wasn’t that they were religious, legalistic, or works-based. The issue was that they made up traditions, made up doctrines, enforced their own ideas and authority, and they nullified God’s Torah in the process. Pharisees placed their own teachings above God’s commandments, and they mandated the “laity” obey them rather than God.
Does this still happen today? Do we see any religious authorities teaching us not to obey God’s Torah but to obey their doctrines, traditions, and creeds instead?