๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐...
Yeshua lived within the milieu of the various sects of Judaism during His day:
-the Sadducees
-the Pharisees
-the Zealots
-the Essenes (including the Therapeutae & the Yahad of the Dead Sea community).
Of all of these, Yeshua explicitly told His disciples that it is the Pharisees who sit in the seat of Moses.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ดโ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ต. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ." -๐๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ธ 23:2-3
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐.
Yeshua warned His disciples about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, because their actions so often do not line up with the teaching of scripture. He also went on to provide several examples of their hypocrisy. But in so far as the sects of the day, He recognized that the Pharisees represented orthodoxy. And He was probably so harsh on them because, in a very real sense, He was one of them. He was a Rabbi, and only Pharisees are called "Rabbi".
Really stop and think of the significance of this. Don't gloss over it. Yeshua was intentional about saying this. He could have ignored it or never mentioned the Pharisees having any sort of claim to truth.
But he didn't.
๐๐ค ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ.
Yeshua did not say that the Yahad, who teach a completely different solar calendar and hated the Aaronic temple priesthood, sat in the seat of teaching authority.
He did not say that the Sadducees, who don't believe in the resurrection and who always do Pentecost on Sunday, sat in the seat of teaching authority.
He says that the Pharisees, who instituted the rabbinic system of home and synagogue fellowship, kept the luni-solar calendar of observing the moon and intercalating the year with a 2nd Adar, and always kept the Day of First Fruits on the 16th of Nisan, sat in the seat of teaching authority.
But the Pharisees were not a monolithic group. They were diverse, consisting of subsects within Pharisaism. They engaged in rigorous debate and discussion regarding the scriptures in both faith and practice. There were some who were more conservative, and others who were more liberal. Some more gracious, and some more strict.
They were engaged. Meeting with people regularly. Hosting small groups, prayer gatherings, fellowship meals, Torah study, etc. They were politically active, and many were powerful. Some for good purposes, and some for wicked.
Many aren't aware of the sacrifices that Pharisees endured for the people of Israel. The Pharisees supported traditional Jewish practice, and stood up for the welfare of the common people. They opposed combining kingship with the high priesthood, which was a Sadducean-leaning religious practice.
This erupted during the tenure of Alexander Jannaeus, the wicked Hasmonean king that the Pharisees opposed, leading to a six-year civil war around 90 BCE that took the lives of around 50,000 Jews.
At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jannaeus (who was both king and high priest) poured the water of libation on his own feet instead of upon the altar. The Pharisees were highly insulted at this act of sacrilege. As a result, many in the crowd at the temple threw citrons (large lemons) at him. So Jannaeus had his soldiers kill those who pelted him with citrons, leading to a massacre 6,000 Jews at the temple.
Jannaeus prevailed in the war, and whilst feasting with concubines, he crucified 800 Pharisees and had their wives and children slaughtered before their eyes.
Selah.
Jannaeus removed the Pharisees from the Sanhedrin and imposed Sadducean practices. He dismantled their institutional sway and their popular representation they had garnered from the people of Israel. Many fled, but the Pharisees did not give up.
They endured, and resurged under Jannaeus's widow, Salome, who reversed many of his policies. The traditions and values that the Pharisees fought for shaped the Rabbinic Judaism that emerged in the next century.
Under Salome, the Pharisees retook control of the Sanhedrin from the hands of the Sadducees, and they re-established Pharisaic interpretations of the Torah as authoritative.
Under their leadership, many positive reforms took place including instituting protections for women's rights in marriage contracts (ketubah), court reforms, education, schools for children and free education for the poor. This golden era of prosperity continued for about 9 years until Salome died, and conflict broke out between her sons, causing another civil war and leading to Roman general Pompey's intervention and capture of Jerusalem in 63 BCE, making Judea a Roman client kingdom rather than an independent state.
Antigonus (Hasmonean king) sought help from the Parthians, and in 40 BCE took Jerusalem, but eventually Herod and the Romans prevailed, permanently ending the Hasmonean Dynasty and firmly establishing the Herodian Dynasty.
Herod didn't favor the Pharisees or the Sadducees. He played politics for ultimate power.
Herod bribed Sadducean elites when convenient, and auctioned the high priesthood to Sadducean priestly families such as Boethus and Ananus; and this is how the families of Annas and Caiaphas rose under this system.
Even though the Sadducees maintained control of the priesthood, they did not get to dictate everything that happened. This is because the Pharisees had strong support among the common people. The Sadducees in office often had to defer to Pharisaic customs to avoid backlash from the masses who followed Pharisaic teaching.
The Omer counting method and date of Firstfruits (always the 16th of Nisan), for example, was done according to Pharisaic custom, and the broader calendar system was administered by the Sanhedrin, which was mixed but often Pharisaic-leaning. Not only this, but the Pharisaic temple customs prevailed.
๐๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐จ "๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ" ๐ค๐ง "๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐". ๐๐ค๐ก๐ฎ.
They wanted Israel to be set apart. A light on a hill. They resisted Hellenization, and they resisted priest-kings. But even this endeavor can become corrupted.
Many of them got too comfortable in their positions of power and prestige. Many abused their positions of authority.
To many, Yeshua was a great threat. But to others, He was the Messiah.
But to Yeshua, the Pharisees were the shepherds in the fields; the soldiers in the trenches; the orthodox sect of Judaism that He considered Himself to be a part of, but also the group which required the harshest admonition.
One such Pharisee went by the name of Paul, and through the grace of God, became a follower of Yeshua... and yet he remained a Pharisee (Acts 23:6).
And maybe, now you'll think of them a bit differently than before. Shalom!