The Pharisees in the New Testament get a very bad press. We think of them as being Jesus' enemies, relentlessly hostile and critical, determined to oppose and undermine him at every turn. We even have a word, 'Pharisaical', that means hypocritical and self-righteous.
But according to Helen Bond, Professor of Christian Origins at Edinburgh University, Pharisees were actually well liked and respected by the Jewish people. In her book Jesus: A very brief history (SPCK, £7.99), she says they were pious Jews who aimed to adhere as closely as possible to the written law laid down in the Jewish Scriptures, and also their oral traditions. They were devoted to the accurate exposition of Scripture and often engaged in heated debates with their opponents – of whom Jesus was one – and with each other. They were particularly interested in purity and separated themselves from others who didn't share the same devotion.
Bond says Jesus had much in common with the Pharisees. They too would believe that love and concern for one's neighbour was important, and most of them wouldn't even have objected to his healing people on the Sabbath.
But where they parted company was in his eating with tax-collectors and sinners. When he ate with undesirables he was symbolically enacting the 'great banquet' the Messiah would offer in the End Times. For Jesus, the feast was inclusive even of sinners.
And Bond says: 'From the Pharisees' perspective, however, such meals only underscored Jesus' naivety: what was the point of living a righteous life if tax-collectors and sinners were to be the first in the kingdom of God? Why should anyone believe in their repentance? And could a man who promoted such undesirables really claim to speak for God?'
The heart of the Gospel is that God loves us anyway, whether we are 'good' people or not. The biblical Pharisees weren't nearly as bad as we think; but modern-day 'Pharisees' who limit God's grace and don't accept those he calls are still found in churches today.
