Pharisees: Do you really know them? Homily for Sunday, November 5, 2023

I would suspect that if we were asked to describe what a Pharisee was, we would not be terribly accurate. Because more than likely, we've gotten a little bit of an notion here or a little bit of an idea there, but we really probably don't know a whole heck of a lot about the Pharisees. Like so many things in life, Pharisees were complex people. What it meant to be a Pharisee was complex. We see the dangers of making things simple in our society. For example, just think about the challenges that many have tried to bring peace in the Middle East. I would suggest that some of the reason, most of the reason, maybe even all the reason, is that we're quite simplistic about the struggle. We tend to pick one side or the other and say we know what we need to know. Such is the case with the Pharisees. First of all, let's be clear, some very wonderful people were Pharisees. St. Paul probably most notably, he tells us in his letters that he is a Pharisee. There are some scholars who would suggest that Jesus was a Pharisee because he is quite harsh to them, because I think he suspects that they've lost their way. On my website, I'll have a lot more to say about Pharisees, their histories, and who they are. That's thefriar.org. It's in the bulletin. It's in my introduction over the course of this week. Normally I'll do that before the readings, but in moving I didn't get a chance to do that. But let me say what's important here. The Pharisees arose at a time where the faith was not terribly well-practiced among the Jewish people. Moreover, there were developments in Jewish faith that moved the people away from a lack of belief in an afterlife. We see that among the Sadducees, probably the most notable proponents that there was no afterlife. And to a belief in a spiritual realm to the world as well as a spiritual world. The idea was that by separating themselves to some degree from the society in which they viewed corruption, difficulty, and immoral living, they could much more clearly adopt the practices of the law that would bring them closer to the God who extended the covenant. All that's good. There's nothing wrong with any of that. But what we encounter in the Gospel, and when we see the Pharisees in the Gospel, and I would say by extension when we see like let's say in the Gospel of John references to the Jews, we're really not referencing the Jews as in the entire people who followed the law of the covenant, but the Pharisees. They were the ones. Now, why did they get themselves in trouble? Probably originally for a good reason. The Romans occupied Israel. The goal of the people was to be able to determine their own way of life by being free, by having political opportunities to be a nation. In order to be able to continue to practice their religion, the Pharisees entered into a relationship with the Romans. And the ones who kind of oversaw the fidelity of the political relationship which they entered into, again, not all bad because no other people was allowed to practice their faith except the Jews and those who agreed to worship the emperor, which many Christians died for refusing to do. But what happened? With this came privilege. With this came prestige. With this came a different level of life for these Pharisees, and it went to their heads. That's what Jesus is always then acting about. And what he's primarily focusing on is the motivation for what they do. Now I would further suggest that if I were to ask you to define a phylactery, you probably wouldn't know what it is, but it's actually very common among Orthodox Jews, particularly Hasidic Jews that are probably the most Orthodox. Namely, it was the primary commandment of the law, the Shema (Deut. 6:4), Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is Lord alone, him you shall serve with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Okay, greatest commandment. . .