Jesus as Prophet did not spare the Scribes and the Pharisees of His time. He exposed their deeds and unmasked them before the very people who were the victims of these religious leaders. He did not give any message palatable to their taste. Jesus could not tolerate “Phariseeism”, while forgiving sinners. In the 23rd chapter of Mathew, He rebuked them on their face, saying seven times, “Woe unto you!” He even called them, “Blind guides”, “Blind Pharisee”, “Whitewashed tombs” Hypocrites”, “Serpents, brood of vipers”. The Scribes and the Pharisees had the misconception that they were upholding the Law of Moses. They in fact followed the Law of Moses in letter but not in spirit. They preached something, which they could not practice.
These days, there are modern Scribes and Pharisees in our churches. They preach what they do not practice. They bind heavy burden, hard to bear and lay on men’s shoulders but they themselves would not move them with one of their fingers. They quote the Bible verses and ask the parishioners to follow these commandments. They go on adding a list of dos’ and don’ts to the existing list of Old Testament commandments. But they will not help their parishioners in obeying the so-called commandments because they or their own children do not follow such commandments (Vs.4-5).
On Sundays, they long to make long sermons and love to preach, and not to intercede in their closets before God for their sheep. They do not allow others or the budding ministers to give sermons on Sundays. They make their debut only in the pulpits on Sundays and are missing either in their churches or in their houses the other days. They are thus not available to the parishioners who are in need of their prayers or counsels. They do not visit the houses of the poor parishioners nor do they visit the sick. They want their works to be seen by others. They wear special dresses on the dais or in the pulpit but in their secret life they do not practice righteousness and holiness. (Vs.5)
They love the best places on the dais or in the churches (Vs.6). They love greetings in public places and in churches and to be called with suffixes or affixes to their names (Vs.6-10). They do not want to serve their congregations but want to be served by their congregations by tithes and offerings. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant (Vs.11).
They shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. They neither go nor do they allow others to enter to go in. By falsifying the truth of the Bible, they present another gospel to the people. They preach that there is neither hell nor the Devil. They justify divorce and adultery. They do not condemn sin. They question the authenticity of the Bible and its translation (Vs.13).
For pretence, they make long prayers in prayer meetings and in churches. But they oppress the weak people and covet their money. If a single soul is converted, they make his new life in Christ miserable by binding a heavy burden on his shoulder (Vs.14-15).
They are hypocrites, as their inner life does not reveal their so-called righteousness and holiness, which they pretend to possess. They demand and prefer outward sanctification to inward sanctification (Vs.26-27).
They condemn and persecute the true and humble servants of God who do not dance to their tune (Vs.34-35).
When we meditate on the passion of Christ, let us decide today to raise our voice against the modern Scribes and Pharisees in our churches, and to unmask them. If we allow them to practice Phariseeism, we would be partakers of their sin.
-Job Anbalagan