What better time than the birthday of Jesus Christ to examine the Pharisees, as He did. Jesus had much to say about this sect that had established control over spiritual life in Judea and was even able to manipulate the leaders of the occupying Roman Legion. The noun Pharisee occurs at least 87 times in the New Testament. They are invariably in conflict with Jesus. However, any use of this word has mostly been eliminated from the teaching of seminaries and pulpits of Americas churches and the professing Christian
media.
What Is A Pharisee And Why Don’t We Hear About Them Any More?
Webster defines Pharisee “One of the members of a school or party among the ancient Jews noted for the strict formal observance of the rites and validity of traditions of the elders. Pharisee interpretation provided the standard of observation and belief for the great majority of the Jews from the 1st century A.D. Pharisaic Hypocritical, self righteous and censorious of others” — Websters New International Dictionary of the English Language,
2nd edition, 1950.
Jesus confronted the Pharisees daily, as we believe all true followers of Christ should do. No longer an exclusive Jewish term, the pharisaic influence can be found in every church and synagogue in America, busily reshaping Christianity into its own image.
Every mention of Pharisees occurs in the New Testament, forming the center of conflict swirling around Jesus, His disciples and followers. The Pharisees stalked and persecuted them throughout their missions. Along with the 78 verses where they are mentioned by name, the Pharisees are also named by the pronouns they or them in many more verses. They are the object of Jesus debates in several complete chapters of Matthew, John and Luke which provide accounts of the ongoing conflict and plot against his life.
The name Pharisee occurs 54 more times than the infamous name of Judas, and twenty times more often than the name of Pontius Pilot. It is without a doubt the most infamous name in the New Testament, second only to Satan. Jesus consistently denounced them as associates of Satan and his lies.
Yet the word Pharisee has been pointedly ignored and all but forgotten in modern Christendom. It may be the most avoided word found in the Bible. Many church pastors and most televangelists are capable of preaching the year through without ever mentioning the word Pharisee, except in passing over it like an extinct and irrelevant species. Bible study courses rarely mention who the Pharisees were, and why Jesus pronounced upon them so harshly. Could it be that any celebrity Christian who wants to keep his TV contract, knows that he must never suggest that the Pharisees war on Jesus has anything at all to do with us, or that this anti-Christ sect may have survived to this day?
The word Pharisee has not yet been removed from any Bibles we know of. Though we believe this too might soon be attempted. Most Bible commentaries and concordances avoid any serious treatment of who the Pharisees are and what they believe. One example is the concordance in the new, very popular Thompson Study Bible which is supposedly designed to help readers understand the Scriptures. Amazingly it contains only one of the 78 sites about Pharisees found in Strongs, the accepted standard. The 1962 edition contained four of the 78. It appears that the publisher is progressively phasing the word
out of our Christian vocabulary.
Jesus denounced this most powerful and destructive faction of anti-Christianity as damned, calling them a “generation of vipers” and “sons of Satan.” However, most study Bibles and courses omit all but a casual mention of the Pharisees.
The purpose of Pharisee Watch is to bring to light the ongoing influence of the Pharisees on our modern society and how they continue the attempt to control our lives. Jesus clearly shows us how they controlled Judea during His time. Needless to say we do not think Pharisees have gone away or they would not still be tampering with The Faith. Websters definition spotlights Pharisaism as modern Judaism. This is proudly echoed by many rabbinical sources, which are quite arrogant of their station. They would move heaven and earth to discourage thousands of pastors and televangelists from teaching what Jesus has told us so clearly.
The granddaddy of all the Pharisee censors is the powerfully promoted Scofield study Bible, first printed in England in 1908, but sold in America. It contains hundred of notes about the “rapture in the last days” and the return of the ancient tribe of the Israelites to the Holy Land. The latest version of Scofield has even advanced “anti-Semitism” to the status of a “sin.” Each of the four successive editions has further advanced the claim of the self-proclaimed Jews to the real estate known today as the State of Israel. However, Scofield hardly contains a note about the hundreds of verses recording Jesus daily conflict and the plot of his death by the Pharisees.
The first mention of Pharisees occurs in Matthew 37 when they appear in number at the Jordan River where John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. John’s encounter is vividly recorded in Mt. 37 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” 38, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” King James Editiononline Genesis Network
One early exchange between Christ and the Pharisees occurred in Matthew 12 where Jesus called them “an evil and adulterous generation? in a powerful exchange that fills most of the chapter.
Matthew Chapter 23 primarily highlights Jesus condemnation of the Pharisees. Verses 31-34 read, “Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city” (King James version).
How can such a discourse be ignored during the entire careers of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jack Van Empe and dozens more like them? They have made a career of  promoting Israel, regardless of the moral cost.
Luke 21 and John 8 contain more of the incessant confrontations of Jesus with the evil ant-Christ sect. We suggest every skeptical reader look up and read each of the 78 situations in Strong’s Concordance containing the word Pharisee. Ask your own pastor when he last preached on what Jesus meant. Every follower of Christ should ask himself,
“Why is almost all mention of the most powerful and evil cult to appear in the New Testament avoided and shunned by Christian leaders today?“
If you agree with us, we ask you to help to give every follower of Christ an opportunity to learn about PhariseeWatch.
Toward the strait gate (Mathew
7:13)
C. E. Carlson, Directors and Advisors, We
Hold These Truths