There is this little-known fact hiding in the pages of the New Testament.
Jesus seems to deplore the Pharisees, as He is always seen tearing into them and ripping them down verbally. He’s like an anti-Pharisee Panzer tank, with 1.5 missions: Save the universe and destroy the Pharisees.
But there’s a problem with this Sunday School tale.
Jesus was most likely a Pharisee.
Nothing in the Bible explicitly says this, nor does any other contemporary historical source, but most scholars who analyze things like this agree that Jesus would have been brought up in the Pharisaical schools.
For one, Jesus is referred to as “Rabbi” by numerous people. that means that He certainly was a trained rabbi of some stripe, so there must have been some school that He was raised in. Rabbinic Judaism comes exclusively from the Pharisees. So he definitely was not a Sadducee if He was a rabbi…which He was.
Also, His theology aligns most with the Pharisees. The gospels make it clear that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection. Jesus does and debates them on this often. The Pharisees on the other hand do believe in resurrection, and this is one of the biggest distinctions between the two groups (their approach to Rome perhaps being the biggest).
Yes, Jesus critiqued the Pharisees often and somewhat ruthlessly, but it’s possible to read these rebukes as a brother rebuking His own kin, rather than an outsider just tearing down a foe. It seems more like His attitude is that of, “Come on guys, I know you can do better than this! Don’t weigh people down with the law, but love people and God!”
There is also a good chance that Jesus’ words to the Pharisees seem harsh to us, but they may be Jewish forms of debate or reasoning. Much of what Jesus says seems more harsh than loving, but they just need some contextualization, plus some imagination to help His tone of voice.
Plus, it is a few Pharisees who warn Jesus to get out of their city when Herod is looking to kill Him. (Luke 13:31)
Then you have Nicodemus, to whom Jesus says the most famous verse ever in John 3, who returns later in chapter 19 to provide 75 pounds of spices and expensive oils to embalm Jesus’ body, accompanying Jospeh of Arimathea. Clearly, at least this Pharisee followed the ministry of Jesus from its start to its end.
So perhaps the Pharisees are not these crooks we often make them out to be. Maybe they’re more like pastors: Some are good, some are bad, all are human and need more instruction and wisdom from Jesus.
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Day 57 of 100 Days of Blog
I think Rabbi Akiva would tend to disagree with you here, but Rabbis Shmuel and Jussif might like the idea.