Oh You Teachers of the Law

A major snowstorm hit our parts in early February this year, and as you can imagine it slowed traffic down quite a bit for a few days, well at least for some of us. There seems to be a select few drivers in their apartment-size, four-wheel drive vehicles, who insist on passing the slower drivers. It bugs me. I was driving along, knuckles white and gripped to the steering wheel, when one such driver in his giant pick-up passed me, splattering snow and slush all over my vehicle as he whizzed by.

I was slightly ticked. I mean really, slow down. And then it happened. A few feet in front of me Mr. Speedy lost control. Not complete control. He recovered. But barely before swerving over to oncoming traffic. My response. Well, I’m not proud, but a few snickers escaped. And possibly a softly spoken, “Sucker.” I’m not sure.

The truth is I took a little satisfaction watching someone who was a little arrogant get what was coming to him. Not my most mature moment.

Since we are on the subject of arrogance, let’s look at a group of historically arrogant people—the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a strict group of religious Jews who placed great importance on the most minute portions of the Jewish law and traditions. In modern terms, they were micro-managers. And they took it upon themselves to watch Jesus and His followers very carefully.

I will post from time to time on this subject because it’s a topic that God continually seems to address with me.  I will focus on the Gospel of Mark and his observations of the Pharisees. But I’m must warn you of something as you read about the Pharisees. It’s easy to see them as the enemy; to smile smugly when Jesus corrects them; to think “whew, so glad I’m not like that.” I believe we all have an inner-Pharisee lurking inside us, who once in a while rears its ugly head. Let’s humbly approach these scriptures and the study of this group of people with an open mind. In my opinion, we can learn a great deal from the Pharisees.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?’ Matthew 7:3