Handling Pharisees Jesus-Style Part 1

This blog is a result of several conversations colliding at this moment on the calendar. Too often I have lost moments like these because I let them pass without writing them. Not today, Satan! It all began with a conversation with my cousin, Aaron Cirilo. He has a way of phrasing a concept that always resonates with me. He made the statement: "The self-righteous are always easy on themselves and hard on others. The righteous are hard on themselves and easy on others." Epic, I know. There were other conversations that will go unmentioned. 

Then I began reading John 8 in search of some answers from the Lord about a mentality that every Christian struggles with at some point. Pharisaism is that mentality. I struggle with it. The reality is that it makes me the most uncomfortable when it is being used against me, and not when I am using it against others. Which convicted me even as I wrote it. What am about write applies to everyone—including myself. And perhaps me writing this makes me the ultimate Pharisee. I am reflecting on the way that I treat others as I write this piece. 

We all dislike Pharisees theoretically. But how are we to handle them? The way we tend to handle them is with as much condemnation and judgment as they give to everyone else. But is that the proper way? With this blog, I am beginning an exploration of how Jesus handled Pharisees. Can anyone question the wisdom with which Jesus handled Pharisees? I want to follow his example.  

In John 8, the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus whom they caught in the very act (4). Her guilt is not a question. Neither she nor Jesus attempted to say that the Pharisees were mistaken in their accusations. She did it. But the behavior of the Pharisees leads to a lot of questions. Where was the man that she was with? She did not commit adultery alone. Were they covering for him? If they were,  then why were they covering for him. What did he know about them? So many questions that I would have loved to have been there to ask. But that is how I would have treated Pharisees. How did Jesus treat Pharisees? I must make the point here that Jesus is not just for the people who are accused falsely of bad things. Jesus loves, forgives and restores people who are accused rightfully of bad things. 

The Pharisees were not actually concerned about the woman or her sin. They were using here a political pawn attack Jesus (5-6). They were checking to see if Jesus would keep their laws and traditions. Pharisees will play games with people's lived for their personal agendas. They even have the audacity to do it with sins in their lives. That is why they are not only Pharisees, but also hypocrites. 

How did Jesus handle the Pharisees in the case of the adulterous woman? His first response was to act like he could hear them (6). I did hear what they were saying, but he did not affirm their accusations. He did not probe for details. He ignored them. Blocking out the voices of Pharisees is how Jesus handles them. I will not validate their arguments by trying to argue with them. Pharisees love that attention. Refuse to give it to them. 

But in normal Pharisaical fashion, they would not shut up. When Jesus finally engaged them, notice how he did it. "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (7). They were convicted by their consciences (9). Jesus did not air out their sins, even though he could have. The private court of their conscience convicted them. He focused on their private sins, not her public sins. Jesus was way more concerned with what they were hiding than what they were revealing. They were exposing someone else's sins while hiding many of their own. We, like the Pharisees, are comfortable with people who hid their sins but judge others. Jesus is just the opposite. Jesus handled Pharisees by making them reflect on their own sinfulness. How should we handle Pharisees? We should not validate their accusations, but cause them to reflect on their own morality. 

Ultimately, Jesus did whatever he had to do to rescue people from the poison of Pharisees. And so should we. Jesus refused to hand over even the guilty to others who were also guilty. Todd Nance preached a memorable message called, "When Grace Judges Your Sin." You do not want Pharisees judging you. You want grace judging you.