The Pharisees in Church

Matthew 9:33-34 (CSB) When the demon had been driven out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

It is not always easy to tell, at first glance, whether someone in a body of believers is a Pharisee. But listen to the difference between the voice (and therefore the heart) of the common people versus the religious Pharisees:

The common people acknowledged that what they were seeing had never been done in Israel – a demon being cast out. They commented on it just as they saw it: “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel” (NASB). They had no spiritual reputation to protect. They had no position in the synagogue to defend. They spoke plainly and truthfully. 

But what we hear from the Pharisees is this: “He cast out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” This is the voice of the Pharisee. He discredits the true things of God. He tries to make the exploits that God does through someone else seem lesser, small and insignificant. He turns truth on its head and accuses the godly of evil, assigning to him sinister motives, motives of actually being evil rather than good. He accuses him of witchcraft or of operating in alliance with the devil. He marks the steps of the godly one, and sifts through all his behaviors, scrutinizing him and searching for how he might accuse him. He asks him trick questions in order to trap him in his words (Matthew 19:3, 22:15). This is typical Pharisee behavior. Do not try to convince yourself that the behavior you are seeing from the Pharisees in your church is not what it is. Yes, they are Pharisees. And yes, what you are seeing is envy. 

And we know this is the voice of envy, for we are told in many places that the Pharisees were envious of Jesus and did Him much harm, even to the extreme of crucifixion (Mark 15:10, Matthew 27:17-18). 

Consider these thoughts from Zac Poonen’s sermon, “Pharisees are Motivated by Jealousy and Hatred”1 :

When you are jealous of someone, it will be very obvious in your speech and your conduct. You can be jealous of someone who can preach better than you, or who has wealth or spiritual gifts that you don't have. Then you will find it very easy to look for some small fault in him in order to criticise him. And you will long to see him fall in some way.

The history of the human race begins with two streams - one spiritual (Abel) and the other religious (Cain). Cain's primary sin was jealousy of Abel. These two streams finally end in Jerusalem (the true church) and the false church (Babylon).

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1 “Pharisees are Motivated by Jealousy and Hatred” by Zac Poonens, SermonIndex.net c. 2002-2024