Jesus and the Woes

Jesus reacted strongly against those who would get in the way of people who needed to get onto the way of God. Jesus had some real strong words for the Pharisees and the Law-Experts, words like "You foolish people" and "Woe to you...."

The Pharisees were a religious sect within Second-Temple Judaism, men who were strictly devout to observing all the Torah. Amongst other things they placed a heavy emphasis on observing the Sabbath, observing the purity rites (like washing hands, avoiding dead/sick people, etc), avoiding table fellowship with sinners and impure people, and they taught people to observe the teachings of those who interpreted the law. Thus, it was not enough to observe Torah, but one must observe the multiple interpretations of Torah.

This is where the Law-Experts came in - whereas the Pharisees focused on how to live out a strict observance of the law, the Experts focused on detailed understanding of what Torah meant and how it could be applied to everyday life. Thus almost everything imaginable in everyday life was regulated somehow by Torah. The Pharisees and the Law-Experts had an interesting relationship; some Pharisees were also Law-Experts, and some Law-Experts were Pharisees, but they didn't necessarily always agree on everything. For example, the Pharisees believed that if they could be holy enough, and if they could get Israel to be holy enough, and if they could get rid of the sinful Herodians and impure Romans, then maybe the LORD would come and heal their land.

In the effort to prepare the way for the LORD to come and heal the land, many of the Pharisees and Law-Experts missed the coming of the LORD and his healing of the people. Jesus was not the image of God that these religious leaders had been expecting. Jesus was incredulous that these leaders, these Torah-observers, were missing the work of God. And to make matters worse, these religious leaders were actively resisting Jesus' work, trying to stop and undermine him. Jesus speaks plainly to them - the word of God to them - and the result is that most of them only intensify their opposition to him.

Jesus had no problem with the Pharisees and Law-Experts working hard to observe Torah - he did have a problem with Torah-observance that didn't also produce generosity to the poor, justice for the marginalized and love of God, humility, and true holiness. The Law-Experts were lambasted by Jesus the LORD for burdening the people with endless rules, for focusing on the letter of the Law and missing the Spirit and Word of God, for hindering their fellow citizens from finding life with God through Torah.

Jesus doesn't want people to be religious, he wants them to love God and love their neighbor. Be religious if you want, but be generous, be just, be humble, be loyal to God and to your neighbors.