They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. –Matthew 23:4
This is what it looks like when a Pharisee is in power. They load you down with rules and expectations. And these are distant rules. They don’t feel a single ounce of the weight of their biblical interpretations. This is arm-chair quarterbacking at it’s zenith. They have zero experience being a day-laborer but they are still able to use the Scriptures to bog down their daily tasks. The Pharisee can comfortably hypothesize about whether or not you can save a lamb who fell into a pit on the Sabbath. But they don’t have to bear the anguish or financial burden of losing a lamb. They are distantly opining on other people’s problems.
Have you noticed, though, reading through the Gospels that this schtick doesn’t work on Jesus. He doesn’t bow to their authority. He plucks grain on the Sabbath. He heals the lamb that falls into a pit. He gives life, not rules. He’s out of control. Or rather He’s out of their control.
Do you notice the posture they pick up when they are interacting with Jesus? They are victims. I can almost hear the Pharisee giving their defense.
“You all claim that Jesus was preaching a message of good news, that has not been our experience. We asked for signs, so we could know if he was from God, and he simply refused to give them. We tried asking questions to further understand his positions and he either didn’t answer them or he dodged our questions. Then, he goes on the attack. He calls us brood of vipers. He had the audacity to say that we don’t actually have Abraham as our Father. And he threatened to destroy the temple, to take away our livelihood. Then, completely unprovoked, he came into the temple and started flipping things over. This is hurting the economy. And he blocks all temple work on that day. Jesus is destructive. He preaches about love and blessedness and caring for the poor while at the same time causes a farmer to lose a whole herd of pigs.”
Pharisees are masterful at flipping the script. Jesus says, “blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek” and the Pharisees then weasel themselves into those titles. Jesus says that his ministry is about giving sight to the blind, freeing captives, rescuing the vulnerable, etc. This rescue mission causes difficulty for the Pharisees. It exposes their blindness, their captivity, their vulnerability. But rather than coming to Jesus they flip his words and make him out to be a false teacher. “He says he’s about rescuing the vulnerable and then he makes us vulnerable. You aren’t really about good news, because your mission is nothing but bad news for us.”
If a Pharisee is in power they will put impossible burdens upon you. This is an effort to keep power. They will beat you down with expectations. They will make you feel as if you are a failure, not enough, weak, and incompetent. When Jesus captures your heart and you rise above this by refusing to believe their message they will then put impossible burdens upon you as a victim. Your freedom will hurt them, and they’ll let you know it.
Don’t apologize for walking in the freedom of Jesus. If another person refuses to walk in the light of Christ their darkness isn’t your fault. But beware of our own inner-Pharisee. Our “vulnerability” can really just be a ploy for regaining power. Be wary of the impossible burdens our hearts desire to put upon others. Jesus is the only anchor to keep our hearts from being pulled in by this deception.
