What? Me? A Pharisee?

When you read the Gospels, and you see Jesus in conflict with the Pharisees, what do you imagine they look like? I know I used to have an image of what I believed to be the archetypal Pharisee: an extremely old man who looked like most modern day orthodox rabbis like this picture. But the more I think about it, the more I think that this is a wrong assumption. I think there are a few reasons why I (and maybe a lot of other people) envisioned them this way:

1.  I confused the Pharisees with all the Jewish leaders. I imagined all the groups (chief priests, scribes, Saducees, and Sanheidren) were one large homogenous group. This isn't helped by John constantly just lumping all the Jewish opposition into one category (the Jews).
2.  It's easy to think of Jesus' enemies/opposition as someone who is nothing like me. This creates plenty of distance between those evil men who opposed our Lord and me, his humble servant.

As I have been reading the book of Luke of late, I've noticed something. My thoughts on who the Pharisees were is nothing but denial. If I can imagine them as being someone that is nothing like me, then it's easy for me to deny that I am anything like them. When Jesus talks against the Pharisees, it could be someone who is a lot like me. In fact, the actions and attitudes of the Pharisees in his stories are my attitudes. These were people who were involved in their religion, grew up studying the Bible, and tried to devote their whole lives to God the best they could. That sounds a lot like me.

The Pharisee Simon was appalled that Jesus was inviting a woman with a bad reputation to join their dinner. This along with the complaint of the Pharisees in Luke 15 concerning Jesus accepting sinners reflects the prejudices that I have had about who God can use.

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the temple praying exposes many of my self-righteous feelings, attitudes, and even prayers (Luke 18). 

It's far too easy to imagine we are one of the disciples hanging around with Jesus. Yes, they were buffoons. Yes, they were dense. Yes, they failed. But they were still on Jesus' side. They had his back (most of the time). And as Jesus said, "Whoever is not working against you, is working with you" (Luke 9:50, the Voice).

But too often, we are working against Jesus. Instead of imagining picturing myself as a disciple who's just bumbling through my ignorance, I need to challenge myself to imagine myself as the Pharisee who Jesus is warning to get my priorities straight. 

As a side note: think of Paul. Before he was converted, he was a Pharisee. Many estimate that he was born around A.D. 5, and the events of Acts 6 occurred around the year 34. This would mean he could have been twenty-nine when he had established his reputation as an elite Pharisee. He was younger than me! When I started thinking about that, it really changed my perspective of who the Pharisees were.