There were two types of Pharisaism in the days of Jesus; one of which he ascribed and supported, and another to which he rebukes in Matt. 23. But by no means, was Jesus rebuking and calling for the abolition of all Pharisees in his day. Jesus did not stand against the Written Law or Oral Law, nor even Pharisaism, but only against the elevation of the letter of the Law above the spirit of the Law.
There are two types of 'Oral' Law. Moral and ceremonial laws (the moral in every case taking precedence over the ceremonial laws).
The Oral Law detailed the many conditions that allowed for the breaking of the Sabbath. Grace was provided by G-d for those who needed to break the Sabbath for a higher ethic and moral law. For example, the Rabbis of the Hillel School of Pharisaism declared that is was permissible to violate the Sabbath to preserve life, that in doing so you violate a Sabbath to ensure the observance of future Sabbaths. This was accepted interpretation by the Hillel Pharisees (of which Jesus belonged), but not to the Shammai Pharisees or the Sadducees who were ultra-strict, always adhering to the letter of the Law over the spirit of the Law (Oral Law).
Luke 11:42 "But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
"these (least commandments) you ought to have done, without neglecting the others (grave-weightier commandments)." Jesus was saying "these (ceremonial laws) you ought to have done!"
Jesus' intention was to separate morality from the strict interpretation of Laws of the Old Testament as held by one of the two major branches of Pharisees (Shammai school). Although those Pharisees were resentful of this, the majority never desired to be rid of Jesus or to kill him. It would be the chief Priests and their scribes (Sadducees) who would be responsible for handing Jesus over to the Romans. These were Sadducees and not Pharisees. Any hostility between Jesus and the Pharisees are due to differences of interpretation of Law (school of Hillel against the school of Shammai).
"Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, Saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, Greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'
But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long rayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, And say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' " "
Start with the Holy Bible. It's all about Him, including the Old Testament.
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