[editor-surveyor]

>> “Given Jesus’ repeated interactions with the Pharisees and Pauls’ statement that he had been a disciple of Gamaliel, I would expect to be able to find them giving an unqualified put down of all Pharisaic notions. The best anyone has been able to show to date is a put down of a specific tradition or two.” <<

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You really need to do more thoughtful reading of God's word!

Matthew 15 is a total rebuke of all the Pharisees said and did:

[1] Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
[2] Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
[3] But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
[4] For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
[5] But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
[6] And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
[7] Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
[8] This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
[9] But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
[10] And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
[11] Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
[12] Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?
[13] But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
[14] Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

And Matthew 23 is again a total rebuke of the Pharisees and their false commandments:

[1] Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
[2] Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
[3] All therefore whatsoever they He* bids you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
[4] For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
[5] But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
[6] And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
[7] And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
[8] But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
[9] And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
[10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
[11] But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
[12] And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
[13] But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
[14] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
[15] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
[16] Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
[17] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
[18] And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
[19] Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
[20] Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
[21] And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
[22] And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
[23] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
[24] Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
[25] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
[26] Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
[27] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
[28] Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
[29] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
[30] And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
[31] Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
[32] Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
[33] Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
[34] Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
[35] That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
[36] Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
[37] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
[38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
[39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

How many woes does it take to convince you that he rejected them and all they said and did?

* The original Hebrew Matthew said "He," not "they."

[ronnietherocket3]

* The original Hebrew Matthew said "He," not "they."

Unless you post a link to the version of Scripture you want to claim as canonical and proof that it is canonical, please do not claim there are errors in the version of Scripture we have.

Concerning the list of woes, this reads more like a condemnation of behavior and priorities. Since the Pharisees were well known for believing that there was an Oral Torah, I would expect a very clear condemnation of that belief. Back to the Woes, I suggest you google the 7 types of Pharisees if you are interested in the Pharisaic view of the Pharisees. Here is one resource. The 5 bad types of Pharisees are very easy for a lot of Christians to fall into. Nicodemus and Gamaliel were Pharisees.

Concerning call no man father:
There are repeated references to Apostles addressing people as little children, e.g., "My little Children" (1Jn2:1). Since all the Apostles are men, they are calling themselves the fathers of those individuals.

Concerning sitting on Moses seat:
Since the Pharisees hold that there is and Oral and a Written Torah, it would be very odd to say they sit on Moses' seat if Jesus condemns their belief that God gave Moses two Torahs.



Concerning Matthew 15:
Jesus' specific condemnation is over them permitting someone to honor the Temple above their father and mother. There was a dispute in Pharisaic Judaism over whether this was permitted (Tractate Nedarim 9). The conclusion of this reasoning is that something dedicated to the Temple is dedicated to God. Honoring father and mother are not necessarily. Interesting to note, is that Jesus does not respond to their initial inquiry about the hand washing ritual. He ignores it. The parallel passage in Mark 7, has some of his disciples observing it and some not observing it.

However, this connects back to the other passage. First, what is the hand washing ritual? It is a ritual in Pharisaic Judaism involving washing hands because certain things imparted a minor ritual impurity on someone. Major ritual impurities required bathing in a Mikveh. Second, what does he say in Matthew 23 about washing? He criticizes the Pharisees for worrying about washing the outside rather than the inside. He does not criticize them for ritual washing. Back to Matt. 15, Jesus states that it is what comes out of the mouth, not what goes into the mouth, that defiles the body. So what does wash and how do we wash, the inside of the body? Rev 7:14 states that the blood of the Lamb washes. Specifically it says robes; however, I am uncertain what clothes represent in Revelation. It would appear that to wash the insides of our bodies, we need to drink the Blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7 also uses the active not passive; it says the people present washed, not were washed.

This would appear to be a significant fraction of the Catholic Eucharist. An objection that I have seen to the Eucharist is the lack of mention in John. If the Eucharist were as important as Catholics say it is, why is the institution left out of John?

There are a couple answers. The first is that it actually is not important. My answer is that it is in John, but not where we expect it to be. Instead it is at the beginning of John (ch. 2). In this scene Jesus takes water from the jugs used for ritual washing and converts it into wine and then has the steward of the feast taste it. The steward's response is that this is the best wine. So he has taken water used to wash the outside of someone and turned it into wine so it would wash the insides.

How do we get to the Eucharist? At the last supper, Jesus turns wine into his blood and then commands his Apostles to drink it.



To summarize, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for washing the outside not the inside. By this point, he had transformed the hand-washing ritual into a wine drinking ritual (which would wash the insides). At the very end of his ministry he transforms it into a blood drinking ritual. After his resurrection, he shows to John that his blood washes.