I’ve forgotten her name, but I’ll probably never forget what she said. In one short swift sentence she appeared to attempt to justify herself, to claim spiritual supremacy and to condemn anyone who would seek to follow the biblical message with a greater precision than herself. What sentence could be so powerful? “I’m not legalistic.” These magic words were intended to end all discussion. But let’s examine legalism and the use of such a simplistic response toward God’s Word.
The Pharisees are generally considered to be the epitome of legalism. Apparently many people falsely assume Jesus condemned the Pharisees for following the minute details of the Law. It may come as a surprise to some that instead of condemning the Pharisees for tithing even of their herbal garden, Jesus actually encouraged them to not neglect this! In other words, Jesus was saying “you ought to be tithing even of your herbs!” Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42 Jesus’ scathing condemnation upon them was for their failure to obey all of the Law. Luke 11:42; cf. Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 10:12
On several other occasions Jesus condemned the Pharisees, not because they were faithfully obeying the law, but because they were misusing the Law. Jesus did not oppose strictly obeying the Mosaical Law, he opposed the Pharisees' interpretation of the Law. The Pharisees had ripped the Law from it’s context of being a blessing for Israel (Deuteronomy 5:29; 10:13) to convert it into an instrument of oppression. What had been intended as a means for bestowing blessings, health and life (Exodus 15:26; Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 6:2, 24; Romans 7:12) became interpreted and transformed into a means for prohibiting these very things. For example, the Sabbath which had been given as a blessing for Israel became in their hands a prohibition against assisting one’s health and wellbeing. Hence, they opposed healing on the Sabbath and denounced his disciples for caring for their physical needs (John 9:14f.; Mark 2:23f.).
It appears the key to understanding Jesus, the pharisees and the Law is to understand that Jesus criticized their failure to make a right judgment about the law (John 7:24), that is, he denounced their superficial interpretation of the Law. They had forgotten that the Law had been presented to Israel wrapped up in love and mercy to serve their well-being.
Jesus never condemned obedience to the Law nor did he lightly dismiss faithful obedience as mere “legalism.” Instead, Jesus upheld and restored the Law to its original context and purpose by teaching: “The Sabbath was created for man, not man for the sake of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27); “it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12); “if you had known what the scripture means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Matthew 12:7); and “Jesus said to them, ‘which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4).
If one looks at the Gospels closely, Jesus’ scathing attack toward the Pharisees was not because they were faithfully observing the Law even down to the smallest of details. Rather, he was:
1) against their interpretation of the Mosaical Law,
2) against their failure to obey all of the Law and
3) against their body of additional teachings which nullified the faithful observance of the Law (Mark 7:1-8; Matthew 15:1-9).
Jesus never attacked the Phraisees for being over zealous in faithfully following the Law. For anyone who might assume that Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their overly insistence on obeying the Law and therefore we are excused from faithfully obeying the New Testament message because "that is legalism," that one needs to take a deeper look at what Jesus actually taught. To listen to some people lightly dismiss faithful obedience as being legalism, one would think that Marcion was right to have claimed that Jesus taught, “I have not come to fulfill the Law ..., but to destroy it” instead of what Jesus actually taught, “I have not come to destroy the Law..., but to fulfill it.” Matthew 5:17
Note: Legalism is used by many people to describe many different attitudes and actions. This article does not address other forms of legalism and should not be misconstrued to condone or commend legalism. The intent of this article is simply to address the question of whether faithful obedience to God's Word is condemned as represented by Jesus' interaction with the Pharisees. For an examination of Paul's usage of law in Romans 6-8 consider the article "The Gravity of Grace."
For an analysis of one reason why Jesus attacked the Pharisees consider "The Jesus Whom We Find Embarassing" or for an analysis of the Pharisaic program consult "Entering New Territory Pharisaic and Saduccean Style."
Barry Newton, Copyright © 1998