Walking With Christ

“Don’t be such a Pharisee.” This phrase has come up in a lot of the discussions I’ve had about the bible. This term has become an insult that gets used any time someone feels that the other party in the conversation is trying to be too restrictive or narrow on their interpretation of the bible.

A little background. The second temple period saw a lot of fragmentation of religious groups. It was similar to how things are today with all of the various denominations that each claim to be the most accurate one. The main groups during the time of Christ were the Essenes, Zealots, Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees. Each group has a very specific belief system that was often drastically different from the other groups. The Herodians and Zealots were mainly political groups, but they each had their own specific ideology. I’ll skip the detail on most of these, in part, because the bible does as well. The Sadducees were mainly made up of those who were priests, wealthy, had power, or all of the above. They were the strictest group of the religious groups because they only believed in the strictest interpretations of the Torah (first five books of the bible) and ignored oral traditions. They didn’t believe in the after life like we do today with rewards or punishments. They also didn’t believe in resurrection of the dead or angels and other spirits. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed in resurrection, angels and other spirits, oral traditions and interpretations (that would later become the rest of the old testament), and divine providence.

It’s interesting that there are a few Pharisees mentioned by name in the bible but there are no Sadducees mentioned by name. Moving on…

The Sadducees and Pharisees were nearly always mentioned in negative terms. Yet, it would be one of them who is, in a way, responsible for Christianity today. How so?

After the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles, specifically Peter and John, were arrested and ordered not to teach the name of Jesus. Obviously, they did exactly that and never said another word to anyone about the lives they had lived for the last several years, so, of course, they were arrested again for teaching what Jesus taught them. They were brought before the Sanhedrin.

For those who might not know, the Sanhedrin was the highest government body for Israel at the time. Yes, Israel was a vassal state owned by Rome, but within Israel and for all Jewish people around the world, the Sanhedrin was the final word. They could make new laws, pass judgement, and order punishments to be carried out up to and including death. In the case of Peter and John, who had disobeyed the previous gag order, the death penalty was the most likely option considering that the charge was blasphemy. That was automatically considered a high crime because it wasn’t a considered to be a human crime but, rather, a crime against God.

Acts 5:33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.(ESV)

The Sanhedrin was absolutely livid that the apostles had blasphemed, ignored their order to shut up, then blasphemed again. I’m sure that some of them were fit to be tied and others would have almost been willing to do the deed themselves had it not been for the fact that doing so would have made them ritually unclean.

Acts 5:34-35 (34)But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. (35)And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.(ESV)

A Pharisee stood up and basically told everyone to shut up for a minute. The fact that everyone listened tells you that this was not just any ordinary person. What did Gamaliel tell the council to do?

Acts 5:38-40 (38)So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; (39)but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, (40)and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.(ESV)

Gamaliel warns the group that if these men were acting on behalf of God as they claimed to be then trying to stand in the way of these men would mean standing in the way of God. He said that if these men are working on their own behalf then it isn’t anything to worry about and it will take care of itself, but if they really are working at the command of God and the Sanhedrin tried to stop them then nothing the Sanhedrin did could work against them.

This was truly wise counsel. Who was Gamaliel? Without him, we wouldn’t have most of the new testament. Without him stepping in to stop things, the Sanhedrin would have executed most, if not all, of the apostles and prevented the seeds of Christianity from taking root.

Saul of Tarsus, who would later become the most prolific writer in the new testament, would answer who Gamaliel was.

Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.(ESV)

Paul was a Pharisee when he was Saul. Saul studied under Gamaliel. Gamaliel trained Saul on how to read and interpret the bible of the time. It was that training that heavily influenced what Paul would write for the new testament letters that became the bible we know today. It was that training and his credentials as a student of Gamaliel that allowed Paul to speak in temples everywhere he went because he had the formal training that carried weight in those days. With the clarifications that Jesus brought to Paul, proverbially whacked him upside the head, the new testament teachings carefully explain how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies and the law to pave the way for true salvation for all.

A few side notes about Gamaliel to further enhance the context of exactly who he was and why him speaking in defense of the apostles is so important:
1. The Gamaliel of the bible is believed to be Gamaliel I (the first) who was the grandson of Rabbi Hillel. Rabbi Hillel founded the House of Hillel, which was a school of thought during the second temple period. Gamaliel came from the lineage of one of the most prominent schools in all of Israel.
2. Gamaliel is the first Rabbi to be given the title of Rabban, which translates to “master”. This means that he got promoted to a level above rabbi and he was the first person in history to claim that honor.
3. Gamaliel was not the head of the Sanhedrin during the time of the trial mentioned above. This means that for him to be able to command the entire council and have them actually listen that he had to be extremely respected.
Gamaliel was a major influence on the future shape of Judaic culture because he pushed for more leniency on gentile converts. He advocated for more of a focus on moral and ethical conduct rather than a strict adherence to ceremonial law.