The Pharisees and scribes during Jesus’ time

The Pharisees and scribes during Jesus’ time committed fundamental errors that distorted the purpose of God’s law and corrupted religious practice.

Externalism Over Inwardness

Jesus exposed their hypocrisy by highlighting their preoccupation with external observance while neglecting internal transformation[1]. Their righteousness consisted entirely of outward observances—they abstained from gross sins like adultery and theft but ignored impure thoughts, covetousness, and hatred[2]. To them, the law was merely a matter of external performance, never the heart, yet Jesus brought the law back to matters of the heart[3].

Misinterpretation of the Law

The scribes and Pharisees both restricted God’s commands (as with the law against murder) and extended them past His intention (as with divorce)[3]. While their teaching that “You shall not murder” was technically correct, they taught that anything short of murder was permissible, missing that murderous intent in the heart also violates God’s law[3].

Legalism and Burdensome Rules

Legalism abounded in their actions—they practiced the law to its smallest detail but missed the quality of worship the law was designed to create[1]. The scribes created and codified oral traditions beyond the Law of Moses; these extra laws were intended as protective measures but became ends in themselves[1]. The burdens they imposed included meticulous rules about purification rites, food laws, sabbath observance, and tithing of even garden produce[4].

Hypocrisy and Self-Serving Motives

They bound heavy burdens on others while refusing to bear them themselves, and performed their deeds to be seen by men, making their phylacteries broad and fringes long[4]. Self-interest rather than God’s glory motivated their actions—they fasted, prayed publicly, and gave alms ostentatiously to enhance their reputation[2].

Obstruction of Access

The scribes did nothing to help the general public keep the laws and actively prevented others from entering the house of learning[1].

[1] Mark W. Tew, Luke: Gospel to the Nameless and Faceless (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2011). [See here, here, here, here.]
[2] Arthur Walkington Pink, An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005), 62.
[3] David Guzik, Matthew, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013). [See here, here, here.]
[4] Frank Stagg, “Matthew,” in Matthew–Mark, ed. Clifton J. Allen, Broadman Bible Commentary (Broadman Press, 1969), 210–211.