Playing Pharisee

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the Law, is accursed.” –John 7:45-49

During the time of Jesus, Judaism was divided up into different factions or “parties,” such as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. The Pharisees were mainly scholars and theologians who prided themselves on their knowledge of Jewish ritual Law known as the Torah, which it was their job to interpret and offer judgment. They were considered the “experts” Yet, for all their knowledge and learning, in today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees refuse to believe in the teachings and authority of Jesus because He is not from their faction.

We can often be modern day Pharisees.

Do we confined our evangelization efforts just to people with whom we are comfortable with, or with whom we share the same interests? Have we secretly (or nor so secretly) judged other people because they aren’t coming to Bible study, or are not as involved at church or don’t understand a particular aspect of Catholic teaching and decided that they are not as “good” Catholics as we are or not dedicated enough to being a disciple of Christ?  Have we ignored what the shy person in Bible study who reads softly and slowly has to say, in favor of the guy who can quote chapter and verse and seems more “learned?”   If we can answer to yes to any one of these questions (and most of us can), we are guilty of being like the Pharisees, which we do not want to be. Not only did they completely miss who Jesus really was, in the end they handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. We do not want to miss out on something important God might be trying to tell us, because it comes from the “wrong” person or group.

Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick. (Traditionally St. Patrick’s Day is the 17^th but since it falls on Sunday in Lent, the bishop of Savannah has moved the celebration back one day.) At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken from the coast of his native Wales by Irish raiders, who sold him as a slave to an Irish chieftain named Milchu. Patrick spent six years tending Milchu’s sheep, until he was instructed in a dream to escape from Ireland, a feat he accomplished with a substantial amount of divine help. Back home in Wales, Patrick felt the call to be ordained and return to Ireland in order to bring the message of the Gospel to the Irish people, which he did in 431 A.D. As a former slave, Patrick would have definitely been the “wrong” person to listen to. In fact, Patrick’s former master, Milchu, actually sent his house on fire with him in it, to avoid the disgrace of having his former slave preach to him! Fortunately, many of the Irish did not follow his example, and instead accepted Patrick’s evangelization efforts, so that by the saint’s death thirty years later, Ireland was well on its to becoming a staunchly Catholic country.

God often sends the “wrong” person to deliver a life-giving message. Don’t be like Milchu. Don’t be a Pharisee. Take time to listen and prayerfully consider what God might be telling you.

About the Author

Thomas McIntyre is a 2012 graduate of Georgia Southern University. He has recently returned to his alma mater to pursue a Master’s Degree in History, and is in his first semester as a graduate student. In addition to classical and ecclesiastical history, his interests include theology, philosophy, dead languages and classic rock music.