The Pharisees (Mark 7: 1-13)

In today's Gospel, the Pharisees demand to know why Jesus allows his disciples to eat with unwashed hands. Jesus' reply is sharp as he calls the Pharisees hypocrites and accuses them (using a quote from Isaiah) of "teaching as doctrine human precepts" and setting aside God's commandment to cling to tradition.

Who were the Pharisees? Apparently, they weren't the priestly class (those were the Sadducees who were in charge of the temple) but were rabbis who relied on oral tradition.

While the Pharisees were villains in the New Testament, apparently, they started off as something like heroes. They emerged during the time of the Maccabees, those folks who refused to taint Judaism with Hellenistic influences. The Maccabees eventually overthrew their foreign overlords. If those were their roots, it is no wonder that they were stuck up when it came to adherence to (their interpretation of) the Law and opposition to any deviation from it.

There's an Ignatian saying that we must not fall in love with the consolations from God but rather the God of our consolations. I guess the problem of the Pharisees is similar. They have sworn to protect and fallen in love with the Law of God rather than God, the giver of their laws. And the greatest irony of it all is that they were accusing God himself of not making his followers practice what the Pharisees believed were God's laws.