and coffee , which should disguise the taste of alcohol for the strict non-drinker . But the drink cannot be marketed as a ‘ hypocrite ’. Even in politics it has been known that one man called another ‘ a Pharisee ’, which is considered an offence .
How come , that you have got such a bad name ?
First , I can lessen the shock on learning this , by telling you that the majority of Jewish teachers since the year 70 have been following your line of teaching , it has been victorious over all other opinion , but still rabbis quarrel about the correct interpretation of the scriptures , as they did then . In that year , the Roman occupational forces destroyed Jerusalem and the Holy Temple , that is why we count it as one of the most important dates in our history . You will be surprised about my use of a different calendar , but even more about the fact that Jeshua has had such an amazing career worldwide , that most of the world now counts the years from the day of his circumcision , 1 st January , the day he formally became a Jew . Jesus had to pay terribly for his success , at the time of the Passover of 33 , three horrendous days , which were to influence the fate of the Jews until this very day .
At that time , you Pharisees were divided into seven ways of teaching . So you will not be surprised at the divisions among the churches nowadays . But the total vocabulary of their teaching refers to Jesus , who was born a Jew , was circumcised and confirmed as one , lived and died as a pious rabbi , who taught our faith . That faith is concerned with the coming of the Messiah , the Kingdom of God , the Forgiveness of Sins , the Resurrection of the Dead , with repentance and grace , all ideas we are familiar with . We do not wish to claim copyright of these terms , indeed would be more than pleased if the baptised fellowship would become more fervent followers of the Master from Nazareth . Every word of his teaching has been analysed , discussed , dissected , whereby a lot of ink and also blood has been spilt .
One question frequently discussed is whether Jesus was married or not . And if yes , to whom ? I don ’ t think that matters , but I am inclined to think that he was not married , . since he was constantly fleeing before the Romans and would not have wanted his family to be exposed to that fate . Also the sense of his mission would hardly have allowed personal relationships . The only important question for me is , where has the relationship with the Pharisees gone wrong , or did you get that bad image from the editors of the Gospels ? These reports were written between the years 80 and 100 , at that time the Jewish community in Jerusalem had perished , and the new belief in Christ was spreading around the pagan world of the Roman Empire . A Jewish saviour , who was executed by Pilate as a rebel , especially if he was a Pharisee , would not have been tolerable then .
Why do I say : ’ as a rebel ’? Because according to Roman law at that time , only rebels and runaway slaves were crucified , other criminals were beheaded . At the editing of the Gospels , you Pharisees must have been collectively degraded as
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