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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