2. The Pharisees Matthew 23:1-3

3. Who Were The Pharisees? They trusted in that they were descendants of Abraham (Matt. 3:7-9; Jn. 8:33) They added traditions to God’s word (Mk. 7:1-5) They were hypocritical with what they taught (Mk. 7:6-12)

4. They rejected God’s purpose by not being baptized of John (Lk. 7:30) They failed to see their need for Jesus (Mk. 2:16-17) They trusted in themselves (Lk. 18:9)

5. Addressing The Problem Many of the problems of the Pharisees stemmed from a failure to “connect all the dots.” See 1 Corinthians 7:19 The underlying desire to obey was behind circumcision, not circumcision itself

6. There was righteousness with the Pharisees It was self-righteousness (Lk. 18:9) It was not the righteousness of God (cf. Rom. 10:3)

7. The righteousness of God would obviously exceed this (Matt. 5:20) No longer superficial, but deeper— from the heart (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10) It was a difference of quality, not quantity