Telling It Like It Is

[shazeep]

hmm. aren't all sinners guilty of this, more or less?

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by allstate1

What was the sin of the Pharisees?

Holier than thou Legalism and self exaltation.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by shazeep

What perspective might you have on why Christ would judge the Pharisees, but not the woman at the well? It seems both sinned. I am at a loss here, ty.

Humility

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by ILG

Because the woman at the well was just living her life. The Pharisees were claiming to lead people in the ways of God, and when you do that, you have to represent God in a way He wants to be represented. And apparently the Pharisees were not pulling that off.

from another thread. i particularly like this answer, as it covers the temple money-changers, also.

[anon5]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

Hmm. Interesting question for sure. He also did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but instead directed his accusation to those who were accusing her.

My thoughts - it makes me wonder if His attempt to reach the Pharisees heart had to be through judgment, and not love? A sinner like the woman at the well may have been overwhelmed if he had simply cast judgment on her. Instead, by showing her love, it caused her to respond to him in kind.

While the Pharisees were busy proclaiming their love for the Lord, yet denying him in spirit and action, the only way to reach beyond their hypocritical nature was to address them by casting judgment upon them.

Just my thoughts... and I'm sure there are other opinions....

My outside the box thought was perhaps he judged them because they were judging her, even though (maybe?) they had all been her lover at one point. Maybe they were trying to deflect the guilt off of themselves by judging HER? All throughout history, on into today, religious leaders have played this game.

[anon5]

Originally Posted by Lafon

It could be said to be two-fold; first, they rejected Christ Jesus as their promised Messiah, and secondly, but perhaps a significant facor in that rejection, was they were guilty of making the Word of God of none effect by their many man-made traditions, rituals, and the like. (I would imagine there were many others, of course, but these two stand out in my mind as the greatest).

There is absolutely nothing wrong with rituals and traditions. What's wrong is when we don't love one another and strive to do service to the rest of humanity.

I get not being a stickler over whether someone should wear a suit and tie to church, but I also have seen people take that relaxed attitude to the other extreme. Showing up to church looking like they just rolled out of bed, mangy clothes and untucked, wrinkled shirt with holes in the jeans is just flat out irreverent. There are many ways of disrespectful behavior, and dress is just one of those.

[anon5]

How'd I get off on the clothes?? Oh well yeah, nothing wrong with rituals and traditions. But LOVE one another.

[shazeep]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

Humility

yup.