May I share to you my fellow istoryans about the lessons we could learn from the Pharisees, this article is a series taken from my friend's blog, the link can be found here

Lesson 1: The Pharisees have perfected externally what we are supposed to emulate internally.

I've noticed that majority of Christians today are so very critical of the Pharisees when reading their Bibles. The one thing that many Christians today fear is being associated with or compared to a Pharisee. Perhaps it's because there was no other group of people more heavily rebuked by Christ.

But as I read through the gospels, I came to realize that the Pharisees have perfected externally what we are supposed to emulate internally. Let me explain.

When Jesus said anything that seemed blasphemous, the Pharisees would tear their clothes. Externally, they seemed quite indignant and outraged that anyone would dare blaspheme their Almighty God. The tearing of their clothes not only meant outrage but also zeal. Externally, the Pharisees were zealous to defend the integrity of God. We must first understand that the clothes they wore were very special clothes that were expensive, exclusive only for them, and could not be worn again once torn. These facts are of great significance because to the mind of the Pharisee, there is significance, costliness, and exclusivity of their calling in God's eyes. We must also understand that the Pharisees believed that all was well with God's people but because of the breaking of the law, God judged His people by allowing them to be under other sovereigns. In their minds, they were the hope of God's people in the sense that they would follow the letter of the law to appease God. As self-righteous as they were in their thinking, there is a great lesson we can learn from them.

As Christians, are we not significant in that God calls us the salt and light of the world? Is not our call exclusive in the sense that only you can do what God has called you to do? Are we not costly in the sense that Christ was, in Paul's words, poured like a drink offering?

So when see blasphemies, when we hear of wickedness, immoralities, and injustice, when we see the things that God's eyes burn against, are our hearts torn the way the Pharisees' clothes were? When someone says in your presence that God is love and because God is love, He will condone an adulterous relationship, are you internally silent? Or is there an outrage in your heart, and a zeal to speak up do defend the integrity of His Word? When people use the name of Jesus to express disgust, disdain, or anger, are you outraged because of the blasphemy?

The Pharisees were acting the way they did due to hypocrisy. But this does not mean that we are not to be zealous for the very things that they pretended to be zealous for. Most of the time, majority of Christians seek to do the opposite of the Pharisees and become silent. However, the opposite of hypocrisy is not apathy. The opposite of hypocrisy is the absence of pretensions, and the presence of genuine zeal.