How Close Were Jesus and the Pharisees?

The relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees is often reduced to hostility and hypocrisy. But the New Testament tells a more complicated story—one of shared meals, theological debate, and overlapping commitments to the Torah. Far from being outsiders to Judaism, Jesus and the Pharisees were part of the same religious world, sometimes clashing, sometimes converging. In this interview, New Testament scholar Jens Schröter helps unpack that complexity.

Jens Schröter discusses more about the relationship between the Pharisees and Jesus in a chapter of *The Pharisees*, published by Eerdmans and co-edited by Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine.

Jesus and the Pharisees: A Complex Relationship
Scriptural Engagements in the New Testament
Jewish Context and Sectarian Debates
Reframing Second Temple Judaism

Jesus and the Pharisees: A Complex Relationship

How Is the Relationship Between Jesus and the Pharisees Usually Summarized?

Traditionally, Christian theology has claimed a sharp contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees have been described as a Jewish group that is hypocritical and only outwardly interested in the law. On this basis, even a fundamental contrast between Jesus and Judaism as a whole was inferred. However, this view has since changed fundamentally.

Learn more about the historical Jesus and the Pharisees in this Pontifical Biblical Institute lecture by New Testament scholar Jens Schröter.

What Factors Usually Lead to That Oversimplified Description?

In the New Testament, the Pharisees are indeed described as “hypocrites” and opponents of Jesus with regard to the interpretation of the Torah. Two factors often lead to this oversimplification:

New Testament Context. This view has been taken at face value without considering that the New Testament texts are not historical descriptions but testimonies of inner-Jewish debates about an appropriate understanding of the Torah.
Anti-Jewish Tendencies. Another factor that has led to such a gross oversimplification is the anti-Jewish tendency in Christian theology, which emerged as early as the second century and had a significant influence on the Christian view of the Pharisees and Judaism in general.

What Did Jesus Say About the Pharisees in the Bible?

Jesus often criticizes the Pharisees for their understanding of the Torah. He calls them “hypocrites” whose righteousness is insufficient and who are mainly interested in their reputation among the people.

However, sometimes, the picture becomes more differentiated. In Luke’s Gospel, the Pharisees invite Jesus to dinner, and in the Gospel of John, the Pharisee Nicodemus is interested in Jesus’s teaching and defends him against other Jews.

Were the Pharisees Bad People?

Were Jesus and the Pharisees in Outright Conflict?

Due to the polemical nature of the New Testament descriptions of Jesus’s encounters with the Pharisees, it is difficult to say exactly what the differences were between Jesus and the Pharisees. However, it is likely that they had a common interest in the interpretation and teaching of the Torah. Jesus and the Pharisees were therefore close, even if conflicts predominated in the New Testament.

The New Testament recounts several stories of debates between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding how the Torah should be interpreted and applied in specific situations. These are centered around Sabbath observance, purity laws, food regulations and marriage and divorce.

One must be careful when making judgments.

For example, Luke 14:1–6 tells the story of Jesus healing a man with dropsy (see also Mark 3:1-6; Matthew 12:9–14). Only Luke places the story in the house of a Pharisee, indicating a relationship between Jesus and the Pharisee. The question posed by Jesus “Is it allowed to cure on the sabbath, or not?” is a rhetorical question that cannot be answered strictly because it depends on the concrete circumstances of the healing.

This shows that the Gospels depict the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees in an exaggerated and polemical manner.

From a historical perspective, however, it is more likely that Jesus and the Pharisees were involved in debates about how to interpret and practice the Torah in everyday life situations, rather than having black-and-white discussions about Sabbath observance, the validity of food regulations, etc.

Why Did Jesus Rebuke the Pharisees?

Perhaps Jesus and the Pharisees held differing views on how the Torah should be practiced in daily life. However, one must be careful when making judgments about this.

The New Testament Gospels describe the encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees from a later perspective, in which the division between the communities of Jesus’s followers and the Pharisees or the Jewish communities, in general, had already intensified.

Scriptural Engagements in the New Testament

How Many Times Does Jesus Engage With the Pharisees in the Bible?

This isn’t easy to count as there are several summarizing descriptions and parallel accounts of the same event. However, it must be noted that the Pharisees are by far the most prominent Jewish group in the New Testament Gospels.

What Bible Verses Talk About Jesus and the Pharisees?

There are many stories about Jesus and the Pharisees in all four New Testament Gospels:

Matthew

Matthew 5:20 – Jesus calls for a righteousness deeper than Pharisaic observance rather than opposition to the Torah.
Matthew 9:11-13 – Mercy is prioritized over purity in response to a Pharisaic critique of Jesus eating with sinners.
Matthew 12:1-14 – Jesus reinterprets Sabbath law, reflecting disagreement about halakhic emphases.
Matthew 15:1-9 – Jesus challenges oral tradition and affirms the primacy of scripture in Torah practice.
Matthew 16:6, 11-12 – “Leaven” symbolizes Pharisaic influence, but it critiques teaching rather than identity.
Matthew 22:15-46 – Rabbinic-style debates show competing approaches to interpreting Torah authority.
Matthew 23:1-36 – Prophetic-style critique of hypocrisy within a shared covenantal framework.
Matthew 27:62-66 – Pharisees order the securement of Jesus’ tomb, indicating their ongoing religious authority.

Mark

Mark 2:16-17 – Pharisees critique Jesus eating with tax collectors, reflecting their purity concerns.
Mark 2:23-3:6 – Sabbath disputes highlight differing hermeneutics rather than a rejection of the law.
Mark 7:1-13 – Jesus criticizes the Pharisaic elevation of tradition over Torah.
Mark 8:11-15 – Jesus declines a demand for signs and emphasizes spiritual perception over proof.
Mark 10:2-12 – Pharisaic question about divorce evokes a strict Torah reading and reflects interpretive diversity.
Mark 12:13-17 – Jesus distinguishes between divine and imperial realms without rejecting Torah.

N. T. Wright on the New Testament in Its World

Luke

Luke 5:17-26 – Pharisees observe healing, and Jesus’ authority redefines Torah’s application.
Luke 5:30-32 – Conflict over eating with sinners highlights the inclusion vision of covenant.
Luke 6:1-11 – Jesus’ Sabbath actions are rooted in compassion instead of repudiation of Torah.
Luke 7:36-50 – A Pharisee hosts Jesus, revealing the role of inner faith over external form.
Luke 11:37-54 – Woes reflect prophetic critique, not anti-Pharisaic rhetoric.
Luke 12:1 – Jesus’ hypocrisy metaphor critiques performative piety, a common feature in Jewish wisdom traditions.
Luke 14:1-6 – Healing at the Pharisee’s home illustrates ethical and legal tension.
Luke 15:1-2 – Pharisaic critique prompts parables about repentance and joy.
Luke 16:14-15 – Jesus critiques the love of wealth, highlighting an ethical rather than doctrinal divide.
Luke 18:9-14 – Jesus uses Pharisees as a literary foil to contrast humility and self-righteousness.

John

John 1:24 – Pharisees demonstrate an early religious concern by inquiring about John.
John 3:1-21 – Nicodemus seeks understanding, showing Pharisees as theologically engaged.
John 7:45-52 – Internal disagreement shows Pharisaic interpretive diversity.
John 8:1-11 – Jesus reframes Torah through a lens of mercy in the story of the woman caught in adultery.
John 8:13-59 – Theological disputes intensify between Jesus and the Pharisees.
John 9:13-41 – Pharisees remain central dialogue partners as Jesus critiques spiritual blindness when healing a blind man.
John 11:45-53 – Pharisees weigh the political consequences of killing Jesus, showing concern for order, not disbelief.
John 12:42 – Some Pharisees believe in Jesus but fear consequences, illustrating the group’s social complexity.

Why Did the Pharisees Object to Jesus Healing People on the Sabbath?

Healing on the Sabbath was seen as violating the Sabbath, the day on which all work should cease to worship God. Jesus’s healing activity was a provocation because he transgressed this rule.

How Did Early Christians Observe the Sabbath?

Jewish Context and Sectarian Debates

How Did the Pharisees Shape the Theological and Religious Debates Jesus Was Engaged In?

The Pharisees were an influential Jewish group in Judaea and probably also in Galilee since the second century BCE. According to our sources, primarily Josephus, some Qumran texts, the New Testament, and later Rabbinic texts, the Pharisees had some political influence, especially in the first century BCE.

They were also “Torah experts” who shaped the ideas of how the Torah should be understood and practiced in daily life.

Could You Describe the World in Which Christians Began Preaching Jesus?

Christians began to preach about Jesus Christ in a world shaped politically by the Roman Empire and religiously by Greek and Roman ideas. Most Jewish people lived in the diaspora, i.e., in regions and cities of the Mediterranean.

The situation in Judaea and Galilee was special since the Jewish people and their faith shaped this region. The Christian mission, which began as an inner-Jewish movement, was soon confronted by people from other ethnic and religious origins. Furthermore, as the Christian message was also proclaimed to non-Jews from an early stage, the Christian communities were made up of Jews and non-Jews.

This situation led to the question of how Jewish and non-Jewish Christian believers could live together in the same community.

What Was the First Jewish Revolt?

How Did Sectarian Judaism Influence the Early Jesus Movement?

The Jewish groups (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes) in the time of Jesus were mainly active in Judea; the Essenes and the Pharisees were probably also active in Galilee. They were of quite different character.

The Sadducees belonged to the temple establishment in Jerusalem, while the Essenes lived in more or less closed communities throughout Judea. The Pharisees were active in Judea, but apparently also came to Galilee in order to exert their influence in this Jewish region. It is therefore not surprising that the Jesus movement primarily came into contact with the Pharisees, while the Sadducees appear in the Passion events in Jerusalem.

The debates with the Pharisees about the interpretation of the Torah also show that both Jesus and the Pharisees were interested in the life of the Jewish people according to God’s will.

It should also not be overlooked that there were tendencies in the Jewish people (e.g., an apocalyptic view on history and wisdom traditions) that also influenced the Jesus movement. Thus, the early Jesus movement can be regarded as a Jewish group with its own profile among other Jewish groups and strands.

How Might the Relationship Between Jesus and the Pharisees Have Evolved?

Perhaps the differences and conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospels grew stronger over time. But that is more of an assumption and can hardly be said with certainty.

Reframing Second Temple Judaism

How Could Understanding Their Relationship Shape Our View of Second Temple Judaism’s Diversity?

A major problem is that the image of the Pharisees is often characterized by unhistorical, anti-Jewish clichés. A historically adequate understanding of the Pharisees as engaged interpreters of the Torah would help to recognize that Judaism at the time of Jesus was a multifaceted religion with many different views on the Torah and other issues.

Jesus and his followers were part of this broad spectrum of Jewish beliefs and practices.

Therefore, the relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees helps develop a historically appropriate understanding of Second Temple Judaism and Jesus’s position within this spectrum.

What Do You Hope People Take Away From Your Work on the Relationship Between Jesus and the Pharisees?

I hope that my study on Jesus and the Pharisees in The Pharisees, edited by Joseph Sievers and Amy-Jill Levine, will help overcome anti-Jewish sentiments and foster a historically informed understanding of Jesus within the Judaism of his time.

About the Scholar

Jens Schröter is a New Testament scholar who has written extensively about the relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees. He serves as a Professor of New Testament and the History of Religion at Humboldt University and holds a PhD in New Testament Studies from the University of Leipzig. Schröter is an internationally recognized expert on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and Second Temple Judaism. His publications include Jesus of Nazareth: Jew from Galilee, Savior of the World, From Jesus to the New Testament: Early Christian Theology and the Origin of the New Testament Canon, and “How Close Were Jesus and the Pharisees?”.

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