There is nothing wrong with being a scribe or a Pharisee, someone whose life is centered on the study of the law of God. We meet several noteworthy ones in Scripture: Nicodemus, Gamaliel, and St. Paul. No doubt, the scribes and Pharisees were among the teachers to whom the twelve-year-old Jesus listened and asked questions (Luke 2:46).
No, Jesus’ vehement words to his fellow Jews were not because they were scribes and Pharisees. After all, Jesus himself said he had not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17). Rather, it is because they were hypocrites—a disease to which we are all susceptible. The Greek word hypokritḗs has a theatrical connotation at its root: i.e., an actor, someone playing a role, pretending to be who they are not.
The scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus addressed were faithful to the letter of the law, but their focus had become myopic. They were neglecting the more important things that mattered most to the God of Israel—mercy, compassion, and faithfulness. They were blind guides, not able to see their own guilt and putting forward an outward face that was far removed from the reality of their inner selves. Are we not all like this at times?
Jesus’ words are a wake-up call. The Lord comes to judge everyone with equity and truth—ourselves included.

Sr. Anne Elizabeth Sweet

Anne Elizabeth Sweet is a Cistercian nun at Tautra Mariakloster, Norway. She is among the authors of Northern Light, a collection of reflections on liturgy and life as experienced in the monastic setting of Tautra in the Trondheim fjord.