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CHAPTER 3. Matthew's and Mark's Pharisees
- Baylor University Press
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CHAPTER 3 MATTHEW’S AND MARK’S PHARISEES Martin Pickup 67 The gospels of Matthew and Mark are recognized as key sources of information on the Pharisees, yet any analysis of their data is fraught with difficulty. We are dealing with highly tendentious documents whose interest in the Pharisees lies solely in the fact that, as key opponents of Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees serve to set forth Jesus and his teaching in vivid relief. Scholarly debate on the historicity of the material in Matthew and Mark continues, both in regard to what they relate generally about Jesus and his ministry, and in regard to what they relate specifically about the Pharisees. Are we to regard the accounts of encounters between the Pharisees and Jesus as faithful remembrances of actual events, or are we reading idealized material that reflects the issues confronting Christians at the time of the gospels’ composition? The dates assigned to these documents play a significant role in this historicity debate. If Mark was written ca. 65–70 CE (the common view), it becomes a valuable source of information on the Pharisees prior to 70, even if its specific claims about the Pharisees’ encounters with Jesus are considered “idealized.” The case is more dubious for Matthew, a gospel which is commonly dated in the 80s or 90s at a time when the Pharisees appear to have risen in prominence and power (though to what extent remains debatable), and a time when the relationship between Jews and Jewish Christians collapsed . That late first-century setting provides a possible Sitz im Leben for Matthew’s gospel, which suggests to many scholars that, rather than providing historical information about the Pharisees of Second Temple Judaism, Matthew’s portrayal of the Pharisees is really a representation of the Jewish leadership toward the end of the first century. 68 MARTIN PICKUP Complicating the matter is the lack of scholarly certainty about the compositional history of Mark and Matthew. The vast majority of scholars agree that some kind of literary interdependence exists between the synoptic gospels, but how so? Was Mark the earliest gospel and did Matthew and Luke use it as a source? Did they also use a collection of Jesus’ sayings? Or did Luke use Matthew, and Mark condense them both? (Most scholars would affirm the former position, but the latter has its defenders.) Also, what part might other Christian traditions, in written or oral form, have played in each evangelist’s final product? Uncertainty about these matters impedes any historical inquiry about the Pharisees. What then shall we do? In this essay I will focus attention on the picture of the Pharisees that each gospel offers. In deference to the fact that the majority of scholars affirm Matthean dependence on Mark, my methodology will be to analyze Mark’s portrait of the Pharisees first and, when analyzing Matthew, to take note of how Matthew’s portrait of the Pharisees compares and contrasts with Mark’s. Nevertheless, the emphasis here will not be on redactional debates. Instead, I will analyze each pericope where Pharisees appear so that readers may have ready access to the data. I will draw conclusions about what each document presents about the Pharisees’ role in Palestinian society and their level of interaction and influence among the Jewish populace. I will highlight data about the Pharisees’ religious views and practices that emerge from the accounts of their confrontations with Jesus. The ultimate purpose of this study is to reveal the portraits of the Pharisees that Mark and Matthew have produced so that these portrayals may be compared and contrasted more effectively with those of other ancient sources. THE PHARISEES IN MARK Survey of the Data Four successive pericopes in Mark (2:15–3:6) introduce the Pharisees as opponents of Jesus during his ministry in Galilee.1 Their antipathy toward Jesus increases with each encounter. In 2:15-17 “the scribes of the Pharisees” question Jesus’ disciples about the fact that their mas- [18.222.205.211] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 12:31 GMT) MATTHEW’S AND MARK’S PHARISEES 69 ter dines with tax collectors and sinners. Upon hearing of the matter, Jesus replies, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” In 2:18-22 Jesus is asked why his disciples do not fast like the disciples of John the Baptist and the (disciples of the) Pharisees.2 Jesus...