Why did the Pharisees misunderstand Scripture?

Answer 1

Unless God opens the mind and heart of a person to His Truth [which is His Word, the Bible - John 17:17], the Scriptures remain closed and sealed to the natural [carnal, unconverted] mind of man.

For instance, the LORD tells us that it's the "humble" person He is calling… not "prideful hypocrites" whom Christ reveals most of the Pharisees to have been.

"…'I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at My Word.'" (Isa.66:2 NLT New Living Translation)

"'Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector. THE PROUD PHARISEE stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ''I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery…''" (Luke 18:10-11 NLT)

"Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to interview Jesus… Jesus replied, '…why do you by your traditions, violate the direct Commandments of God? … YOU HYPOCRITES! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said, ''These people honor Me with their lips, but THEIR HEARTS ARE FAR AWAY. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's Commandments with their own man-made teachings.''" (Matt.15:1-9 NLT)

It's the Holy Spirit dwelling within a person by which the understanding of God's Word comes to them… not by their own carnal minded reasoning.

Thus, did the Pharisees [and so does the whole world in general] misunderstand the Scriptures… [not possessing the humble heart and spirit required]. Jesus spoke only "meaning-hiding" parables to the general public, SO THAT THEY WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HE WAS SAYING:

"His disciples came and asked Him, 'Why do you always tell stories [parables] when you talk to the people?' Then He explained to them, 'YOU HAVE BEEN PERMITTED [by God] TO UNDERSTAND THE SECRETS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, but OTHERS HAVE NOT. To those who are open to My teaching, MORE UNDERSTANDING WILL BE GIVEN, and THEY WILL HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF KNOWLEDGE [see Prov.9:10]. But TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT LISTENING, even what they have will be taken away from them. That is why I tell these stories [parables], because PEOPLE SEE WHAT I DO, but THEY DON'T REALLY SEE. They HEAR WHAT I SAY, but THEY DON'T REALLY HEAR, and THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: ''You will hear My Words, but you will NOT UNDERSTAND; you will see what I do, but YOU WILL NOT PERCEIVE ITS MEANING. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts CANNOT UNDERSTAND, and THEY CANNOT TURN TO ME and LET ME HEAL THEM.'' But blessed are your eyes, because THEY SEE; and your ears, because THEY HEAR. I assure you, many prophets and godly people have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but THEY COULD NOT.'" (Matt.13:10-17 NLT)

Paul is a great example of this. Before God reached out and grabbed Paul by the "scruff of his neck," so-to-speak [though God actually blinded his eyes]… and opened his heart and mind to His Truth; Paul was thoroughly deceived by Satan, a murderer and persecutor of God's church, and perfectly sincere in his misunderstanding and ignorance of God's Truth.

The entire Bible is "inspired" by God's Holy Spirit FOR THOSE WHOM HE IS CALLING OUT OF THE WORLD [sanctifying] FOR HIS HOLY USE AND PURPOSE! It was written and preserved as A PARABLE - NOT INTENDED FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO CONSUME AND UNDERSTAND… or even BELIEVE. Only those whom God is ALLOWING TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND His Word, do so.

"This is a [a Holy Spirit-inspired] Revelation FROM JESUS CHRIST… to God's servant John so that JOHN COULD SHARE THE REVELATION WITH GOD'S OTHER[Humble, Faithful, Believing, Trembling] SERVANTS… God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and He blesses all WHO LISTEN to it and OBEY WHAT IT SAYS. For the time is near when these things will happen…'" (Rev.1:1-3 NLT).

The rest of the world will have to wait for God's Good Time [His ongoing plan], to have it opened up to their understanding. And that won't be until the whole world SEES THE LORD STANDING BEFORE THEM ON EARTH… IN THE JUDGMENT:

"You will look back at all your sins and HATE YOURSELVES BECAUSE OF THE EVIL YOU HAVE DONE. YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, O people of Israel [and all of the nations of the world], when I have HONORED MY NAME by TREATING YOU MERCIFULLY in spite of your wickedness, says the Sovereign LORD.'" (Ezek.20:43-44 NLT)

"…'I will put My Spirit in you so YOU WILL OBEY MY LAWS and DO WHATEVER I COMMAND… Then YOU WILL REMEMBER YOUR PAST SINS and HATE YOURSELVES for all the evil things you did. But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I AM not doing this because you deserve it. O, My people of Israel [and all the nations of the world; according to God's global blessing of the nations through Abraham], YOU SHOULD BE UTTERLY ASHAMED OF ALL YOU HAVE DONE! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'When I CLEANSE YOU FROM YOUR SINS, I will bring people to live in your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt… Then the nations all around - all those still left [following the Great Tribulation; the coming global distress that will threaten all life on earth - see Matt.24:21-22] - WILL KNOW THAT I, the LORD, REBUILT THE RUINS… for I, the LORD, have promised this, and I WILL DO IT.;" (Ezek.36:27-36 NLT)

It's not just "the Pharisees" who "misunderstood the Scriptures" back in the day. This whole prideful, hate-filled, merciless, sin-sick world remains in ignorance of God's revealed TRUTH… until the time comes in His plan for the all the nations of the world to KNOW and UNDERSTAND it.

"For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. HE WAS A MURDERER from the beginning and has ALWAYS HATED THE TRUTH. There is no Truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for HE IS A LIAR and THE FATHER OF LIES. So WHEN I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, YOU JUST NATURALLY DON'T BELIEVE ME! Which of you can Truthfully accuse Me of sin? And since I AM telling you the Truth, WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME? Anyone whose FATHER IS GOD listens gladly to the Words of God. Since YOU DON'T, IT PROVES YOU AREN'T GOD'S CHILDREN.'" (John 8:44-47 NLT)

Answer 2

The premise is incorrect; it was Jesus' disciples who misunderstood scripture. While the Pharisees took a literalist and orthopractical vision of Scripture, this is how it had been done historically and consistently. The disciples were about changing the meanings of terms and asserting wildly unjustifiable claims about how the religion was to be interpreted.

Probably most important issue of interpretation that split the Pharisees from the disciples was the conception of the Messiah. The Christian ascription of Jesus' redemptive qualities (i.e. He is the Christ, the truth, and the way) did not accord with Pharisaic principles or understandings during his life or Jewish principles at any other time. It is on account of this major issue that the Pharisees opposed what Jesus was saying and doing, even assuming that the Gospels are accurate or historical materials.

The Jewish Messiah is to be an Earthly King, not an incarnation or union with God. As a result, a person claiming to be God himself is instantly recognized as not being the Messiah. John 5:16-18 asserts that Jews clearly believed that Jesus was articulating that he was the physical progeny of God. Additionally, John 3:16 is at fundamental odds with the Torah's prohibition on Human Sacrifice, its prohibition of blood consumption, its prohibition on cannibalism, and its prohibition on expiation for another's sins. There is no verse in the Old Testament that explains that one of the purposes of the Messiah is to die for sin at all (never mind for the sins of other people).

Jesus failed to perform requirements to be the Messiah and additionally performed actions contrary to the established Commandments. The Bible makes clear that one of the defining marks between a True Prophet and a False Prophet is that no True Prophet will ever deviate from the Law as it was established (Deuteronomy 13:1). A Messiah must also comport to this standard, since he is to be a Holy King. Lists of several of these actions continue below.

Functions of the Jewish Messiah that Jesus failed to fulfill (this list is not exhaustive):

• Setting up a lasting and Eternal Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28) -- Especially important since, seeing as the Temple was extant during his life, he should have been able to "keep it going eternally" if he were the Messiah. There wouldn't even have been any need to rebuild it. By contrast, Jesus explicitly claimed that the Temple would be completely destroyed in Matthew 24:1-2, betraying his duty to make it lasting and eternal.
• Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6) -- This should have been relatively easy since most Jews at that time were still in the Middle East (Judea and Babylon). After his death, (for unrelated reasons) the Jews were scattered all across the Roman Empire and later the entire world. Jesus did not facilitate any migration of Jews to Israel.
• Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4) -- More wars have been fought in the name of Christianity and Islam since the time of Jesus than for any almost any other single cause; and both claim him to be the Messiah (even though they define that term differently). Additionally, Jesus claims specifically that he did not come to bring peace but a sword in Mark 10:34.
• Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9) -- When Jesus died, no larger population knew about God than when he was born. Still today, after many centuries of missionizing, only half of the world professes to believe in one God.
• The Messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1) -- While the Christian scriptures may allege this, they also allege that Jesus' Earthly father played no part in making him, so to speak. Therefore, he has no patrilineal lineage to speak of (save for God himself) and cannot therefore be descended from King David.
• The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. -- Since the Messiah is the resolution of the problems of this world and nothing can be added or detracted from the Law, people will naturally follow the Law.
• The dead shall rise from their graves and death shall be abolished for eternal life (Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2). -- Jesus allegedly rose a few individuals from the dead, but did not raise all of the dead nor did he abolish death for everlasting life.

Commandments that Jesus actively violated (all quotes from the NIV). This list is not exhaustive:

• Matthew 15:11: "That goes into someone's mouth does not defile them; but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." -- This is a blanket denial of some of the laws of ritual purity and all of the Laws of Kashrut, which tell us foods to eat and which foods not to eat in Leviticus ch. 11. This is an abrogation of the Law.
• Matthew 19:8-9: Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery." -- Jesus specifically rebukes the Mosaic Law and denies the permissibility of divorce which is expressly permitted according to Deuteronomy ch. 24.
• Matthew 19:29: "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." -- Jesus actively supports the break-up of families, which runs counter to an entire tradition of family unity and tribal unity throughout Israelite and Jewish history. This also runs counter to the Messianic Prophecy that the Messiah will bring bickering families back together in Malachi 4:6.
• Mark 1:43-44: Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." & John 18:20-21: "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said." -- These verses show that Jesus lies (not to mention the issue with absconding truth in parables). If he said everything openly, he would not tell people to be quiet and secretive about who he was. Lying is prohibited in Leviticus 19:11. The Law being clear and accessible, not secretive, is stated in Deuteronomy 30:10-14 and Deut. 31:9-13.
• Mark 14:24-25: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. "Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God." -- The consumption of blood is specifically forbidden in the Torah because it is the life-source of all creatures. This is made clear in Leviticus 17:10-12.

Answer 3

Your question is based upon a debatable assumption. Rather, you should ask "Did the Pharisees misunderstand Scripture?" - since many people believe that they did not misunderstand it. It was the Pharisees who had received the Israelite Scriptures and commentary from their ancestors in an unbroken tradition and whom the vast majority of Jews trusted to teach and interpret properly. The Pharisees toiled ceaselessly to preserve what they had learned from their earlier teachers, and it is the fruit of their efforts, the Mishnah and Talmud, which constitute the central pillars of Jewish tradition. See also the Related Links.

Link: Who were the Pharisees

Link: What did they say about Jesus?

Link: The Pharisees and other ancient groups

Link: More about the Talmud

Answer 4

Jesus tells us exactly why the Pharisees misunderstood Scripture in Matthew 22:34-40. Recall that they had repeated run-in's with the Lord, and He repeatedly corrected and condemned them. Then, in Matthew 22:34-40, shortly before His crucifixion, He tells them, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Why? Because they kept drawing conclusions from Scripture based upon seeing it as a set of rules and regulations. They missed the central point: Love God. Love others. If they would view Scripture through this double-faceted lens they would begin to understand.