Stake Out

Do you ever feel like you are being watched?

One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath." - Mark 2:23-28

Jesus is walking through a grain field with his followers, and who happens to spot them?

These Pharisees are everywhere, watching and ready to pounce as soon as they see him doing something wrong.

Perhaps they interpreted their jobs in such a way as to justify this patrol-like behavior.  After all, they were the preservers of Judaism.  

They were teachers and advocates, pressuring government officials to support their efforts to keep Judaism alive in the people.

They did a lot of good things, like keeping the oral tradition alive, contributing to the Talmud, and spreading the word of God through the Old Testament.

Ironically, they did not call themselves Pharisees.  This was a name assigned to them.

The appear to be a major sect representing mainstream Judaism at the time of Jesus, but in reality, they were a minority.  Beliefs were, as they are now, a lot more diverse.

So, they could be viewed as a very influential, but small group with the power to sway opinion, kind of like modern day social media influencers.

And they pop up everywhere and every time Jesus and his followers appear to break the law.

Maybe they had nothing better to do than follow him around.

They did manage to have Jesus silenced, though.  We have to give them that.

More to come...