An old myth: the Pharisees' problem was they were law-keepers

I'm a bit fed up of writing on the Lutheran doctrine of 'the law' at the moment, because you're not supposed to end with the law, only start there. It's getting me down, because the end of the law is Christ, not reflection on the law. I think this may be the last for a while.

Years ago I was struck by someone saying that Jesus never criticised the Pharisees for keeping the law, but actually he often criticised them for failing to keep it. To self-righteous people who thought they were good he held up the mirror of the law and showed them their true selves, in the hope they would give up trying to impress people and God with their obedience, and instead trust in him for forgiveness.

For example:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!...Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:23-28)

"And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honour your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." (Mark 10:17-22)

"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honour his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God." (Matthew 15:2-6; cf. Matthew 12:2-6)

However, the far greater criticism he has for the Pharisees, and which purveys all the NT Gospels is that they reject him. He is the Mosaic law personified. He is good and lovely, but with a burning intensity that outshines even the law written by the hand of God. As such, people either tried to kill him or ran to him attracted by his goodness and hungry for mercy.

To those already broken by their sin and helplessness who flocked to him in droves, he showed that other aspect of the Mosaic law - mercy and exodus from slavery - when he took upon his shoulders the curse of death we deserve for not living the life he lived.

He fulfilled the law in two senses: he embodied it in his life, and he ended it in his death.