Trump, the Pharisee?

 

When I saw that Trump said that I immediately recognized that he was doing the same thing that the Pharisees continually are seen doing in the gospels. They continually are finding ways to ignore or nullify the law, so they can do that which is immoral, but claim to still be moral. Jesus challenges them on this in Mark 7:1-13 and Matthew 15:1-9. This is a common game that people play. There are so many versions of this sort of thing.

"If you dedicate the gift to God, you don't need to use it to honour you parents."

"If the pastor’s wife says she can preach, it is not assuming authority and is therefore ok."

"If your husband isn’t loving you well enough, then you don't need to be a wife to him."

"If you say it's not really an idol, it is just a picture of a Saint to help you pray it is not breaking the first two commandments."

"If you divorce your wife first to marry your hot secretary, then it is not really adultery."

Same logic, different situation. The yeast of the Pharisees is really the human spirit to avoid good laws with rationalisation.

Lawyers do this all the same. In fact, they do it so much many people joke that this is the job of lawyers, to find ways to get around the law. I was fascinating to see Trump say this so openly and brashly.

When you see someone say something like this, it is an indication that they know what they are doing is not right. But they also probably do not care.

So, Trump is not literally a Pharisee, and this sort of behaviour is not unique to the Pharisees. This is the way that people behave when they want to do something they know is not moral.