Conclusion
Conclusion
The early traditions strongly suggest that Jesus and some Pharisees had disagreements over such matters as how to observe the sabbath properly. Each side was convinced that it understood Scripture more accurately, and, if Jesus’ words in various strata of the tradition are any indication, harsh words were exchanged. Jesus denounces the Pharisees, masters of ritual purity, for their spiritual impurity, and compares experts in the law with those who murdered the prophets.
But while Pharisees and scribes may have provided many of Jesus’ conflicts in the Gospels, his expectation of martyrdom in Jerusalem reflects a wider failure to receive his mission. (As we will argue later, he could expect martyrdom there primarily through the involvement of Jerusalem’s priestly elite, not the Pharisees.) Like John, Jesus would face martyrdom, and apparently envisioned this martyrdom as divine necessity. Israel was not yet repenting adequately before the coming judgment.