The unquestioning reader of Matthew's gospel is left with the nasty impression that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were on the whole a wicked lot bent on harassing and murdering Jesus (Matthew 12:14). Jesus brands them a "brood of vipers" (Matthew 12:34, 23:33) hypocrites, blind fools, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, men full of wickedness and snakes condemned to hell (Matthew 23:13-33).
But the lack of coherence is tremendous. Jesus' furious litany of insults conflicts with his precept to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43-48). It is inconsistent with his presence at synagogues or at the Temple because the offended Pharisees could certainly drive out Jesus for having blasphemed them (Deuteronomy 17:9-13). Jewish historian Flavius Josephus states that the Pharisees had "so great a power over the multitude that when they say anything against the king or against the high priest, they are presently believed" (Antiquities of the Jews; Book XIII, Chapter 10, par. 5). So the Pharisees could have excluded Jesus from every synagogue and from the Temple. It is inconsistent with his acceptance of at least three invitations to dine at Pharisees' homes (Luke 7:39, 11:37, 14:1). It is inconsistent with his choosing Paul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, for the post of minister to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15, 13:46-48, Romans 11:13-14, Galatians 2:7-9). It is inconsistent with his admonition to do everything the teachers of the law and the Pharisees commanded (Matthew 23:1-3). Finally it is at odds with his statement that he had not come to abolish the Law, a predisposition that would preclude having nasty quarrels with teachers of the law (Matthew 5:17-19), several of whom were Jesus' disciples anyway (Matthew 13:47-52).
Flavius Josephus portrays the Pharisees thus,
The Pharisees live meanly, despise delicacies in their diet, follow the conduct of reason and pay respect to their elders, nor are they so bold as to dispute their innovations. They ascribe all things to fate but do not supplant man's free will. They also believe that souls are immortal and that they will reap rewards or punishments after death according to how they have lived in this life; the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, the former shall have power to revive and live again. The common people perform their divine worship, prayers and sacrifices according to the Pharisees' guidelines, and the cities attest to the Pharisees' entirely virtuous conduct, both in their actions and in their discourses also.(Antiquities of the Jews. Book XVIII, Chapter 1, par. 3. Edited)
The enormous popularity of the Pharisees combined with the freedom-loving pluck of the Galileans triggered a zealot rebellion during Jesus' childhood.
In AD 6 a Pharisee named Sadduc and a Galilean named Judas incited the whole nation to revolt after Caesar Augustus introduced direct taxation and sent a procurator to replace Archelaus son of Herod the Great. Judas and Sadduc likened Roman taxation to slavery and vowed that God would be their sole Ruler and Lord,
The nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one war after another came upon us, and we lost our friends who used to console us; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for hopes of personal gain—whence arose seditions and murders, sometimes of fellow Jews (by the desire that no one of the adverse party might survive) and sometimes of Romans. A famine also came upon us and reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities. Nay, the sedition became so strong that at length the very temple of God was burnt down by the Romans.(Antiquities of the Jews. Book XVIII, Chapter 1, par. 1. Edited)
Some Pharisees did not hesitate to stake their life on that same vow that God alone would be their Ruler and Lord.
Pollio and a disciple named Sameas defied the dictate of Herod the Great forcing everyone to swear an oath of life-long loyalty to the king (Antiquities of the Jews; Book XV, Chapter 10, par. 4).
Two Pharisees named Judas and Matthias were burned alive by an ailing Herod the Great for encouraging their students to act on a principle of the law and smash the golden eagle which the king had set over the Temple gate,
Judas and Matthias persuaded their students to pull down the golden eagle, alleging that although their act might bring them death, the deed's virtue would trump the pleasures of life because they would perish for the sake of the law of their forefathers, because they would be commended by their own generation and attain to everlasting fame and because they would bequeathe a living example never to be forgotten. At noon the young men pulled down the eagle and rent it to pieces with axes even as a big crowd watched them. The king's captain and a great troop arrived and caught no fewer than forty young men who had the courage to stay put though the rest scurried away; Judas and Matthias too did not retire upon the troop's approach. So Herod burned them all alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon.(Antiquities of the Jews. Book XVII, Chapter 6, pars. 2-4. Edited)
The Pharisees also prescribed complete rest on Sabbath days (Exodus 20:8-11). Their standpoint was the main bone of contention between Jesus and them; he preached and practised a liberal slant, they insisted on a draconian observance. Their obduracy persisted despite Pompey the Great having taken advantage of their Sabbath law in 63 BC (The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem; Book I, Chapter 7, pars. 3-4).
In AD 66 Agrippa the Second cited the proscription on doing work during the Sabbath to argue against the brewing revolt,
Think how impossible it will be to preserve your zealous observation of your religious customs if you fight the Romans. How can you countenance God's help if your need to transgress his law will turn his face away? And if you do observe the Sabbath days strictly and do nothing thereon, you will be defeated as easily as your forefathers were by Pompey who during his siege worked hardest on those days when the besieged took their rest. And if once at war you transgress the law of your country I cannot fathom on whose account you will be fighting afterward, for your concern is to do nothing contrary to any of your forefathers. How therefore will you call upon God to help you when you must transgress his religion? All men heading to war rely either on Divine or human assistance; but since you will cut off both, those who are now for war court evident destruction.(The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem. Book II, Chapter 16, par. 4. Edited)
The strict Sabbath regulations in effect even today (year 2021) will strike the average Westerner as incomprehensible.
According to the webpage, https://kabbalahcenter.net/shabbat-jewish-rules/, accessed on Saturday October 2, 2021, the rabbis set down in the Talmud-Mishnah (the code of Jewish law) thirty-nine categories of forbidden acts on a Sabbath. These include opening an umbrella, tearing toilet tissue off, jogging, clipping one's nails, squeezing orange juice, brushing one's teeth (this precept pertains to Ashkenazi Jews only), putting body lotion on or using electricity, i.e., turning some household appliance on or off, a prohibition that applies to the elevators of Israeli hotels or of an apartment building! (Google user comments).
Flavius Josephus stated that the Pharisees were entirely virtuous, but of course not every one was.
Josephus himself blames four teachers of the law for Caesar's banishment of all the Jews settled in Rome,
A Jew accused of transgressing the Law left Judea in fear of due punishment. In all respects a wicked man he moved to Rome and professed to instruct men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses. He also procured three others like himself to be his partners. The four then persuaded a woman of great dignity named Fulvia—she had embraced Judaism—to send purple and gold to the Temple of Jerusalem, and when she complied they promptly embezzled her donation. Saturninus the husband of Fulvia asked Caesar Tiberius to look into the matter. Tiberius did and banished all the Jews from Rome, sent four thousand to Sardinia Island and punished a greater number for refusing to join the army. Thus were the Jews expelled from Rome because of the wickedness of those four men.(Antiquities of the Jews. Book XVIII, Chapter 3, par. 5. Edited)
Nor was every High Priest upright. Early in the rule of Caesar Nero, in the final year of procurator Felix, serious strife broke out among the priests of Jerusalem,
About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael son of Fabi. And now there arose a sedition between the High Priests and the principal men of Jerusalem. Each managed a band of bold troublemakers who cast reproachful words and threw stones at one another when they clashed. Nobody reproved them, so the disorders were rife as though the city had no government. And such was the impudence and boldness that had seized on the High Priests that they had the hardiness to send their servants into the threshing floors to take away the tithes due priests, to the point that the poorest ones died for want.(Antiquities of the Jews. Book XX, Chapter 8, par. 8. Edited)