The purpose of this thread is to look into Jesus Christ criticism of the religious leaders in Israel and how we can relate it to the present age.

Jesus Christ was invited by one of the Pharisees into his home for a meal.  His host were amazed to see that Jesus sat down to eat without first performing the hand washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. The Pharisees had developed elaborate rituals to ensure ceremony purity (Mark 7:1-5). This lead Jesus to accuse them of cleaning only the outside of a cup (following external rules) but leaving the inside of the cup filthy (keeping unrighteousness in their hearts).

A similar incident occurred in Mark 3, whereby Jesus was accused of healing on the Sabbath day by the Pharisees and the Scribes and this collision quickly escalated to a death plot. This conflict continued over the next 3 years—until it led finally to Jesus’ arrest, illegal trial and execution.
What was it about Jesus that was so threatening to them? What was it about them that were so offensive to Jesus? On the surface, they had much in common

[list]
[li]Monotheism: A Belief in a Single, All Powerful God[/li]
[li]Old Testament[/li]
[li]Sharing the same Jewish Heritage[/li]
[/list]

But at the root level, there were irreconcilable differences between them. Jesus loved them, but he hated the religious mentality they promoted, and he fought it literally to this death.

Who are these mordern day Religious leaders who act like the pharisees?

The critics - I call them the accusers of the brethen.

There is benefit to be derived from any criticism received so long as that criticism is offered in a spirit of love and correction. Criticism offered absent the love of Christ is not offered for correction but rather for condemnation. Criticism expressed by someone who views himself as one of the only “truly righteous” is only going to alienate others. These are modern-day Pharisees and the role that they can play for the cause of Christ is minimized simply because of attitude.

We must keep in mind that we are who Jesus Christ came to save – the lost. We are vile, filthy and undeserving. We have absolutely no ability to stand before God Almighty on our own. However, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at Calvary, I am now covered with His precious blood and solely because of that, I am now worthy to be called a child of God. So anytime the urge hits me to compare myself with others or to criticize them in a spirit of condemnation and not correction, I need to keep the words of Jesus Christ in mind:

CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, the religious mentality of the Pharisees has infected Christianity. In fact, it has infected every church denomination and every individual Christian (including you and me). In order to avoid this infection, we must understand and reject the religious mentality. How?  By identifying and understanding the specific conflicts between Jesus and the religious Leaders, reconciling Scripture (word of God) against the religious mentality of the religious leaders and purging the differences into the lake of fire.

God bless

You have a good point.

@yommyyuk, the situation of Spiritual leaders of late is that a good majority as you point out are definitely cut away from true Christianity as a Way of Life (Practice of Righteousness at all levels of Life) and are now avowed Religion-practitioners (Practices of Dogma and Doctrines as a Way of Life)

As in the life and times of Jesus, you can easily know these rug-rats of religion by the way they call attention to themselves with fancy clothing an air of pride. Jesus compared them to tombs that had been painted with whitewash and looked very beautiful on the outside, but in reality they were like graves full of dead men's bones. These men would even kill the prophets that God had sent, if they didn't want to hear the message they brought. They were very proud of themselves and wore long robes with broad borders, or fringes on them to show their importance. They wanted to get the best seats in the synagogues, the places of worship. They loved for people to call them "Rabbi", or teacher, and they would pray long prayers out in public just for people to see them.

Sadly the common folks till date look up to such Spiritual leaders as very religious.