What about the Pharisees Luke describes in today’s gospel (Luke 11:37-41) and the judaizers upsetting Paul’s converts in Galatia (Galatians 5:1-6) with their demands they accept circumcision?

We usually picture the Pharisees as religious, almost fanatically religious in fact. But there’s another picture of them history invites us to consider. The Pharisees were shrewdly practical, good organizers who kept the Jewish religion alive after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. They preserved Jewish identity in the Roman world by concentrating on Jewish practices, like circumcision. 

Jewish identity was important before Roman law. Nero chose Christians for persecution in the 60s because they were seen as Jewish separatists, non-practicing Jews. In later persecutions, Christians were seen as opponents of Rome because they would not offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. On the contrary, Jews were exempt by Roman law from offering sacrifice because of their religion. They were not persecuted.

Were the Judaizers in Galatia calling for greater Jewish identity from Paul’s converts for the safety it would bring them before Roman law? Paul refused this accommodation. He upheld faith in Jesus Christ and his Cross.

Makes us think, doesn’t it?