Did Jesus berate the pharasees for strict observance of the law?
No he did not berate the pharasees and saducees for strict observance of the law, he berated them for not being faithful to the spirit of the law and trying to be clever with the letter of the law. He berated them for hypocricy, almost mockery. They were doing the very things the law did not want them to do and yet they could not be challenged because they could show you that they had observed every letter of the law. Jesus wanted proper observance of the intended purpose of the law. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 5:20 “That except your righteousness shall EXCEED the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Remember in Matthew 5:17 Jesus said “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” to make complete, to put into the law what it was lacking – the spirit or real purpose. This he attempted to do in his famous “it was said by them of old…But I say unto you” part of t
