How Jesus and the Apostles Kept the Law| National Catholic Register

Why did Jesus tell people to make offerings in the Temple? Why did Paul call himself a Pharisee? The Bible’s answer might surprise you.

Many assume that Jesus came to abolish Jewish religious practices, but the Gospels tell a different story. The New Testament is filled with references to Jesus and his family and disciples actively participating in Jewish rituals. When Jesus was young, Joseph and Mary had a sacrifice offered in the Temple:

• Luke 2:22-24 — And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’

Jesus observed Passover with his parents (2:41-43) and urged others to make such Temple sacrifices (Luke 5:14; cf. Matthew 8:4; Mark 1:44). The following passage illustrates this:

• Matthew 5:23-24 — So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

This reflects existing Jewish understanding, as seen in the Mishnah (Yoma 8:9): “If a man said, ‘I will sin and repent, and sin again and repent,’ he will be given no chance to repent. [If he said,] ‘I will sin and the Day of Atonement will effect atonement,’ then the Day of Atonement effects no atonement. For transgressions that are between man and God the Day of Atonement effects atonement, but for transgressions that are between a man and his fellow the Day of Atonement effects atonement only if he has appeased his fellow.”

Jesus and his disciples and later followers observed Temple sacrifices and other worship practices. The Passover involved a sacrificed lamb, and they observed it (the Last Supper being one such instance: see Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7-8). Acts 2:46 refers to the early Christians “day by day, attending the Temple together.” And Acts 3:1 informs us that “Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.” This time (3 p.m.) was when sacrifice was offered with prayer (see Exodus 29.39; Leviticus 6:20).

St. Paul “purified himself with them and went into the Temple, to give notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for every one of them” (Acts 21:26) and stated that he “went up to worship at Jerusalem … in the Temple” (Acts 24:11-12) and “after some years I came to bring to my nation alms and offerings. As I was doing this, they found me purified in the Temple” (24:17-18).

Jesus and St. Paul attended synagogues on the Sabbath:

• Luke 4:15-16 — And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the Sabbath day. And he stood up to read … (cf. Mark 1:21; 6:2; several other passages state that he is in synagogues, without mentioning which day of the week it is — Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 13:54; Mark 1:39; John 6:59; 18:20)
• Luke 6:6 — On another Sabbath … he entered the synagogue and taught … 
• Luke 13:10 — Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
• Acts 13:13-16 — Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem, but they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.’ So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said …
• Acts 18:4 — And he argued in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. (cf. 19:8)

Jesus, the disciples, and St. Paul also observed other Jewish feasts and holy days (John 4:45) besides Passover (John 2:13, 23), indicating a strict observance of Jewish religious practices:

• John 5:1 — After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

This was either the feast of unleavened bread or the feast of tabernacles or booths (Leviticus 23:34).

• John 10:22-23 — It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon.

“Dedication” is another name for the feast of Hanukkah, which falls in December, near Christmas.

• Acts 2:1 — When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place (Feast of Pentecost or Weeks — Leviticus 23:15-22)
• Acts 20:6 — But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread …
• 1 Corinthians 5:8 — Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (Feast of Unleavened Bread — Leviticus 23:6)
• 1 Corinthians 16:8 — But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost …

St. Paul called himself a “Pharisee” twice, during his trial (Acts 23:6; 26:5), and again in Philippians 3:5. Acts 15:5 also refers to “believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees.”

When the high priest Ananias commanded Paul to be struck during his trial, Paul responded, “God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall!” (Acts 23:3), but when informed that he was the high priest, he replied, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people’” (23:5).

According to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Ananias was “lawless and violent … haughty, unscrupulous, filling his sacred office for purely selfish and political ends” (vol. 1, p. 129). But Paul nonetheless showed him respect, and even regarded him as his own “ruler.”