A Famine Not of Bread

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The scribes and the Pharisees—for us Christians today those names conjure up negative images for they were the primary opponents of our Lord.  But it would not have been so in Jesus’ day.  The Pharisees were well-known and highly respected religious leaders who believed and taught that in order to live under God’s favor the Jews needed to separate themselves from the Gentiles and return to strict observance of Mosaic Law.  The scribes could trace their origin back to Ezra, the first priest called a scribe (7:11-12).  The title literally means a writer, a secretary who prepares and copies scrolls, but over the years, their role was greatly increased to being the chief interpreters and public teachers of the Law.  Both groups were established with good intentions.  Prior to the Babylonian captivity, God’s Word had been so neglected that 2 Kings reports the discovery of a scroll of the Law