What are pharisees?

The pharisees were people in ancient times who really loved rules and wanted to make sure everyone followed them.

Imagine you're at a playground, and there's one kid who knows all the rules of the games, like how to play tag or what happens if you break a rule. That kid is like a pharisee. They weren’t just following the rules; they were making sure everyone did too.

Pharisees were kind of like teachers, but not in a school, they taught people how to live by the rules from their religion. They believed that if you followed these rules really well, you would be happy and close to God.

But sometimes they got so focused on the rules, they forgot about being friendly or generous. It's like when a kid is so excited about winning at tag that they don't notice another kid who’s sad because they lost, the pharisees were like that, too!