John Boehner made a splash by calling Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh.”  That’s a provocative way of putting it, calling out a candidate who identifies himself with Fundamentalist Christians as the Devil Incarnate.  It doesn’t speak well for his popularity in Congress, but suggests a more cynical interpretation of his frequent displays of piety than may be warranted.  If you give the Devil his due, as it were, and assume Cruz has a genuine core of faith and is not just pretending to be Christian in order to lead others to damnation, the more apt depiction of his posture is like that of a Pharisee in the New Testament.

Even casual Christians will recognize Pharisees as the recurrent foils of Jesus in the Gospels.  Along with Sadducees, priests and scribes, the Pharisees represent the rigid and unforgiving religious establishment of the time.  They are shown as self-important and condescending, passing judgment on others, insistent on adherence to orthodoxy, intolerant of outside influences and unsympathetic to the suffering of others.

Historically, there are significant differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees, who ought not be lumped together indiscriminately, and the New Testament characterization of both has been criticized as inaccurate and unfair.  But when a candidate like Ted Cruz casts himself as a deep-rooted Christian for whom the Bible is the ultimate reference work on what is and what’s right, you might think he’d try a little harder to adopt the views of Jesus and avoid the mindset of the guys Jesus consistently shows as getting it wrong.

Consider a few examples.  Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being covetous of wealth, telling them you cannot love both God and money.  Ted Cruz wants to end progressive taxation of income to the benefit of the very wealthy, cut spending for social programs supporting the underprivileged, and abolish Obamacare without an alternative for those left uninsured.  When the Pharisees asked a trick question about taxation, Jesus told them to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.  Ted Cruz has signed the anti-tax pledge and wants to abolish the IRS.  Jesus scolded the Pharisees for their intolerant reaction when an adultress washed his feet, and when they wanted to stone another adultress he said the one without sin should cast the first stone.  Ted Cruz dismissed a campaign worker, herself a born-again Christian and devoted Cruz supporter, when he learned she had appeared in an adult film.  Jesus, generally, was on the side of the poor and innocent.  Ted Cruz is willing to carpet-bomb Syria at the sacrifice of massive civilian casualties.

When Cruz confers blessings like “God bless the great State of Iowa,” he speaks to his own glory.  He seems to be saying “Ted blesses” or “God has blessed his chosen vessel, Ted.”  He likes to pray in front of crowds and make grand public displays of righteous indignation, like rushing to the side of the Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples.  He trumpets a form of religious liberty that stigmatizes and discriminates against those targeted as social outcasts.  He ought to consider carefully what Jesus had to say about Pharisees at Matthew 23:

“They do everything so that people will see them.  . . .  How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.  . . .  You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness.  Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too!”

Jesus taught compassion for the downtrodden, humble faith and mercy for sinners.  The Pharisees made a prideful show of their righteousness and ostracized those they regarded as unworthy.  Ted Cruz is a Senator whom other Senators do not want to endorse, and a son of Cuban immigrants whom Latinos aren’t anxious to claim.  Christians should approach him with the same skepticism.