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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 15:7 - 15:9
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Christ substantiates His attack:
v. 7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
v. 8. This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.
v. 9. But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
He does not mince words; their sham and deceit, their shallow acting at religion, must be branded as such. What the Lord had spoken of the hypocrisy of the Jews in the time of Isa_29:13; Eze_33:31; Isa_1:1-5, applies, in fullest measure, to the scribes and Pharisees. Mere lip-service is an abomination to the Lord. There is no faith, no real love in their hearts. Their supposed orthodoxy is a hallucination, their entire religion is vain. The injunctions which they laid upon men without Scriptural warrant resulted only in their own condemnation, Psa_4:2. "Out of these words of Christ thou mayest draw strong conclusions; first: Everything that is done without the Word of God is idolatry; secondly: Everything that is done according to the Word of God is true worship of God; also thirdly: All that is done without faith is sin; fourthly: All that is done in faith is a good work, for the Word and faith are indissolubly connected, as in holy marriage... We say also that the Pharisees were hypocrites and false pupils of Moses, because they held, if they only fulfilled the ceremonies outwardly, they would, for the sake of the mere work, obtain righteousness before God. This Moses truly did not want, but the ceremonies should be exercises of the pious, who previously were just by faith, and who thus kept the First Commandment before all. Furthermore, the reprobate people should, by external discipline, be held back and separated from the heathen. That is the meaning of Moses, if one understands him correctly."