Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Christ directly rebuked the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites of whom Isaiah had prophesied. They honored God with their words while their hearts were far from Him, making their worship vain by teaching human commandments as doctrine and thereby making God's commandments void and ineffective. They treated traditions handed down through the rabbis as more sacred and binding than the Ten Commandments and the words of the living God, absorbing themselves in ceremonial washings and minor matters while neglecting the great principles of the law and the motives of the heart. Their outward devotion concealed spiritual blindness, self-sufficiency and self-interest, so that though given abundant evidence of His divine power they rejected teaching that exposed their traditions and wrongdoing. The same guilt is reached when later generations set aside God's law for human standards, exalting a spurious sabbath and turning souls from obedience while professing to honor God.
Christ Rebukes the Hypocrites
The verse is Christ's direct rebuke in which He calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and declares that Isaiah prophesied of them. Their formalism consisted in teaching human commandments as doctrine instead of following God's commands, while their outward religious devotion and claims to interpret God's law concealed spiritual blindness and failure to recognize the Messiah. They distorted Scripture with human interpretations, obscured its plain teaching about Christ, and made obedience to God's commandments seem a burdensome, needless set of ceremonies, weakening respect for God.
He spoke the rebuke as one having authority, not in the hesitating, uncertain manner of the scribes, but with calmness and power proclaiming living principles of truth. It belongs to His work of implanting among men great truths whose value few knew, and of exposing the discarding of truth for tradition. In this He rescued truth and gave it to the world clothed with more than its original glory and luster, uncovering the policy of covering truth with the rubbish of superstition and tradition.
Their hypocrisy was a religious pretense like the second son who said he would work in the vineyard and went not, their religious life having become impenitent and self-sufficient. Though given abundant convincing evidence of His authority and divine power, and convinced by it, they would not receive Him because they lacked the obedient spirit that leads to obedience. Their claim to serve the nation concealed a desire to preserve their own authority, so they rejected teaching that exposed their traditions and wrongdoing, and while professing to obey they nullified God's law by tradition so that their worship was empty. Outward devotion thus concealed spiritual blindness, self-interest, and opposition to His law even while appearing devoted to God.
The immediate occasion involved rules about ceremonial washing that distracted people from the great principles of God's law, the leaders claiming to guard God's law while treating human traditions as more sacred and giving those traditions priority when they conflicted with God's commandments. They twisted God's word to support unrighteous conduct, interpreting in their own way what they had been taught through the prophets, misleading the people and undermining true morality. They made minor matters seem supremely important and treated matters of eternal importance as unimportant, neglecting the motives of the heart. Their attention was absorbed by human traditions and matters of no consequence while they passed over the precious truths of God's Word concerning salvation.
Tradition Voids God's Law
The rebuke declares them hypocrites because they made God's commandments ineffective and void by teaching human commandments as doctrine. They claimed divine authority for human sayings, honoring God with words while their hearts were far from Him, so their worship was vain and their profession hypocritical. This voiding of the law led them to reject the Son of God.
They treated customs, maxims and traditions handed down through the rabbis from generation to generation as more sacred and all-essential, of more force and value than the Ten Commandments and the words of the living God. They gave those traditions priority when they conflicted with God's commandments and placed them above God's commandments, though they had no command from God and no foundation in His will. Christ did not abolish the law but cleared away those traditions and revealed its true inward reach, including the motives of the heart.
They twisted God's word to support unrighteous conduct and interpreted it in their own way to suit their ideas. They obscured its plain teaching about Christ and made obedience seem a burdensome, needless set of ceremonies, weakening respect for God. The Jewish system thus veiled the gospel with superstition, error and human invention, but Christ unveils the Old Testament, separating its precious truth from such additions so minds look to God Himself as the author of truth.
This course exposes Satan's policy of covering truth with the rubbish of superstition and tradition. It is his constant work to lead men away from God's commandments to the veneration and obedience of the traditions of the world.
Their self-centered, unconverted hearts, formalism, jealousy and self-interest led them to condemn others over human rules about ceremonies such as washing hands while neglecting God's precepts. They even killed the Redeemer over disagreements about such forms and details. Their outward appearance of righteousness concealed inward hypocrisy and spiritual ignorance, and they misled the people and led them astray. All who connected with the religious teachers expecting proper education in accordance with the Word became confused, and their customs and maxims kept back His few followers and kept His disciples from advancing, from supplying their great lack of knowledge, and from becoming efficient workers.
Warning for Later Generations
The Jewish nation, once God's elect people, filled up the cup of iniquity as the Amorites had done by setting aside God's law and putting human rules in its place, and that course led them to reject the Son of God. In the days of Christ they made the law void by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The same guilt is reached when a land abundantly blessed by God accepts and exalts a spurious sabbath and turns souls away from obedience and loyalty to God.
Rulers who legislate care and protection for the false sabbath in order to restore lost ascendancy to the man of sin place divine honors on a false sabbath without knowing what they do. When this work is fully done the commandments of men will be clothed with sacred garments and pronounced holy, and persecution will break forth upon those who observe the Sabbath God gave in Eden as a memorial of His creative power. The observance of the first day of the week by the majority of professed Christians, which has no authority in the precepts or in the example of Christ or His followers, is accounted for by following such human tradition instead of a Thus saith the Lord, for Satan's constant work is to lead men away from God's commandments to the veneration and obedience of the traditions of the world.
The warning applies to professed Christians who promise obedience but refuse to obey God's law, substituting their own standards and setting aside the Sabbath commandment. It applies also to teachings that sow doubt about Christ and weaken faith in the truth, and to forcing Scripture into meanings that excuse conduct while teaching human commandments as God's doctrines. The same condition exists among many who claim to believe today, whose minds are filled with prejudice so that they will not see and live the truth. It is seen when men study the Scriptures to prove their own ideas correct, change the meaning of God's Word to suit their own opinions, quote half a sentence while leaving out the other half that would show their reasoning false, treat the testimonies God sends the same way, and wrest the Scriptures to make them conform to preconceived ideas, with whom God has a controversy.
Even in His youth Jesus would not follow any such custom, place Himself under such instruction, observe such forms, rehearse such maxims, or become a student in their schools, but shut them out of His mind and moved independently of those restrictions. The traditions and ceremonies, maxims and meaningless forms He condemned as hypocrisy required departure from the will of God, exalted the words of men above the word of God, and had no foundation in God. He made no direct attack on the customs or precepts of the learned teachers in His youth. He refused compliance in order to prevent evil from gaining a foothold in the mind rather than correcting it afterward, to avoid leading others by His example to place themselves where they would be corrupted, and to avoid needlessly placing Himself in conflict with the rabbis that would weaken His influence with the people in later years.
Human teachings can be compared with theories that are worthless and harmful, while Bible study gives clearer and stronger understanding. Man's inventions and traditions are unreliable and dangerous because they place men where God should be and place the sayings of men where a Thus saith the Lord should be. Those who will not consider truth for themselves are like the Jews, too proud and humbled in dignity to work the mines of truth and failing to look to God Himself as the Author of all truth. Christ sends divine light back to enlighten the entire Jewish economy, unlocks the treasure house of the Old Testament, and separates precious truth from superstition and error and the devisings and imaginings of men.
Christ directly rebuked the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites of whom Isaiah had prophesied. They honored God with their words while their hearts were far from Him, making their worship vain by teaching human commandments as doctrine and thereby making God's commandments void and ineffective. They treated traditions handed down through the rabbis as more sacred and binding than the Ten Commandments and the words of the living God, absorbing themselves in ceremonial washings and minor matters while neglecting the great principles of the law and the motives of the heart. Their outward devotion concealed spiritual blindness, self-sufficiency and self-interest, so that though given abundant evidence of His divine power they rejected teaching that exposed their traditions and wrongdoing. The same guilt is reached when later generations set aside God's law for human standards, exalting a spurious sabbath and turning souls from obedience while professing to honor God.
Christ Rebukes the Hypocrites
The verse is Christ's direct rebuke in which He calls the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites and declares that Isaiah prophesied of them. Their formalism consisted in teaching human commandments as doctrine instead of following God's commands, while their outward religious devotion and claims to interpret God's law concealed spiritual blindness and failure to recognize the Messiah. They distorted Scripture with human interpretations, obscured its plain teaching about Christ, and made obedience to God's commandments seem a burdensome, needless set of ceremonies, weakening respect for God.
He spoke the rebuke as one having authority, not in the hesitating, uncertain manner of the scribes, but with calmness and power proclaiming living principles of truth. It belongs to His work of implanting among men great truths whose value few knew, and of exposing the discarding of truth for tradition. In this He rescued truth and gave it to the world clothed with more than its original glory and luster, uncovering the policy of covering truth with the rubbish of superstition and tradition.
Their hypocrisy was a religious pretense like the second son who said he would work in the vineyard and went not, their religious life having become impenitent and self-sufficient. Though given abundant convincing evidence of His authority and divine power, and convinced by it, they would not receive Him because they lacked the obedient spirit that leads to obedience. Their claim to serve the nation concealed a desire to preserve their own authority, so they rejected teaching that exposed their traditions and wrongdoing, and while professing to obey they nullified God's law by tradition so that their worship was empty. Outward devotion thus concealed spiritual blindness, self-interest, and opposition to His law even while appearing devoted to God.
The immediate occasion involved rules about ceremonial washing that distracted people from the great principles of God's law, the leaders claiming to guard God's law while treating human traditions as more sacred and giving those traditions priority when they conflicted with God's commandments. They twisted God's word to support unrighteous conduct, interpreting in their own way what they had been taught through the prophets, misleading the people and undermining true morality. They made minor matters seem supremely important and treated matters of eternal importance as unimportant, neglecting the motives of the heart. Their attention was absorbed by human traditions and matters of no consequence while they passed over the precious truths of God's Word concerning salvation.
Tradition Voids God's Law
The rebuke declares them hypocrites because they made God's commandments ineffective and void by teaching human commandments as doctrine. They claimed divine authority for human sayings, honoring God with words while their hearts were far from Him, so their worship was vain and their profession hypocritical. This voiding of the law led them to reject the Son of God.
They treated customs, maxims and traditions handed down through the rabbis from generation to generation as more sacred and all-essential, of more force and value than the Ten Commandments and the words of the living God. They gave those traditions priority when they conflicted with God's commandments and placed them above God's commandments, though they had no command from God and no foundation in His will. Christ did not abolish the law but cleared away those traditions and revealed its true inward reach, including the motives of the heart.
They twisted God's word to support unrighteous conduct and interpreted it in their own way to suit their ideas. They obscured its plain teaching about Christ and made obedience seem a burdensome, needless set of ceremonies, weakening respect for God. The Jewish system thus veiled the gospel with superstition, error and human invention, but Christ unveils the Old Testament, separating its precious truth from such additions so minds look to God Himself as the author of truth.
This course exposes Satan's policy of covering truth with the rubbish of superstition and tradition. It is his constant work to lead men away from God's commandments to the veneration and obedience of the traditions of the world.
Their self-centered, unconverted hearts, formalism, jealousy and self-interest led them to condemn others over human rules about ceremonies such as washing hands while neglecting God's precepts. They even killed the Redeemer over disagreements about such forms and details. Their outward appearance of righteousness concealed inward hypocrisy and spiritual ignorance, and they misled the people and led them astray. All who connected with the religious teachers expecting proper education in accordance with the Word became confused, and their customs and maxims kept back His few followers and kept His disciples from advancing, from supplying their great lack of knowledge, and from becoming efficient workers.
Warning for Later Generations
The Jewish nation, once God's elect people, filled up the cup of iniquity as the Amorites had done by setting aside God's law and putting human rules in its place, and that course led them to reject the Son of God. In the days of Christ they made the law void by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. The same guilt is reached when a land abundantly blessed by God accepts and exalts a spurious sabbath and turns souls away from obedience and loyalty to God.
Rulers who legislate care and protection for the false sabbath in order to restore lost ascendancy to the man of sin place divine honors on a false sabbath without knowing what they do. When this work is fully done the commandments of men will be clothed with sacred garments and pronounced holy, and persecution will break forth upon those who observe the Sabbath God gave in Eden as a memorial of His creative power. The observance of the first day of the week by the majority of professed Christians, which has no authority in the precepts or in the example of Christ or His followers, is accounted for by following such human tradition instead of a Thus saith the Lord, for Satan's constant work is to lead men away from God's commandments to the veneration and obedience of the traditions of the world.
The warning applies to professed Christians who promise obedience but refuse to obey God's law, substituting their own standards and setting aside the Sabbath commandment. It applies also to teachings that sow doubt about Christ and weaken faith in the truth, and to forcing Scripture into meanings that excuse conduct while teaching human commandments as God's doctrines. The same condition exists among many who claim to believe today, whose minds are filled with prejudice so that they will not see and live the truth. It is seen when men study the Scriptures to prove their own ideas correct, change the meaning of God's Word to suit their own opinions, quote half a sentence while leaving out the other half that would show their reasoning false, treat the testimonies God sends the same way, and wrest the Scriptures to make them conform to preconceived ideas, with whom God has a controversy.
Even in His youth Jesus would not follow any such custom, place Himself under such instruction, observe such forms, rehearse such maxims, or become a student in their schools, but shut them out of His mind and moved independently of those restrictions. The traditions and ceremonies, maxims and meaningless forms He condemned as hypocrisy required departure from the will of God, exalted the words of men above the word of God, and had no foundation in God. He made no direct attack on the customs or precepts of the learned teachers in His youth. He refused compliance in order to prevent evil from gaining a foothold in the mind rather than correcting it afterward, to avoid leading others by His example to place themselves where they would be corrupted, and to avoid needlessly placing Himself in conflict with the rabbis that would weaken His influence with the people in later years.
Human teachings can be compared with theories that are worthless and harmful, while Bible study gives clearer and stronger understanding. Man's inventions and traditions are unreliable and dangerous because they place men where God should be and place the sayings of men where a Thus saith the Lord should be. Those who will not consider truth for themselves are like the Jews, too proud and humbled in dignity to work the mines of truth and failing to look to God Himself as the Author of all truth. Christ sends divine light back to enlighten the entire Jewish economy, unlocks the treasure house of the Old Testament, and separates precious truth from superstition and error and the devisings and imaginings of men.