But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
God will not endure invented modes of worship, for the more labor men display in such self-chosen service, the heavier their condemnation. When men wander beyond the Word of God, religion is dishonored, and all such worship becomes accursed and detestable in His sight.
AI summary
These men from Jerusalem, who should have been better, were worse. They accused Christ's disciples of breaking tradition by eating with unwashed hands, a decent custom the Pharisees had turned into a religious duty. That this was the worst charge they could bring shows how inoffensively His disciples lived.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 15:1-9
Their worship was merely outward and formal, the heart entirely absent. They observed every ritual, yet acted from wrong principles and wrong views, and compounded the error by adding traditions of their own devising to God's Law.
AI summary