[Ye] hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
7. well did Esaias prophesy ] A common Jewish formula for quoting a saying of the prophets.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 15:7-9
This people draweth near to Me with their mouth.
Lip profession
I. Show who they are who answer to the description in the text. All merely nominal Christians. Formal, self-righteous persons. False professors.
II. Expostulate with them on their folly. Is not conformity to Christs demand of the heart practicable? Is not such consecration to Him necessary? Will not merely a feigned allegiance be disowned by Him? Shall we Hot wish at last that we had been sincere and upright? (Pulpit Studies.)
I. The text describes a great privilege.
II. Points out a serious abuse. (J. Rawlinson.)
Contrasts of sentiments and conduct
Words and works, believing and doing, confession of the mouth and confession of the life, a sense of religion and godliness in the Church, and a sense of religion and godliness in the world, are things that ought never to be separated.
I. Endeavour to convince you, that a various and manifest contrariety actually appears between the sentiments which we express in the Divine service, and particularly at the ordinance of the Sacred Supper, and our conduct in the ordinary course of life.
II. Endeavour to represent to you the absurdity and the danger of such a contradictions and inconsistent behaviour. (Zollikofer.)
True sanctity
I. True sanctity consists not in the knowledge of God and religion, however extensive, however just and perspicuous it may be. Although that knowledge may be necessary to sanctity, it is not, however, competent to it; and though it constitutes the basis of it, yet it is no more sanctity itself than the foundation of an edifice is the edifice itself.
II. Neither does true sanctity consist in A furious zeal for the known truth, or for the honour and glory of that religion which we profess.
III. Neither does true sanctity consist in the diligent or strict attendance on the rites and ceremonies which religion prescribes; nor in the observance, nor in the multiplication of the devotional exercises to which it advises its professors; nor in voluntary penances and mortifications, which they impose upon themselves.
IV. Neither does true sanctity consist in our occasionally omitting something which God has forbidden us, or doing something which he has commanded us; nor in our occasionally performing single good actions, whether of justice or beneficence, or of abstinence. True sanctity is a reigning, constantly active, disposition and bent of the soul, manifesting itself in the several parts of our inward and outward conduct, and making us always willing and ready to do what, and nothing else but what, is agreeable to God, and correspondent to His will. (Zollikofer.)
The heart far from God
I. The state described.
1. Marked by absence of sincerity and honesty.
2. Implies a state of alienation from God.
3. Try the meaning of the text by the common estimates we form of professed friendship. All stress is laid on motive and feeling.
II. The lessons of the state here referred to.
1. The need of repentance.
2. That in the midst of religious ordinances there may be spiritual insensibility.
3. Yet though the heart be far off the Good Shepherd seeks it. (W. D. Harwood.)
The vanity of human institution in religion
Show the equity and importance of this assertion of our Saviour, that they who ground their religious practices, or any part of them, upon human authority, do so far, or in that respect, worship God in vain-that is, they cannot reasonably expect any one good effect from such worship.
I. Rest this matter on our Saviours authority.
II. God is the supreme object of religious worship; and to Him all our devotions ought to be ultimately directed.
III. It is a matter of interest, as well as duty, for us so to do.
IV. The peace and wellbeing of mankind in general, and of every society in particular, are interested in it. (Wm. West.)
Teaching doctrines the commandments of men
Our Lord is here reproving the scribes and Pharisees for imposing on the people some commandments of their own, or traditions of their predecessors, as of equal obligations with the precepts of the law.
I. The objects of this censure or the persons specially affected by it. The objects of the reproof were the scribes and Pharisees, the public authorized teachers of the law. There must be public teachers who shall command and instruct; but this authority is committed to them under restrictions.
II. When are teachers and rulers of the church guilty of the crime here reproved of teaching for doctrines the commandments of men? For the better clearing of which it will be of use to consider-
1. What is meant by commandments of men. They are three sorts:
(1) Where the matter of the human command is the same action that God has enjoined by His law. For human authority ought to command what God has commanded; particularly in such a society as the Christian Church formed upon the laws of the gospel.
(2) A second sort of commandments of men are such whose matter contradicts or interferes with the prescriptions of the Divine law. And such are not only those which expressly forbid what God has commanded, or invert the prescribed order of Gods commands.
(3) A third sort of commandments of men are such whose matter is actions in their nature indifferent, and neither commanded nor forbidden by God; such as the washing hands before meat.
2. Then teaching these commandments of men as doctrines is proposing them as precepts of the Divine law, or of equal authority with them, and obliging the conscience as such.
Rules supposed to be indifferent but convenient and orderly may obtain in a society; but this authority may be abused:
1. When such things are prescribed as binding the conscience by direct obligation.
2. The prescription of indifferent things will be liable to the censure in the text, when it is taught that obedience to them will excuse disobedience to a law of God.
3. This censure will also be incurred when indifferent things are prescribed by men as means of grace, as having power to convey remission of sins, or any other spiritual or supernatural gifts of the Holy Ghost. They may he means of grace, but God only has authority to make them so.
III. What our Lord has here pronounced, that they worship God in vain. (J. Rogers, D. D.)
How may we cure distractions in holy duties
I. The greatness of the sin. Proved by three general considerations:-
1. How tender God is of His worship (Lev 10:3; Ecc 5:2).
2. The more sincere any one is, the more he maketh conscience of his thoughts.
3. Carelessness in duties is the highway to atheism.
Particularly:-
1. It is an affront to God, and a kind of mockery.
2. It grieveth the Spirit of God.
3. It is a spiritual disease.
4. It argueth the loss and non-acceptance of our prayers.
There is a threefold distraction prayer:-
1. An unwilling distraction.
2. A negligent distraction.
3. A voluntary distraction.
II. The causes of this roving and intrusion of vain thoughts.
1. Satan is one cause.
2. The natural levity of our spirits.
3. Practical atheism.
4. Strong and unmortified lusts.
5. Want of love to God anti holy things.
6. Slightness and irreverence, or want of a sense of Gods presence.
7. The curiosity of the senses.
8. Carking and distrustful cares.
III. The remedies.
1. GO to God and wait for the power of His grace.
2. Meditate on the greatness of Him before whom we are.
3. Mortify those lusts that are apt to withdraw our minds.
4. Before the duty there must be an actual preparation or a solemn discharge of all impediments, that we may not bring the world along with us.
5. Be severe to your purpose.
6. Bring with you to every holy service strong spiritual affections.
7. Remember the weight and consequence of the duties of religion.
8. Let every experimental wandering make you more humble and careful.
9. A constant heavenliness and holiness of heart.
10. Frequent and solemn meditation.
11. By use a man gets greater command over himself. (T. Manton, M. D.)
Heart-worship
As the strength of sin lies in the inward frame of the heart, so the strength of worship in the inward complexion and temper of the soul. Shadows are not to be offered instead of substance. God asks for the heart in worship, and commands outward ceremonies, as subservient to inward worship, and goads and spears unto it. What value had the offering of the human nature of Christ been, if he had not had a Divine nature to qualify Him to be the Priest? And what is the oblation of our bodies, without a priestly act of the spirit in the presentation of it? To offer a body with a sapless spirit, is a sacrilege of the same nature with that of the Israelities when they offered dead beasts. One sound sacrifice is better than a thousand rotten ones. (Charnock.)
Mere outward worship offensive to God
You would all judge it to be an affront to the majesty of God if a man should send his clothes stuffed with straw, or a puppet dressed up instead of himself, into the assemblies of Gods people, and think that this would do instead of his personal presence. Yet our clothes stuffed with straw would be less offensive to God than our bodies without our souls. The absence of the spirit is the absence of the more noble part. (T. Manton.)
Sincerity in worship
We may be truly said to worship God, though we want perfection; but we cannot be said to worship Him if we want sincerity: a statue upon a tomb, with eyes and hands lifted up, offers as good and true a service; it wants only a voice, the gestures and postures are the same-nay, the service is better; it is not a mockery, it represents all that it can be framed to. But to worship without our spirits is presenting God with a picture, an echo, voice, and nothing else-a compliment, a mere lie. (Charnock.)
Formalism in worship.
We have sometimes seen a tree which looked with its great spreading arms and massive trunk as strong as other trees. The storm beat upon it and it fell, and then we wondered that it could stand so long when little but the bark and outer fibre supported it, and within was nothing but decay. And do we not often find that where zeal has grown cold and the inner spiritual life has become dead, that habits of formal attention to religious duties are maintained for a long time before the crash comes that reveals the utter ruin and desolation of the spiritual life? (J. G. Pilkington.)
God only to be worshipped and loved
I. The true object of religious worship, which is here called drawing nigh unto God and honouring Him.
II. To direct the right manner of performing religious worship.
1. God is to be worshipped in the way of His own appointment.
2. God is to be worshipped with the whole man, with our bodies and spirits which are His.
3. God is to be worshipped by the assistance of His spirit.
4. God is to be worshipped in the exercise of all suitable graces under the influence of His spirit.
5. God is to be worshipped with an eye to His glory, as our ultimate end.
6. God is to be worshipped in the name of Christ as our only Mediator.
Reflections:
1. How must every one, more or less, stand reproved for defects in worship.
2. How becoming, glorious and delightful must it be to offer up such worship to God, as is agreeable to His will.
3. What glorious provision has God made in the gospel to assist this noble homage. (Dr. Guyse.)
Scriptural worship
All religion must be Scripture religion, all worship Scripture worship, all zeal Scripture zeal; so that let a man have never such sublime knowledge and such burning zeal, yet if it be not according to the law and the testimony, there is no light in them. It is but a vain worship of God, because God doth not require this; so that the sum of all, and that into which all religion must be resolved at last, is the Scriptures-the Word of God; for if you once lay this aside, why should not the Turkish devotion be as good as thine? Why should not the Mahommedan zeal be as acceptable as thine, but only this makes the difference. What may be proved by Scripture is approved of by GOD; so that all these arguments,-Its my conscience; I verily think I am bound to do thus; Its upon my spirit; I find much comfort and much sweetness in religion,-all this is nothing, for all false religions can and do say this; but hast thou the Word of God to warrant thee?doth that justify thee? all things else are but an empty shadow. (A. Burgess.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you] In every place where the proper names of the Old Testament occur, in the New, the same mode of orthography should be followed: I therefore write Isaiah with the Hebrew, not Esaias, with the Greek. This prophecy is found Isa 29:13. Our blessed Lord unmasks these hypocrites; and we may observe that, when a hypocrite is found out, he should be exposed to all; this may lead to his salvation: if he be permitted to retain his falsely acquired character, how can he escape perdition!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Greek is, , teaching doctrines, the commandments of men.
Ye hypocrites, who put on an outward vizard or appearance of holiness, but have nothing in your hearts of true and severe piety,
well did Isaiah prophesy of you: Isaiah spake to the Jews that were then in being, but what he then said of your forefathers that lived in his age, is true of you who are their children.
Saying, This people, &c. The evangelist doth not quote the words of the prophet exactly, but his sense, and teacheth us this lesson, That whatsoever outward show and profession of religion be in and upon men, if their hearts be not right with God, and what they outwardly do proceed not from an inward principle of faith, love, and obedience in and to God, they are but hypocrites.
In vain do they worship me, &c.; that is, idly, and unprofitably, and to no purpose: I will not account what they do.
Teaching doctrines, the commandments of men: he means in the worship of God, for other commandments of men are not the preachers texts, nor doth he here mean by
commandments of men such as backed the commandments of God, and only served to enforce them, but such as he had been speaking of, human traditions, of which God had said nothing, as washing of hands; or such traditions as enervated the commandments of God; such were the last mentioned.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaiasprophesy of you, saying (Isa29:13).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ye hypocrites,…. After our Lord had given so full a proof of their making void the commandments of God by their traditions, he might very justly, as he does, call them hypocrites; who pretended to so much religion and holiness, and yet scrupled not, upon occasion, to set aside a divine command; who affected so much sanctity, as to be displeased with the disciples, for not complying with an order of their elders, when they themselves made no account of a divine precept; and plainly showed they had more regard to men than God, and to the precepts of men, than to the commands of God, and to approve themselves to men more than to God; and that they sought the praise and applause of men, and not the honour which comes from God; and that their religion lay in mere rituals and externals, and those of men’s devising, and not in the spiritual worship and service of God. Nor can it be thought that Christ, in calling them hypocrites, bears too hard upon them; when one of their own doctors, who lived not very distant from this age, says a of the men of Jerusalem, that
“if the hypocrites of the world were divided into ten parts, nine of them would belong to Jerusalem, and one to the rest of the world.”
Well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, in Isa 29:13 which prophecy, though it was directed to, and suited with many in that generation in which the prophet lived, yet had a further view to the Jews in after times: their own writers b acknowledge, that the whole prophecy is spoken of that nation; for by Ariel they understand the altar at Jerusalem, the city in which David dwelt,
a R. Nathan in Rabba, sect. 1. b Abarbinel, Jarchi, Kimchi, & Aben Ezra.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ( ). There is sarcasm in this pointed application of Isaiah’s words (Isa 29:13) to these rabbis. He “beautifully pictured” them. The portrait was to the very life, “teaching as their doctrines the commandments of men.” They were indeed far from God if they imagined that God would be pleased with such gifts at the expense of duty to one’s parents.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Well [] . Admirably.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
7. Well hath Isaiah prophesied concerning you. Our Lord now proceeds farther; for he decides on the question in hand, which he divides into two clauses. The first is, that they relied on outward ceremonies alone, and set no value on true holiness, which consists in sincere uprightness of heart; and the second is, that they worshipped God in a wrong way, according to their own fancy. Now though his reproof of pretended and hypocritical holiness appears hitherto to be restricted to persons, yet it includes the substance of this doctrine, from which the full conclusion was, first, that the worship of God is spiritual, and does not consist in the sprinkling of water, or in any other ceremony; and, secondly, that there is no reasonable worship of God but what is directed by the rule of his word. Although Isaiah (Isa 29:13) did not prophesy for futurity alone, but had regard to the men of his own age, yet Christ says that this prediction relates to the Pharisees and scribes, because they resemble those ancient hypocrites with whom the prophet had to contend. Christ does not quote that passage exactly as it stands; but the prophet expressly mentions two offenses by which the Jews provoked against themselves the divine vengeance. With their lips only, and by an outward profession, they made a pretense of godliness; and, next, they turned aside to modes of worship invented by men. First, then, it is wicked hypocrisy, when the honor which men render to God is only in outward appearance; for to approach to God with the mouth, and to honor him with the lips, would not be in itself evil, provided that the heart went before. The substance of what our Lord states on this subject is, that, since the worship of God is spiritual, and as nothing pleases him that is not accompanied by the inward sincerity of the heart, they who make holiness to consist in outward display are hypocrites.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Ye hypocrites.See Note on Mat. 7:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Ye hypocrites For fabricating a religion without morality. Prophesy of you Isaiah, by inspiration, describing such characters as yours beforehand. The class and the race are indeed foreseen by God as recurring, and are so predescribed once for all.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, “This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.”
He then brings His verdict on them from the Scriptures. Once again it is Isaiah that is in mind and specifically cited. For Isaiah had spoken of men who honoured God with their lips, while being far from Him and His will in their hearts, just like these men were. They talked as though God meant a great deal to them, and then behaved as if He meant nothing at all. And Isaiah had then declared that because of it their worship was in vain, because the teaching that they taught was that of men, not of God.
‘Of you.’ That is, of you who claim to be God’s people Israel. He is conjoining His hearers with those of old, for the Scriptures speak to all. They were no different in this way than their forefathers.
The quotation is probably based on a Hebrew text available to Matthew which was fairly close to that on which LXX was based, examples of which are found at Qumran.
‘You hypocrites.’ They pretended one thing, while the truth was quite different. They put on a show of godliness without it being true godliness.
Jesus Stresses That It Is What Is Within A Man That Defiles Him, And Not What Enters Him From Outside.
Jesus now goes to the root of the question of religious defilement. The Pharisees saw it in terms of the laws of cleanness and uncleanness, and by applying those to their utmost limit. Jesus in contrast stresses that such things affect men little. What is most important to God is what is within a man, the things which fashion his attitudes and behaviour.
The fact must not be overlooked that the laws of cleanness and uncleanness (e.g. Leviticus 11-15) had been very important to Israel. They had not only undoubtedly prevented a good deal of disease, but they had inculcated the ideas of positive uprightness and wholesomeness of life. At one end of the spectrum was the living God, at the other was death and unwholesomeness. The One was to be approached, and they must seek to be like Him, and the other was to be avoided. In days when hygienic cleanliness had been very much a secondary consideration, especially under the conditions in which men in those days lived, this had made Israel unique among the nations as a nation that sought after wholesomeness. But by the time of Jesus this had become no longer quite so relevant. What was now more important was what was in men’s hearts. And that is what Jesus now proceeds to deal with.
But nothing brings out more the sensible nature of the laws of uncleanness than working in a hospital. Let the standards of ‘cleanliness’ drop and the hospital becomes a place of death, just as could so easily have happened to the camp of Israel. The difference is that we recognise better the reasons that in this case lie behind it.
a And he called to him the crowd, and said to them, “Hear, and understand” (Mat 15:10).
b “It is not what enters into the mouth which defiles the man” (Mat 15:11 a).
c “But what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man” (Mat 15:11 b).
d Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?” (Mat 15:12).
e But he answered and said, “Every plant which my heavenly Father did not plant, will be rooted up” (Mat 15:13).
f “Let them alone. They are blind guides” (Mat 15:14 a).
e “And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Mat 15:14 b).
d And Peter answered and said to him, “Declare to us the parable.” And he said, “Are you also even yet without understanding?” (Mat 15:15-16).
c “Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the digestive system, and is cast out into the draught? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings. These are the things which defile the man” (17-19b).
b “But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man” (Mat 15:20 b).
a And Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon
Note that in ‘a’ He called to Him the crowds, and in the parallel He went from there and withdrew. In ‘b’ He declares that what enters the mouth does not defile a man, while in the parallel eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man. In ‘c’ it is what proceeds from the mouth that defiles a man, and in the parallel a full explanation of why that is so is given. In ‘d’ the Pharisees are said to have stumbled at this saying, and in the parallel the disciples also want an explanation. In ‘e’ the Pharisees have not been planted by His heavenly Father and will be rooted up, and in the parallel they are blind guides and will fall into the pit. Centrally the Pharisees are to be left alone because they are blind guides.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 15:7-9. Ye hypocrites, &c. See note on Isa 29:13. In St. Mark, our Lord makes this citation at the beginning of his discourse, Mar 7:6-7. Possibly therefore he cited and applied it twice; first, at the beginning, as St. Mark tells us; and having proved that it was truly applicable to the Scribes and Pharisees, he applied it again at the conclusion of his argument, asSt. Matthew affirms. We have several examples of the like repetitions in the Gospels. See Mar 10:6-9 compared with Mat 19:4-6.; ch. Mat 24:5 compared with Mat 15:11; Mat 15:24.; and Luk 22:18 compared with Mat 26:29. Dr. Doddridge renders the last clause of Mat 15:9. While they teach doctrines that are human injunctions, the mere precepts of men, which have no stamp of divine authority upon them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 15:7 ff. ] admirably , appropriately characterizing.
.] has predicted , which de Wette unwarrantably denies to be the meaning of the word in the present instance, understanding . in the sense of the inspired utterance generally. Jesus regards Isa 29:13 (not strictly in accordance with the LXX.) as a typical prediction , which has found its fulfilment in the conduct of the scribes and Pharisees.
] denotes a continuation of the matter in hand; and indicates, according to the usual explanation, that their is attended with no beneficial result ( 2Ma 7:18 , and classical writers), produces no moral effect upon their heart and life, because they teach as doctrines the commandments of men. But seeing that the consists of mere lip-service in which the heart plays no part, thus according with the idea involved in , and inasmuch as , etc., is evidence that such is the nature of the service, the interpretation: sine causa , found so early as in the Vulgate, is better suited to the context. Their of God is meaningless ( temere , comp. Soph. Aj. 634, and Lobeck’s note, Ast, Lex. Plat . II. p. 285), because they do not teach divine, but human doctrine , the consequence of which is that the has no motive principle in the heart, where, on the contrary, human interest takes the place of the fear of God. Comp. the of Jas 1:26 . For the opposite of such worship, consult Joh 4:24 . See Apol. Conf. A ., pp. 206, 256.
There is no Hebrew word corresponding to in the above quotation from Isaiah; probably the text made use of by the LXX. contained a different reading.
. .] promulgating as doctrines, precepts of a merely human origin; comp. Col 2:22 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1370
FORMAL WORSHIPPERS, HYPOCRITES
Mat 15:7-9. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
IN the present day, there is very little of superstitious observance in the world, and still less of Pharisaic hypocrisy; except indeed in the Church of Rome, which is still unhappily a compound of them both. Yet these do exist even amongst Protestants: and the declaration, which in the first instance was delivered, not as a prophecy respecting future ages, but as a reproof to the Jews, in Isaiahs time [Note: Isa 29:13.], and which our blessed Lord afterwards applied as a prophecy respecting the people of his day; that declaration, I say, may well be considered as applicable to us, so far as our habits accord with those of the Jews in the two fore-mentioned periods. Let me, then, state to you, as it is my duty to do,
I.
In whom this prophecy is fulfilled
Granting that, in many things, we differ from the Pharisees, to whom our Lord applied these words, yet is the prophecy fulfilled at this day by,
1.
Those who satisfy themselves with mere formal worship
[The house of God is, on the whole, well attended in this land: and in many private families is the worship of God observed. But where shall we find any thing but a mere lifeless form? The very habit of persons in the public assembly shews, for the most part, that their souls are not engaged, and that the decent performance of an acknowledged duty is all that the worshippers have in view. Hear the confessions: Do they resemble those of the poor publican? Do they indicate any thing of real brokenness of heart and deep contrition, like that of the converts on the day of Pentecost? Hear the petitions: How little fervour, how little importunity, how little of urgent pleading with God, do you observe! Hear the thanksgivings: Are these such as should proceed from souls delivered from the powers of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of Gods dear Son? Are the emotions of gratitude for the salvation of the soul such as the lame man, whom Peter and John healed, evinced for the healing of his body [Note: Act 3:6-8.]? Do the worshippers in our churches appear at all as if they were in close communion with God himself, and transacting with him the business of their immortal souls? Alas! the devotions of the generality are no better than a solemn mockery, an honouring of God with their lips, whilst their hearts are far from him.]
2.
Those who substitute the conceits of men for the commands of God
[This obtains to a fearful extent in the Church of Rome, where pilgrimages, and penances, and burthensome rites of various kinds, are substituted for repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Among Protestants, also, the same evil obtains to a very great degree. Every sect has its peculiarities, on which it lays a very undue stress, just as the Pharisees did on washing the hands before meat [Note: ver. 2.]: and a violation of any one established order, or traditionary conceit, would be far more severely noticed than any departure from the commands of God. Let there be in any person a disposition only to disregard some characteristic dogma, or some peculiarity in discipline of his own particular Church, and how many cautions will he receive against such unadvised conduct! whilst, if he neglect God and his own soul during his whole life, he shall never hear so much as one word of friendly admonition. Nay, more; an occasional neglect of some established usage in society, or a deviation from the laws of fashion and politeness, will go further to sink us in the estimation of our neighbours, than an habitual violation of all the commands of God. This, then, shews us plainly, that a Pharisaic spirit still exists amongst us; and that the prophecy is fulfilled in our land, if not so extensively, yet as truly, as in the land of Judah, either in our Saviours day, or in the days of the Prophet Isaiah.]
Such characters, then, still existing, let us inquire,
II.
In what light they are viewed by Almighty God
Our blessed Saviour calls them hypocrites. True, they are the last people in the world who suspect themselves of hypocrisy. On the contrary, they account religious persons hypocrites; and conceive themselves to be the only persons whose integrity is clear. But, however high they stand in their own esteem, they are hypocrites in the estimation of the heart-searching God. They are hypocrites,
1.
In their professions
[They profess real sanctity; but they possess it not: they have not any one of those qualities of which real sanctity consists. They have a form of godliness, but are altogether destitute of its power. If they say, We make no profession of religion, I ask. Do you not call yourselves Christians? Do you not demand Christian baptism for your children? And do you not expect Christian burial when you die? Then you do profess yourselves followers of Christ: and while you shew so little love to Christ, and so little resemblance to him, you are downright hypocrites. And if a man were as disloyal to an earthly king as you are to our blessed Lord, and yet profess himself a loyal and devoted subject, you yourselves shall assign to him the designation he would merit, and, in so doing, shall assume it to yourselves.]
2.
In their aims
[These persons would have it supposed that they aim at advancing the honour of their God. But, infact, there is nothing further from their thoughts than this. Many seek only to maintain a good character before men: and those who are less actuated by worldly applause, yet think of nothing but satisfying their own minds, and forming for themselves some specious ground for self-complacency and self-dependence. But as God said to the Jews by the Prophet Zechariah, When ye fasted and mourned, did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves [Note: Zec 7:5-6.]? so must it be said to those whom we have before described: they shew, by their very best services, that they have no view beyond themselves: when, if they were really upright before God, they would, whether they ate or drank, or whatever they did, do all to the glory of God [Note: 1Co 10:31.].]
3.
In the whole of their spirit and conduct
[They would be thought to possess a Christian spirit: but there are few, if any, in the world more proud, more uncharitable, or more intolerant than they. They hold in contempt those who differ from them, whether they be religious or profane: the godly, as possessing an unfashionable and contemptible religion; and the profane, as destitute of the very appearance of religion. As for those who are living nigh to God in the enjoyment of his presence and in the prospect of his glory, these Pharisaical persons can scarcely endure them. In their sight, all spiritual religion is no other than conceit and vanity and hypocrisy: and those who possess it are deemed as the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things, and, consequently, as worthy of universal reprobation. In every age of the world the mere formalists have thus persecuted the people of God; and have thus shewn themselves, in the midst of all their pretended zeal for good works, the children of the devil.]
See, then, Brethren,
1.
What need we have to examine our state before God
[We may be extremely zealous about the impositions and enactments of men, whilst we are adverse to the commands of God: and we may greatly honour God with our lips, whilst our hearts are altogether enmity against him. Then let us judge ourselves by the word of God, and by the examples of the primitive saints: for if in our whole spirit and deportment we be not followers of Christ and of his holy Apostles, whatever we may think of ourselves, we shall never be accepted of our God.
2.
What need we have to rise above the trammels of a worldly religion
[We have seen what the religion of carnal professors is: it is no better than hypocrisy; and as such it will be accounted in the last day. Nothing but vital piety will stand the test to which we shall be brought in that day. If, therefore, we be satisfied now with that which satisfies the world, we shall be grievously disappointed. If we will stand before God in the future judgment, our doctrines must be such as he has revealed, and our worship such as he will approve: for not he that commendeth himself shall be approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Ver. 7. Well did Esaias prophesy of you ] Of such as you, and so of you too. The prophets and apostles then spake not of them only with whom they lived, and to whom they wrote (as the Jesuits blaspheme), but their oracles and doctrines do extend still to men of the same stamp and making. “In the volume of thy book it is written of me,” saith David, Psa 40:7 ; he found his own name in God’s book. And where he spake with Jacob at Bethel, there he spake with us, saith Hosea; Hos 12:4 and, “Whatsoever was written, was written for our learning,” saith Paul, Rom 15:4 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 15:7 . : no thought of conciliation; open war at all hazards. “Actors,” in their zeal for God, as illustrated in the case previously cited. God first, parents second, yet God not in all their thoughts. , appositely, to the purpose. Isaiah might not be thinking of the Pharisees, but certainly the quotation is very felicitous in reference to them, exactly describing their religious character. Mt. follows Mk. in quoting; neither follows closely the Sept [91] (Isa 29:13 ).
[91] Septuagint.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Esaias = Isaiah. See App-79.
of = concerning. Greek. peri.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 15:7. , prophesied) i.e. foretold.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
hypocrites: Mat 7:5, Mat 23:23-29
well: Mar 7:6, Act 28:25-27
Reciprocal: Lev 13:8 – General Psa 73:27 – lo Isa 10:6 – against Isa 29:13 – Forasmuch Isa 58:2 – they seek Mat 6:2 – as Mat 16:3 – O ye Luk 13:15 – Thou hypocrite Luk 18:12 – fast Joh 4:23 – true Joh 8:48 – Say Joh 12:38 – Esaias 1Pe 2:1 – hypocrisies
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
15:7
A hypocrite is one who professes to be what he knows he is not. See the comments at chapter 6:2 for the lexicon definition and other accounts of the word. Well did Esaias prophecy means the prophet did well in predicting these characters.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 15:7. Ye hypocrites. This word had not quite so strong a sense then as now. It includes those self-deceived.
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you. (Isa 29:13.) Well, i.e., aptly. Our Lord assumes that the prophecy properly referred to the Jewish people then, while He does not imply that this was its exclusive or even original application.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour reproves the hypocritical Pharisees for the same things:
1. That they preferred human traditions before the divine precepts.
2. That by their human traditions they made void the worship of God. It is God’s undoubted prerogative to prescribe all the parts of his own worship; and whoever presumes to add thereunto, they worship him in vain.
Our Saviour farther shews, that all this proceeded from the insincerity of their hearts: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Whence learn, 1. That the removing the heart far from God in worship, is a great sin, and an high degree of hypocrisy.
2. That whatever outward shew and profession of religion men make, if their hearts be not right with God, and what they do proceeds not from an inward principle of love and obedience to God, they are under the reign and power of hypocrisy. Ye hypocrites, in vain do ye worship me.
Learn, 3. That we must not be forward, from Christ’s example, to pronounce men hypocrites; because we have neither that authority nor knowledge of the heart which Christ had, to authorize us so to do.
Christ here called the Pharisees hypocrites,
1. Because they placed holiness and religion in ceremonies of human invention.
2. Because being so superstitiously careful to avoid bodily pollutions, they left their hearts within; full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 15:7-9. Ye hypocrites To substitute superstitious observances of mans invention, in the place of obedience to Gods commands, is downright hypocrisy; it is, however, the prerogative of Him who searches the heart, and knows what is in man, to pronounce who are hypocrites. And as hypocrisy is a sin which only his eye discovers, so it is a sin which above all others he abhors. Well did Esaias prophesy of you That is, the words which Isaiah addressed to your fathers are exactly applicable to you: his description of them is a prophecy with regard to you. Observe, reader, the reproofs of sin and sinners, which we find in the Scriptures, were designed to be applied to similar persons and practices to the end of the world; for they are not of private interpretation, 2Pe 1:20. Threatenings directed against others belong to us, if we be guilty of the same sins. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, &c. They make a great profession, and pretend to much devotion and piety; but their heart is far from me They do not sincerely love and obey me. They do not give me their hearts; and, if the heart be not given to God, all outward worship is no better than a mockery of him. In vain they do worship me That is, idly, unprofitably, and to no purpose. Their worship does not attain the end for which divine worship was appointed. It neither pleases God nor profits themselves. For if it be not in spirit, it is not in truth, and so it is all nothing. Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men As equal with, nay, superior to, those of God. What can be a more heinous sin?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 7
Isaiah 29:13.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
15:7 {3} [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
(3) The same men are condemned for hypocrisy and superstition, because they made the kingdom of God to consist of outward things.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Chronologically this is the first time Jesus called the Pharisees and teachers of the law hypocrites. Their hypocrisy consisted of making a show of commitment to God while at the same time giving human tradition precedence over God’s Word.
Isaiah addressed the words that Jesus quoted to Jerusalem Jews who sometimes allowed external acts of worship to vitiate principle. Rather than continuing God’s will, the Jews’ traditions perpetuated the spirit of the hypocrites in Isaiah’s day. The context of the Isaiah quotation is a criticism of the Jews for displacing heartfelt worship with mere ritual. Isaiah branded this type of religion vain. The hypocrites in his day had substituted their own teachings for God’s. Jesus’ application of this quotation to the Pharisees and law teachers of His day, therefore, condemned their entire worship of God, not just their carefully observed traditions.