me with their lips ; but their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching /or doctrines the command- ments of men.
"We have in these verses a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christy and certain Scribes and Pharisees. The subject of it may seem^ at first sight, of little inter- est in modern days. But it is not so in reality. The principles of the Pharisees are principles that never die. There are truths laid down here, which are of deep importance.
We learn J for one thing, that hypocrites generalhj at- tach great importance to mere outivard things in religion.
The complaint of the Scribes and Pharisees in this 2:)lace, is a strildng case in point. They brought an accusation to our Lord against His discij^les. But what was its nature ? It was not that they were covetous or sel^righteous. It was not that they were untruthful or uncharitable. It was not that they had broken any part of the law of GrQ<L^^ut they '^ transgressed the traditions of the elders.-^^^^Tiiey did not wash their hands when they ate bread.'' They did not observe some rule of mere human authority, which some old Jew had invented ! This was the head and front of their offence !
Do we see nothing of the spirit of the Pharisees in the present day ? Unhappily we see only too much. There are thousands of professing Christians, who seem to care nothing about the religion of their neighbors, provided that it agrees in outward matters with their own. Does their neighbor worshijD according to their particular form ? Can he repeat their shibboleth, and talk a little