•which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5 Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disci- ples according to the traditions of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands 2
6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This peo- ple honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the com- mandments of men.
8 For laying aside the command- ment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups :
and many other suchlike things ye do.
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own traditions.
10 For Moses said, Honor thy fa- ther and thy mother ; and. Whoso curseth father or mother, let' him die the death :
11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me ; he shall be free.
12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother ;
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered : and many such like things do ye.
This passage contains a humbling picture of what hurnan nature is capable of doing in religion. It is one of those Scriptures which ought to be frequently and diligently studied by all who desire the prosperity of the Church of Christ.
The first thing which demands oar attention in these verses, is the low and degraded condition of Jewish religion, when our Lord was upon earth. What can be more de- plorable than the statement now before us ? We find the principal teachers of the Jewish nation finding fault, " because our Lord's disciples ate bread with unwashen hands !" We are told that they attached great import- ance to the washing of cups, and pots, and brazen ves- sels, and tables \" In short, the man who paid most rigid attention to mere external observances of human invention was reckoned the holiest man !
The nation, be it remembered, in which this state of things existed, was the most highly favored in the world. To it was given the law on Mount Sinai, the service of God, the priesthood, the covenants, and the promises.
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Moses, and Samuel, and David, and the prophets, lived and died among its people. No nation upon earth ever had so many spiritual privileges. No nation ever mis- used its privileges so fearfully, and so thoroughly forsook its own mercies. Never did fine gold become so dim S From the religion of the books of Deuteronomy and Psalms, to the religion of washing hands, and pots, and cups, how great was the fall ! No wonder that in the time of our Lord's earthly ministry, He found the people like sheep without a shepherd. External observances alone feed no consciences and sanctify no hearts.
Let the history of the Jewish church be a warning to us never to trifle with false doctrine. If we once tolerate it we never know how far it may go, or into what de- graded state of religion we may at last fall. Once leave the King's highway of truth, and we may end with wash- ing pots and cups, like Pharisees and Scribes. There is nothing too mean, trifling, or irrational for a man, if he once turns his back on God's word. There are branches of the Church of Christ at this day in which the Scrip- tures are never read, and the Gospel never preached — ■ branches in which the only religion now remaining con- sists in using a few unmeaning forms and keeping certain man-made fasts and feasts — branches which began well, like the Jewish church, and, like the Jewish church, have now fallen into utter barrenness and decay. We can never be too jealous about false doctrine. A little leaven leaven eth the whole lump. Let us earnestly contend for the whole faith once delivered to the saints.*
* Absurd and ridiculous as the customs and traditions of the Phari- sees appear at first sight, it id a humbling fact that the Pharisees have