Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 16:15

"And he said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God." — Luke 16:15 (ASV)

You are they who justify yourselves before men.—The character described is portrayed afterward more fully in the parable of Luke 18:9-14. The word there used, “this man went down to his house justified rather than the other,” is obviously a reference to what is reported here. They forgot, in their self-righteousness and self-vindication, that they stood before God as the Searcher of all hearts.

That which is highly esteemed among men...—Literally, that which is high, or lifted up, among men. The word is at once wider and more vivid than the English.

Abomination...—The word is the same as in “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15), that which causes physical nausea and loathing. The word seems chosen as the expression of a divine scorn and indignation, which answered, in part, to their “derision,” and was its natural result. (Compare the bold language of Psalms 2:4, Proverbs 1:26, Revelation 3:16.)