Matthew Henry Commentary Matthew 15:1-9

"Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given [to God]; he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honoreth 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." — Matthew 15:1-9 (ASV)

Additions to God's laws reflect upon His wisdom, as if He had left out something that was needed and that humans could supply; in one way or another, they always lead people to disobey God. How thankful we should be for the written word of God! Let us never think that the religion of the Bible can be improved by any human addition, either in doctrine or practice.

Our blessed Lord spoke of their traditions as inventions of their own and pointed out one instance where this was very clear: their transgression of the fifth commandment. When a parent's needs called for assistance, they pleaded that they had devoted to the temple all they could spare, even though they did not part with it, and therefore their parents must expect nothing from them.

This was making the command of God of no effect. The doom of hypocrites is stated concisely: In vain do they worship me. It will neither please God nor profit themselves; they trust in vanity, and vanity will be their recompense.