He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 15. Who justify yourselves, and so forth But our Lord, detecting their hidden malice, shews that their pretended justice is all hypocrisy. Theophylactus.—But God knoweth, and so forth They justify themselves before men, whom they look upon as despicable, and abandoned sinners, and esteem themselves as not standing in need of giving alms as a remedy of sin; but he who shall lay open the secrets of hearts, sees the base atrocity of that pride which thus blinds them, and swells within their breasts. Ven. Bede.—Yes, all those exterior actions which appeared great, and which were admired by men, being vitiated with improper motives and sinister designs, are an abomination in the sight of God. A.