What is the meaning of Matthew 15:7? You hypocrites! Jesus looks straight at the Pharisees and scribes and calls them “hypocrites,” a word that literally pictures stage–actors wearing masks. • He is exposing the painful gap between their polished religious image and the true condition of their hearts (compare Matthew 23:27–28, “you are like whitewashed tombs… outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy”). • By using the present tense, He asserts that their hypocrisy is not occasional but settled, habitual. • Scripture often links hypocrisy with the sin of honoring God in words while rejecting Him in deeds—see Isaiah 29:13; Titus 1:16; and Luke 12:1–2, where Jesus warns, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The accusation reminds us that outward conformity, no matter how refined, cannot substitute for obedience that flows from a heart yielded to God (1 Samuel 16:7; Micah 6:6–8). Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: Jesus immediately anchors His rebuke in the authority of Scripture, quoting Isaiah 29:13. • By saying Isaiah “prophesied correctly,” He affirms both the inerrancy of the Old Testament and its ongoing relevance. • The original prophecy targeted Judah’s leaders seven centuries earlier; Jesus shows that the same Spirit-diagnosed heart disease is now on display in the religious elite standing before Him. • The quotation reads, “ ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me; they worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men’ ” (Matthew 15:8-9). In context (Isaiah 1:11-17; 58:1-2), God rejects worship that substitutes ritual for relationship and human tradition for divine command. • Jesus sets a pattern for us: every attitude or practice must be tested against Scripture, not against popular opinion or religious tradition (Acts 17:11; Colossians 2:8). • The Lord’s use of prophecy underscores His messianic authority—He reads the human heart and fulfills the prophetic Word simultaneously (John 2:24-25; Revelation 19:10). summary Matthew 15:7 shows Jesus unmasking religious pretense. He declares the Pharisees to be habitual hypocrites and proves it by applying Isaiah’s prophecy to them. The verse calls us to reject empty ritual, submit every tradition to Scripture, and pursue a heart that genuinely loves and obeys the Lord whose Word is always true. |
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