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I. THE SEEMING GOOD OFTEN THRIVE AND ARE HONORED. Insight into character is rare; men are judged by the outside, and are taken largely at their own valuation.

II. Pretension ever hides emptiness, and often guilt. Fixed for ever for our repugnance, hatred, and contempt is the character of the religious pretender in the Gospel. Men need to be warned that there is more danger to the soul in pretending to a piety we have not got, than in merely having none at all. - J.

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KJV: And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,

WEB: In his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces,