Commentaries:
An intense focus on "preaching of the gospel" has the power to detach us from the creative activity of God. "In vain they do worship Me," Christ says. Worship means "to hold in high regard, to venerate, to honor." Worship has become so restricted in people's minds that it is generally limited to something one does for an hour or two once a week. During that period of time, one might have a strong feeling of reverence. However, worship in the biblical sense is practical and very broad in application, involving all of the activities of every day of one's life.
Jesus castigated these people because they had made the worship of God so narrow. God was being excluded from their everyday lives by the "commandments of men" that they taught.
The worship of God involves everything we do every day. We are to honor Him, glorify Him, venerate Him in all things. Worship has very broad applications, which is why the word "commandments" is part of this context, because the commandments of God involve all of our life every day.
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part 1)
Notice what else Jesus says about people who want to worship Him without obedience to God's commands: "And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. . . . All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition" (Mark 7:7-9).
Man would rather do almost anything else than surrender himself to God. His natural mind (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7-8) rebels at the thought of submitting to God's law. Therefore men have substituted their own laws and customs for God's commandments, thinking they can still receive salvation by only believing in Christ as their Savior.
Human nature wants to be right, but it does not necessarily want to do right! So people often say, "Well, here's the way I look at it"—thus putting their concept of righteousness above the Bible. If it "looks right" to them, it becomes their law. This is nothing but self-righteousness. And we already know where doing what "seems right" to us will lead (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25), unless we repent of this kind of thinking.
Clearly, no amount of human works can bring about the forgiveness of sin. Even the great sacrificial laws of the Old Testament could not bring about forgiveness and a clear conscience. They were only a type looking forward to the supreme sacrifice for sins—Jesus Christ—who was to come much later (Hebrews 9:9-14; 10:4-10).
There is simply no way we can "make up" for our sins. Beads, indulgences, penance, fastings, or afflicting one's flesh in some other way will not erase the guilt of sin either. We cannot punish ourselves for sin, and thus avoid God's punishment. Only the sacrifice of Christ can pay that ultimate penalty. And the only way that sacrifice can be applied to blot out our sins is by accepting it and forsaking our past lives of disobedience—by repentance!
What Is Real Repentance?
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Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Exodus 21:15
Leviticus 20:9
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Proverbs 19:26
Proverbs 20:20
Proverbs 28:24
Proverbs 30:17
Matthew 23:23
Mark 7:14-23
Luke 11:42
Library resources that contain this verse:
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