(14) And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. (15) And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God.
It was very natural to expect the hatred of the Pharisees would be called forth from our Lord's discourse. Pulling down to the ground the haughty pretensions of such men to divine favor, could not but excite their bitterest displeasure. And, Reader! what is it now? Let a real child of God venture to call in question the apparent zeal of the present day, and whisper only his doubts in the same words as Jesus hath here used: that what is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God, and it will be well if he escapes as Jesus then did, with the derision only and scorn of the self-righteous Pharisee.