Hypocritical Worship Rebuked

The righteousness of the scribes & Pharisee was achieved by their practice of conformity to external rituals, rules and traditions. It was self-righteousness in external appearance only by meeting their self-determined standards of righteousness. Being so, their practices fell far short of God's standard. Jesus said that the necessary righteousness for entering the kingdom must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). Then, as now, the issue is the heart in relationship to God and the worship due to Him must flow from a new heart condition. A heart that is cleansed, made new, and God-centered. True worship will always be a matter of the heart's condition, not the place or form of ceremony, and must be based on God's Word.

Worship is intensely personal but it does not have to be private. In fact, worship in the corporate setting is both public and personal.

In this section Jesus critiques three aspects of worship done in the public setting but were, and still can be, carried out as a public display of self-righteousness. Jesus says that these practices done to be seen and honored by other people are unacceptable as worship to God, making the worshiper a hypocrite. The activities of prayer, giving, and fasting were rebuked by Jesus because it was selfishly motivated. Instead of seeking to honor God they were seeking the honor from other people for themselves.