Jesus calls the pharisees hypocrites because they allowed their traditions to overule the command of God. Their tradition was to dedicate something "devoted to God" in order to get out of doing it somewhere else. So instead of helping their parents, as God had commanded in the Old Testament, they would devote their help "to God." to get out of doing so.
Matthew 15:4 in context (3-9):Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
by mg7766 February 4, 2010
by Guyoo November 12, 2007