Matthew 23:25

Matthew 23:25. Ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish. The ‘cup' and ‘dish' refer to drink and meat, the enjoyment of life. They would give a formal legal purity to sinful gratification. On the Pharisaical washings of pots and cups, see Mark 7:8.

But within they are full from extortion and excess. ‘From,' i.e., in consequence of, by means of, more fully explained, the means for their gratification came ‘from rapacity;' the mode despite its outward legality was ‘excess.' Men often fancy themselves religious, because they conform to some standard of outward morality; while they really gain their wealth by wrong-doing, and spend it in self-gratification.