The scribes and Pharisees think they’ve got it all figured out, how to do the right thing and earn God’s favor. They are growing in arrogant self-righteousness. Jesus confronts them because they put tradition over Scripture and mercy and lost God in the process: “ . . . “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mark 7:6–7, ESV) Christ call us to repent of this self-focus, receive His forgiveness, and grow in His grace and knowledge. (2 Pet 3.18) Indeed, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.” (Psalm 92:12–13, ESV).