<p>7:11<em> But you say- </em>The saying of God (note the word &ldquo;saying&rdquo; in :4) was overridden by the saying of men. This quotation was from the passed down traditions of the Jews. But the Lord says that&nbsp;<em>you&nbsp;</em>say this. The &lsquo;saying&rsquo; of the Rabbis became the &lsquo;saying&rsquo; of those who obeyed them. Thus obedience to a command (in this case, of men) is counted as &lsquo;saying&rsquo; it- for we pass on teaching by our example of doing it. The depth of the Lord&rsquo;s analysis of their behaviour is amazing.</p><p><em>If a man tells- </em>Matthew's word means to give a word, or written contract.&nbsp;</p><p><em>His father or his mother: Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban (that is to say, an offering to God)</em>- &quot;Gained&quot; or 'profit' is a term which reduces love and the care that comes from love to a mere transaction. The Lord taught that to wangle one's way out of caring for their parents by delegating it to the synagogue was effectively cursing them, and those guilty must &quot;die the death&quot; (Mk. 7:10,11). To him who knows to do good but does it not, this omission is counted as sin (James 4:17- written in the context of brethren omitting to help each other). See on Mk. 3:4.</p><p>If a gift was made to the temple treasury of what was reckoned to be the obligation of the man to his parents, or if the man agreed to list the temple treasury as a beneficiary in his will, giving to them the amount he would have spent caring for his elderly parents- then he was considered free from having to honour and care for them. The reasoning was that something promised to God in the future was His and could not therefore be spent on parents. But this was&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;honouring the parents (:6). We can&rsquo;t buy our way out of spiritual responsibility by making donations or making legacies which cost us nothing today. We can think that we are devoting ourselves to the Lord's cause over and above that which is required of us- when actually, we do nothing of the sort. We can give to the Lord's cause, when actually we have only got round the essential intention of God's commandments to be generous-spirited and show a true love (Mt. 15:5,6). The Jews fasted on days which the Law did not require of them; but in God's ultimate analysis, they did this for themselves, to bolster their own spiritual ego, rather than as a fast which He recognized (Zech. 7:15,16). The more active we are in the community of believers, the more we feel we go the extra miles- the more sober is this warning.</p>