<p>15:1&nbsp;<em>Then there came to Jesus Pharisees and scribes</em>- Matthew records many people &lsquo;coming to Jesus&rsquo;. A related word is found in Jn. 6:37: &ldquo;All that the Father gives me shall come to Me; and he who&nbsp;<em>comes</em>&nbsp;to Me, I will in no way reject&rdquo;. Many &lsquo;came to Jesus&rsquo; but only some really came. Again we see a warning against surface level Christianity- coming to Him externally, but not in essence.</p>
<p><em>From Jerusalem, saying</em>- They came all the way to Galilee to try to trap the Lord in His words. And yet it was some of the Jerusalem priests (Acts 6:7) and Pharisees (Acts 15:5) who later accepted Christ. We would likely have ignored these troublemakers and given up on them as hard cases, to be endured but not converted. But the Lord&rsquo;s hope and vision for humanity was so wide- and in the end, even after His death, it paid off. This is a great challenge to us in our witness to all men, including the bitter, self-righteous religious leader types.&nbsp;</p>