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[Sevens]

Here Jesus reproves Pharisee priests about not honouring family bonds. I remember earlier in Matthew that Jesus proclaimed that doing the work of God comes before family bonds, but I can't find the exact passage.

Sorry if this seems to be an ignorant question, but I can't understand the contradiction here.

(An example of contradiction is e.g. Matthew 19:29. Everyone who forsakes family and brethren to follow Jesus shall inherit everlasting life.)

[jimwalton]

A.T. Robertson says in his commentary of Mt. 15.5 (the gift devoted to God): "The Pharisees dodged this command of God about the penalty for dishonoring one's father or mother by the use of 'Corban' (Mk. 7.11). All one had to do to evade one's duty to father or mother was to say 'Corban' or 'Gift' (doron) with the idea of using the money designated for God instead for oneself. By an angry oath of refusal to help one's parents, the oath or vow was binding. By this magic word one set himself free (v. 6: "he is not to 'honor his father' with it") from obedience to the 5th command. Sometimes unfilial sons paid graft to the rabbinical legalists for such dodges. Were some of these very faultfinders guilty?" In other words, Jesus is giving "a stinging indictment that laid bare the hollow pretense of their quibbles about hand washing. The moral force of God's law is annulled by their hairsplitting technicalities and immoral conduct."

John Boykin adds, "What’s so bad about their hypocrisy? If we think of it as consisting merely in their teaching or pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory, we will miss Jesus’ main point. What he nailed them for was that they were using God and the things of God as a means to some other end. That’s what was insidious about the Pharisee’s example. Theirs was a problem of priorities: their first priority was social status, to which end God was but a means. What greater affront to God could there be? Better to ignore him altogether than to exploit Him as a means to something else you value more highly."

[Sevens]

Thanks for this answer.