And they do all their works to be seen by people. They widen their phylacteries and enlarge the fringes of their garments.
Jesus exposes the root of the Pharisees’ hypocrisy: they act not for the glory of God, but in order to be considered worthy of people’s approval. Their piety becomes an outward show, where form replaces substance. The “phylacteries” (tefillin) were small boxes tied on the hand or the forehead as a reminder of the law (Deut. 6:8), and the garment’s “tassels” were threads hanging from its edges, reminding them to keep the commandments (Num. 15:38–39). But the Pharisees had made these things a display, enlarging them so that people would see their “holiness.” In this way the outward symbols had lost their spiritual meaning and had become an ornament of pride. Jesus shows that when faith is turned into a performance, it ceases to be faith and becomes ambition for glory.