They were not seeking to know the truth, but to find some excuse for evading it

We avoid the simplicity of obedience.




The perception and appreciation of truth, He said, depends less upon the mind than upon the heart. Truth must be received into the soul; it claims the homage of the will. If truth could be submitted to the reason alone, pride would be no hindrance in the way of its reception. But it is to be received through the work of grace in the heart; and its reception depends upon the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals. Man's advantages for obtaining a knowledge of the truth, however great these may be, will prove of no benefit to him unless the heart is open to receive the truth, and there is a conscientious surrender of every habit and practice that is opposed to its principles. To those who thus yield themselves to God, having an honest desire to know and to do His will, the truth is revealed as the power of God for their salvation. These will be able to distinguish between him who speaks for God, and him who speaks merely from himself. The Pharisees had not put their will on the side of God's will. They were not seeking to know the truth, but to find some excuse for evading it; Christ showed that this was why they did not understand His teaching.
DA 455



We think of a thousand inventions; but we neglect the one thing needful. Spurgeon

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told
you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then,
when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped
himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his
flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
2 Kings 5.13,14

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many
things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Luke 10.41

It is the spiritual worship which is most acceptable to God, not the external in any form or shape. It is the heart that has fellowship with the Lord; and it needs little in the way of expressing itself, neither has God tied it down to this way or that. It may find its own methods of utterance so long as it is truly "moved by the Holy Ghost" [and] broken before God and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. Spurgeon