Here we find how the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees were trapped in a threefold delusion or self-deception. They thought they were joined to God.
Some people seemingly come to Christ with little notion of sin. Their conversion has been too easy. They have simply opened their heart to Christ, or decided to believe in him. They have never seen their heart; they have never seen their need, the nature of their sinfulness before God. They have never been broken, and sought him and found him, and realised their dependence upon Christ, and that is essential. People who follow religious systems that depend upon works or ceremonies usually know very little of this.