And he commanded the centurion to keep him under guard, and to relax the rigor of his confinement, and to forbid no one of his friends to minister or to come to him.

These practices indeed have the appearance [that popularly passes as that] of wisdom in self-made religion and mock humility and severe treatment of the body (asceticism), but are of no value against sinful indulgence [because they do not honor God].