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Jesus warns against religious ostentation
1 “Be careful not to do your charitable giving before the people so as to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in the heavens.* Note that the reward has more to do with the person's motive than the charitable act itself. 2 Therefore, whenever you do charitable giving do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by the people. Assuredly I say to you, they already have their reward. 3 But when you do charitable giving do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,† Since hands do not think (so far as I know), I suppose that not even the recipient should know where the gift came from, although there may be times when the recipient needs to know. 4 so that your charitable giving may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself repay you openly.‡ This is amazing; the Father Himself will repay = a good investment! (“Himself” is omitted by 24% of the Greek manuscripts; “openly” is omitted by 6%.) 5 And whenever you pray do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by the people. Assuredly I say to you that they already have their reward. 6 But you, whenever you pray, go into your room, and having shut the door pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you openly.§ About 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “openly”.
How to pray
7 “But when you pray do not babble like the heathen; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 So do not be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.* We do need to ask, but we should do it simply, and without undue repetition (God is not deaf). Further, we should ask with confidence. 9 Therefore, you pray like this:
‘Our Father who is in the heavens,
let Your name be reverenced;
10 let Your kingdom come,
let Your will be done, on the earth just as in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread;
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also forgive our debtors.
13 And do not bring us into testing,
but rescue us from the evil one;† The Father can rescue us from the evil one because He is far greater.
because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’‡ About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit the last clause (as in NIV, [NASB], LB, TEV, etc.).
14 For if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.§ Forgiveness is a very serious matter!
How to fast
16 “Also, whenever you fast do not become gloomy like the hypocrites, because they disfigure their faces so that people will notice that they are fasting. Assuredly I say to you that they already have their reward. 17 But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to the people to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.* Some 10% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘openly’ (as in AV and NKJV).
The right attitude toward material supply
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust ruin and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust ruins and where thieves neither break in nor steal; 21 because where your treasure is there your heart will be also.† That is the crucial question: where is your heart? It should be obvious that the best place to have your savings account is in the Bank of Heaven. So how does one make deposits up there? You do it by investing in the Kingdom.
About worldview
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.‡ Of course we have two eyes, but the Text has “eye” in the singular. I take it that the reference is to the way we interpret what we see (which is our real ‘eye’)—two people, one pure and one vile, observing the same scene will give very different interpretations to it. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness.§ “Evil” here has the idea of malignant—aggressively evil. Someone with a malignant mind will give an evil interpretation to everything he sees, and in consequence his being will be filled with unrelenting darkness. Compare Titus 1:15. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
“You cannot serve God and money”
24 “No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.* The Text has “mammon”, which presumably includes more than just money; anyone who has materialistic values is serving mammon. But I fear that comparatively few speakers of English today know the word, so I put ‘money’. 25 Therefore, I say to you not to worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, that they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not superior to them? 27 And which of you can add one cubit to his stature by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither labor nor spin, 29 and yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which exists today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, you little-faiths? 31 Therefore do not worry saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need each of these things. 33 Rather, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.† “These things” refers to food, drink and clothes—the basics. Jesus does not promise luxury. Just how seeking first the Kingdom works out in practice will differ from person to person. It should be obvious that we are not being told to sit around doing nothing. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own affairs. Each day has enough trouble of its own.‡ The implication would appear to be that each day will present us with some challenges.

*6:1 Note that the reward has more to do with the person's motive than the charitable act itself.

†6:3 Since hands do not think (so far as I know), I suppose that not even the recipient should know where the gift came from, although there may be times when the recipient needs to know.

‡6:4 This is amazing; the Father Himself will repay = a good investment! (“Himself” is omitted by 24% of the Greek manuscripts; “openly” is omitted by 6%.)

§6:6 About 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit “openly”.

*6:8 We do need to ask, but we should do it simply, and without undue repetition (God is not deaf). Further, we should ask with confidence.

†6:13 The Father can rescue us from the evil one because He is far greater.

‡6:13 About 1% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit the last clause (as in NIV, [NASB], LB, TEV, etc.).

§6:15 Forgiveness is a very serious matter!

*6:18 Some 10% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘openly’ (as in AV and NKJV).

†6:21 That is the crucial question: where is your heart? It should be obvious that the best place to have your savings account is in the Bank of Heaven. So how does one make deposits up there? You do it by investing in the Kingdom.

‡6:22 Of course we have two eyes, but the Text has “eye” in the singular. I take it that the reference is to the way we interpret what we see (which is our real ‘eye’)—two people, one pure and one vile, observing the same scene will give very different interpretations to it.

§6:23 “Evil” here has the idea of malignant—aggressively evil. Someone with a malignant mind will give an evil interpretation to everything he sees, and in consequence his being will be filled with unrelenting darkness. Compare Titus 1:15.

*6:24 The Text has “mammon”, which presumably includes more than just money; anyone who has materialistic values is serving mammon. But I fear that comparatively few speakers of English today know the word, so I put ‘money’.

†6:33 “These things” refers to food, drink and clothes—the basics. Jesus does not promise luxury. Just how seeking first the Kingdom works out in practice will differ from person to person. It should be obvious that we are not being told to sit around doing nothing.

‡6:34 The implication would appear to be that each day will present us with some challenges.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD