Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount
Jesus teaches a high standard of justice that requires an inner attitude of sincerity from us. With startling words, he warns us against anger, adultery, oaths, and revenge. He says that we are even to love our enemies. (Mt 5)The Pharisees were known for strict guidelines, but our righteousness should be better than theirs (which can be quite disconcerting if we forget what was promised earlier in the Sermon on the Mount about mercy). True righteousness is a matter of the heart. In the sixth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we see Jesus make this point clear by condemning religion as mere show.
Charity in secret
“Take heed of your piety, lest you practice it in front of people in order that they may see it; otherwise you will have no reward with your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, you should not let it be trumpeted before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that the people will praise them. Truly I say to you, they have already had their reward” (vv. 1-2).
In Jesus' day there were people who made a show out of religion. They made sure people could notice their good works. They received recognition for this from many quarters. That's all they get, says Jesus, for what they do is just acting. Their concern was not to serve God, but to look good in public opinion; an attitude that God will not reward. Religious behavior can also be seen today in pulpits, in the exercise of offices, in leading a Bible study or in articles in church newspapers. One may feed the poor and preach the gospel. Outwardly it looks like sincere service, but the attitude can be very different. “But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, lest your alms be hidden; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (vv. 3-4).
Of course, our "hand" knows nothing of our actions. Jesus uses a phrase that expresses that giving alms is not for show, neither for the benefit of others nor for self-praise. We do it for God, not for our own reputation. It is not to be taken literally that charity must only take place in secret. Jesus had already said that our good deeds should be visible so that people would praise God. (Mt 5,16)The focus is on our attitude, not on how we appear to others. Our motivation should be to do good works for the glory of God, not for our own glory.
The prayer in secret
Jesus said something similar about prayer: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who like to stand in synagogues and on street corners and pray so that people can see them. Truly I tell you, they have already had their reward. But when you pray, go into your closet and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (vv. 5-6). Jesus does not make a new commandment against public prayer. Sometimes even Jesus prayed in public. The point is that we shouldn't pray just to be seen, nor should we avoid prayer for fear of public opinion. Prayer worships God and is not for presenting yourself well.
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (verses 7-8). God knows our needs; nevertheless, we should ask him. (Phil 4,6)...and persevere in it. (Lk 18,1-8)The success of prayer depends on God, not on us. We don't need to reach a certain number of words or adhere to a minimum time frame, nor do we need to adopt a particular prayer posture or choose beautiful words. Jesus gave us a model prayer—an example of simplicity. It may serve as a guideline. Other designs are also welcome.
"Therefore you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven! Your name be hallowed. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (vv. 9-10). This prayer begins with a simple praise - nothing complicated, just a statement of a desire that God be honored and that people be receptive to His will. "Give us this day our daily bread" (v. 11). We hereby acknowledge that our life depends on our Almighty Father. While we can go to a store to buy bread and other things, we should remember that God is the one who makes this possible. We depend on him every day. "And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (vv. 12-13). Not only do we need food, we also need a relationship with God—a relationship we often neglect and which is why we often need forgiveness. This prayer also reminds us to show mercy to others when we ask God to have mercy on us. We are not all spiritual giants - we need divine help to resist temptation.
Here Jesus concludes the prayer and once again points to our responsibility to forgive one another. The better we understand how good God is and how great our failings are, the better we will understand that we need mercy and must be willing to forgive others (vv. 14-15). This certainly looks like a reservation: "I will only do this if you do that." A major problem is that humans are not very good at forgiving. None of us is perfect, and no one forgives perfectly. Is Jesus asking us to do something that even God wouldn't do? Is it conceivable that we would have to forgive others unconditionally, while he attaches conditions to his forgiveness? If God made his forgiveness dependent on our forgiveness, and we did the same, then we would only forgive others once they had forgiven us. We would be standing in an endless, unmoving line. If our forgiveness is based on forgiving others, then our salvation depends on our actions—on our deeds. Therefore, we have a problem, both theologically and practically, if we Matthäus 6,14-15 Take it literally. At this point, we can add to the consideration that Jesus died for our sins before we were even born. Scripture says that he nailed our sins to the cross and reconciled the whole world to himself.
On the one hand, it teaches us Matthäus 6that our forgiveness seems to be conditional. On the other hand, Scripture teaches us that our sins are already forgiven—which would include the sin of failing to forgive. How can these two ideas be reconciled? Either we have misunderstood the verses on one side or those on the other. We can now introduce as a further argument that Jesus often used the element of exaggeration in his discourses. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. When you pray, go into your room (yet Jesus didn't always pray in the house). When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Don't resist an evil person (yet Paul did). Say no more than yes or no (yet Paul did). You are not to call anyone father—and yet we all do.
From this we can see that in Matthäus 6,14-15 Another example of exaggeration was used. This doesn't mean we can ignore it—Jesus was using it to point out the importance of forgiving others. If we want God to forgive us, we should forgive others. If we want to live in a kingdom where we have been forgiven, we must live accordingly. As we desire to be loved by God, so we should love our fellow human beings. Failing to do so will not change God's nature to love. The truth remains: if we want to be loved, we should do so. Although it may sound like all of this depends on the fulfillment of a precondition, the purpose of what has been said is to encourage us to love and forgive. Paul phrased it like an instruction: “Bear with one another and forgive each other if any of you has a grievance against someone else. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.” (Kol 3,13)This is an example; it is not a requirement.
In the Lord's Prayer we ask for our daily bread, even though (in most cases) we already have it in the house. In the same way, we ask for forgiveness even though we have already received it. This is an admission that we did something wrong and that it affects our relationship with God, but with the confidence that He is ready to forgive. It is part of what it means to expect salvation as a gift rather than something we could deserve through our accomplishments.
From fasting in secret
Jesus speaks of another religious behavior: “When you fast, do not look sour like the hypocrites; for they disguise their faces to show themselves before the people with their fasting. Truly I tell you, they have already had their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not show yourself fasting to people, but to your Father, who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (vv. 16-18). When we fast, we wash and comb our hair as we always do, since we come before God and not to impress people. Again the emphasis is on attitude; it's not about attracting attention by fasting. If someone asks us if we are fasting, we can answer truthfully - but we should never hope to be asked. Our goal is not to attract attention, but to seek closeness to God.
On all three subjects, Jesus is pointing out the same point. Whether we give alms, pray or fast, it is done "in secret". We don't seek to impress people, but we don't hide from them either. We serve God and honor Him alone. He will reward us. The reward, like our activity, may be in secret. It is real and happens according to his divine goodness.
Treasures in the sky
Let's focus on pleasing God. Let us do his will and value his rewards more than fleeting rewards of this world. Public praise is an ephemeral form of reward. Jesus is talking here about the ephemerality of physical things. "You shall not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust devour them, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not eat, and thieves do not break in and steal” (vv. 19-20). Worldly riches are short-lived. Jesus counsels us to adopt a better investment strategy—to seek the enduring values of God through quiet charity, unobtrusive prayer, and secret fasting.
If we take Jesus too literally, one might think he would make a commandment against saving for retirement. But it's actually about our heart - what we consider valuable. We should value heavenly rewards more than our worldly savings. "For where your treasure is, there your heart is also" (v. 21). If we treasure the things that God treasures, then our heart will guide our conduct as well.
“The eye is the light of the body. If your eyes are pure, your whole body will be light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great will be the darkness!” (vv. 22-23). Apparently Jesus is using a proverb of his time and applying it to the greed of money. When we look at things that belong in the right way, we will see opportunities to do good and be generous. However, when we are selfish and jealous, we enter moral darkness - corrupted by our addictions. What are we looking for in our lives – to take or to give? Are our bank accounts set up to serve us or do they enable us to serve others? Our goals lead us to good or corrupt us. If our insides are corrupt, if we only seek the rewards of this world, then we are truly corrupt. What motivates us? Is it the money or is it God? “No one can serve two masters: either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be attached to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (v. 24). We cannot serve God and public opinion at the same time. We should serve God alone and without competition.
How could a person "serve" Mammon? By believing that money brings her happiness, that it makes her appear extremely powerful and that she can attach great value to it. These assessments are more appropriate to God. He is the one who can give us happiness, he is the true source of security and life; he is the power that can best help us. We should value and honor him above all else because he comes first.
The true security
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about what you will eat and drink; ... what you will wear. The heathen seek after all this. For your heavenly Father knows that you have all these needs” (vv. 25-32). God is a good Father and He will take care of us when He is supreme in our lives. We don't need to care about people's opinions, and we don't need to worry about money or goods. "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours" (v. 33). We shall live long enough, have enough food, be well cared for, if we love God.
by Michael Morrison
