Introductory remarks:
In chapter 5 Christ dealt with the righteousness that one must possess to enter the Kingdom of God, and that it must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. The righteousness that God demands is perfect righteousness, and that can only come by faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Christ imputes on every believer His righteousness, and when He does, that person is 'born again.' Unless a man is born again, he or she cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In chapter 5, Christ dealt with the mental attitude of the believer in the Kingdom; here in chapter 6, Christ will deal with the conduct during His Millennial reign. Christ revealed the Pharisees interpretation of the Law in chapter 5, and that interpretation is rejected by Him; now Christ will reveal how the Pharisees attempt to practice the Law, but of course they always have practiced it from the wrong motive, and this Christ will demonstrate.
Pentecost writes:
"At this point in the Lord's ministry, He was enjoying great popularity. As He descended from the mountain where He had appointed the Twelve to be His apostles, He was confronted once again by a great crowd. Luke said that this multitude came from both Judea and Jerusalem as well as from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came, like multitudes before them, to hear His word and to see His works. While Matthew's record seems to indicate that the Lord withdrew from the multitude so as to minister to the twelve apostles privately, Luke's record makes it clear that Christ found a level place from which He could address a great multitude of disciples. The disciples, then, were not only the Twelve but the multitudes who had assembled to hear Him teach. Multitudes had heard Jesus' message that the kingdom was near. The message had been substantiated by the miracles that He had performed. These multitudes were curious and desired to see and hear for themselves the things about which they had heard. Thus far they had come to no conviction about the person of Christ and the truth that He proclaimed. Christ viewed them as outside the kingdom and offered them access into the kingdom (Matt. 7:13-23). He warned them against trusting the teaching of the Pharisees (sand) and urged them to build on His word (rock) (Matt. 7:24-29). John the Baptist, in announcing the advent of the King and the nearness of the kingdom, had demanded righteousness as a prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom. John made the same demands that the Old Testament made. Christ, in offering Himself as King, made the same demands. Christ said only the righteous could enter Messiah's kingdom. This concept was never challenged by the Pharisees, with their emphasis on traditions of the law; by the Sadducees, who were concerned with the observance of the ceremonies of the law; or by the people themselves. The only question that arose was that of what kind of righteousness was necessary for entrance into Messiah's kingdom. As a result of the preaching of Christ, the nation was faced with two differing concepts of righteousness. One was the righteousness of organized Judaism, which taught that a man was righteous if he attended the feasts, observed the rituals of sacrifice, and observed the traditions of the Pharisees. On the other hand, Christ preached a righteousness, which came as a result of faith in His own person. Righteousness could not be earned by the works of people but had to be received as a gift from God. A conflict, then, arose between Christ and the Pharisees concerning righteousness. The multitudes that came to hear Jesus teach did not need to be told that righteousness was necessary for entrance into the kingdom. They would readily have acknowledged this truth, for Judaism taught it. The questions in their minds would be, 'What is righteousness?' 'What kind of righteousness does the law demand?' 'Would Pharisaic righteousness admit us into Messiah's kingdom?' Christ addressed Himself to these questions as He spoke to the curious who were debating the issue of His person."
Teaching about Almsgiving
Verse 1, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."
LGT "Beware that the righteousness that you do before men is not in order to be seen by them: otherwise you will not have a reward with your Father who is in the heavens."
The literal translation in the Greek is, Beware that the righteousness that you do before men. The righteous acts that Christ covers here are alms giving, prayer, and fasting. The Pharisees were in the practice of being theatrical in all that they regarded as righteous acts. Christ will go on to explain to the crowds that it is good to do good, but if they would do as the law subscribed for public approval, they would come up short in heaven. What they did in private between themselves and the Lord would be openly rewarded in heaven. All that the Lord is covering in the Sermon on the Mount is intended for the subjects of His coming kingdom; however, there are great lessons for us in the age of grace; today what we give is between ourselves and the Lord; it should be kept out of the limelight, otherwise we have no reward. Theime calls this giving in secret 'a function of the privacy of the priesthood.'
Verse 2, "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
LGT "When therefore you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, just as the hypocrites are doing in the synagogues, and in the streets, so that they might receive glory from men: Verily I say to you, they have received their reward."
Jesus expands now on the first of the big three that were considered as righteous acts, alms giving.
"Therefore when thou doest thine alms,"
Giving of alms was not something special that a man did, it was expected, and it was a custom among the Jews. "Our Savior here does not positively command His disciples to aid the poor, but supposes that they would do it of course, and gives them directions how to do it. It is the nature of religion to help the needy; and a real Christian does not wait to be commanded to do it, but only asks for the opportunity" (Barnes).
"Do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets,"
The sarcasm of our Lord is hardly veiled in this statement of sounding a trumpet to gather the people around to observe their giving to the poor. The sounding of the trumpet would not be for the purpose of gathering the poor together to receive their gifts, but to make a big display of their giving. The word 'hypocrites' in the Greek is hupokritai, meaning a stage player or actor, a religious counterfeit. This was a very strong rebuke that our Lord uses many times for the religious counterfeits, the Pharisees. The sounding of the trumpet is not found in Jewish writings, except perhaps, for the calling of the people together for worship; however, the irony in the statement by the Lord is hardly missed. Ironside comments "that it is extremely hurtful for the poor to have a great fanfare made of their having to receive help." Mom, grandma to you grandkids, and Glenda to everyone else, and I were members of the home church of the Chafer Seminary that I attended, had a service that was very humiliating to us, and I am sure to the poor people who attended. They advertised around the town where the seminary was located, that they were going to give away food to anyone who needed it; well, we didn't know about this until it was too late. On the Sunday before Christmas, the Pastor made an announcement that anyone who needed food to come forward and pick up their bag of groceries; the people came forward without the slightest embarrassment and got their bags of food. Let me tell you; maybe they weren't embarrassed, but Glenda and I sure were, and many others in the congregation were amazed at the sight. This reminds me so much of the trumpet-blowing Pharisees.
"That they may have glory of men."
The Pharisees blew their trumpets to sound out the call that they are giving to the poor; any time we give, for any purpose, for the admiration of men, we are giving with the wrong motive. McGee says that 'any time a third party is involved in knowing the amount you give, it is for the wrong motive.' I agree with McGee, but I believe we can take it another step; any time a second party has knowledge of your giving, except in certain circumstances, a wrong motive is involved. We know in our hearts what is the motive of our giving.
"Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
What a principle for us to consider. We have the opportunity to give now and receive the glory, or give with the proper mental attitude and give God the glory; then and only then will we receive an eternal reward in heaven. Our crowns and heavenly rewards are trophies of God's wonderful grace that we will have the privilege to display before the heavenly hosts.
Verse 3, "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:"
LGT "But [when] doing alms let not your left hand know what the right hand does,"
This is a proverbial expression; the Hebrew people were very fond of using body members to make a description. Christ is using a proverb here to make His point of giving in secret.
Verse 4, "That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly."
LGT "So that it may be your mercy or almsgiving may be in secret: and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you."
The word 'openly' is not in the better manuscripts. So the principle is not that if we do well to others God will do well to us. I used to get weary of the statement '"you can't out-give God." The principles of God's grace are not based on who and what we are, but who and what Christ is, and what He accomplished on Calvary. Our giving of our money and ourselves is based strictly on our relationship with Him, and it is simply that we are responding to the Father; God is the active agent in our lives, and we are the responders to His wonderful grace; as soon as necessity is pinned on to our giving, it is no more of grace; we should rid ourselves of the words 'obligation and responsibility;' we should replace these words with one word, 'privilege.' It is our privilege to serve our Lord motivated by His love for us, 'We love Him, because He first loved us.'
Teaching about Prayer
Verse 5, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward."
LGT "And when you pray, you shall not do as the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and the corners of the streets, so that they may appear to men: Verily I say to you, they have their reward."
"Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are:"
This phrase is repeated by our Lord as He used it in the same context of their giving-practices; He told them in effect 'When you pray, do not be as the actors [hupokritai] are.'
"For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."
It was not the praying in the synagogue or on the street corner our Lord condemned, it was the motive of the hypocrite that was condemned. The synagogue and the street corner where men always assembled, was favorite spots the Pharisees chose for their ritual prayers. The Jewish rabbis had prescribed prayers for the morning, before nine AM, and evening prayers before nine PM. Every devout Jew said these prayers at the prescribed times; if a Jew was caught on the street corner at prayer time, he would stop what he was doing and pray; the problem with most of them is that they would strike up a prayer position and pray their lengthy prayers to be seen of men, and to be admired for their piety; this is not unlike us today; it is this hypocrite prayer that worries about all public prayer. I find it hard to see how any man with the same sin-nature I possess is able to commune with God in a church service before a congregation, and not be aware of how he might sound before men, or how eloquent he might be. Another problem about prescribed prayers is the prayers our mothers taught us when we were young to recite before each meal and at bedtime; these became a mere ritual; I can remember how my brother and I used to speed through our prayers at bedtime to see how fast we could say them. These are some of the reasons I believe prayer is very private, and I believe as we study this sermon of Jesus this fact will be settled.
"Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
Christ was not speaking here of physical rewards. The Jews had this perverted view, not unlike the view many of us have of rewards today, that if a man is rich and successful, God must be blessing him. Of course as we study the situation of Job we see that is exactly what Job's friends taught. They said Job must be an awful sinner to have such calamity fall on him and his family; even his wife told Job to curse God and die. These Pharisees got what they wanted; the praise of men, and this was their reward. Today, in this age of grace, our reward is satisfaction that we are pleasing God; the fact of future rewards should not possess us to the point of it being our only motive; we should give, pray, study, and love one another, for the benefit that accompanies right living.
Verse 6, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward the openly."
LGT "But when you pray, enter into your chamber [place of retirement and privacy], and having closed the door, pray to your Father who is in secret: and the Father who sees you in secret shall reward you."
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet,"
Our conception of prayer in this age of grace seems to be to either be asking God for something for ourselves, or what we call intercessory prayer for others; this type of prayer even includes praying for the souls of the lost. If praying for the lost could save men, than it seems all should be saved, I would think. I believe that prayer today is responding to the Father from what we receive in His Word. I believe that prayer includes requesting for our needs, as long as these needs or desires line up with the will of God. Many people might ask, what is God's will? This can only be found in a daily study of the Word of God. When we read the Word it is God speaking to us; when we respond to God from what we have learned in the Word, we are talking to God; this is prayer. Prayer can only be united with doctrine; if our prayers are contrary to doctrine they are dead. This is why Christ says we must enter our closets; the closet in English has a rather peculiar connotation, that is, who would go into a clothes closet to pray? The real meaning of the word 'closet' gr. tameion is a den or a private chamber, like a study, where you won't be disturbed. Prayer is for man's good, because God already knows our hearts. Like confession, prayer is man's opportunity to express his mind, that is, to have a loving Father who will listen even to our childish desires. God has never turned His back on one of His children. God is never too busy to hear us, and He is able to hear everyone of us at the same time.
"And when thou hast shut thy door, pray to the Father which is in secret:"
Here Christ enlarges on the privacy of our priesthood. We should fellowship personally in private as well as with other believers. I believe that prayer is a very private personal fellowship with our heavenly Father. As I have stated before, prayer is a function that should not be aired out in public, even among the family. A prayer of thanksgiving, I believe, is the only prayer that is proper among other family members, and sometimes this can be done with singing a 'good hymn.' I can remember in our home growing up, we would sing at Sunday a dinner hymn of praise, 'Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.' We still sing this hymn when our family gathers on special occasions. To me, this is prayer; even Paul prayed, 'Lord, teach us to pray as we ought.'
"And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."
We should always pray with the knowledge that God knows all, He is omniscient, and it is impossible for us to pull the wool over His eyes. When we confess our sins, we should name those sins, that is, call them exactly as God sees them, as it were, from the divine viewpoint. We should never, in any form of prayer think that we are fooling God into thinking we are something we are not; I realize it is impossible for us to be completely honest with the Father, because we don't even know ourselves as yet; however, when we go home and see Christ face to face, we will know ourselves, even as we are known. The word 'openly' is not in this verse; as I mentioned in verse 4, this has nothing to do with physical rewards, however, physical blessings do come our way, but they are never due to our secret prayers. This is another subject for later.
Verse 7, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
LGT "But when you pray, do not use worthless repetition as the Gentiles, for they think that in their being longwinded, they will be heard."
Christ does not mean that repetition in prayer is a bad thing, and that is why He qualifies His statement with 'as the heathen do.' The worshippers of the goddess Dianna would go up to the altar and shout for two or three hours; similar chants are heard in Islamic countries. The Roman Catholics are guilty of vain repetitions with their 'Our Fathers, and Hail Mary's. Prayer should come from the heart spontaneously, and not from memorizing a few prayers out of a prayer book. Don't you remember sitting in church with your stomach growling from hunger, wishing that longwinded preacher would hurry up and wrap-up his prayer so you could go home and eat that fried chicken. How about singing ten stanzas of 'Just as I am' during the altar call, giving everyone a chance to come forward. To me, I may be wrong, are all long-winded repetitions to no avail.
On vain repetition of the Moslems Dr. Thompson writes:
"Let us stop and watch the ceremony as it goes on. That man next us raises his open hands till the thumbs touch the ears, exclaiming aloud, Allah-hu-akbar- 'God is great.' After uttering mentally a few short petitions, the hands are folded together near the girdle, while he recites the first chapter of the Koran, and two or three other brief passages from the same book. And now he bends forward, rests his hands upon his knees, and repeats three times a formula of praise to 'God most great.' Then, standing erect, he cries Allah-hu-akbar, as at the beginning. Then see him drop upon his knees, and bend downward until his nose and forehead touch the ground directly between his expanded hands. This he repeats three times, muttering all the while short formulas of prayer and praise. The next move will bring him to his knees, and then, settling back upon his heels, he will mumble over various small petitions, with different grunts and exclamations, according to taste and habit. He has now gone through one regular Rek'ah; and, standing up as at first, and on exactly the same spot, he will perform a second, and even a third, if specially devout, with precisely the same genuflection" (The Land and the Book).
Verse 8, "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
LGT "Therefore do not be like them: for your Father knows of what things you have need before you ask Him."
This is a statement that has also been misapplied. The human rationalist says, 'If the Lord knows what is in my mind, why do I have to tell Him'. The answer to this silly rational is that prayer is not for the good of the Father, but for the good of the Father's child. It is the same principle as confessing sin. The Father knows our hearts, but He demands that we confess our sins to Him, in order that our fellowship can be restored. If we don't name our sins, that is, to call them the same as God calls them we remain out of fellowship, and believe me, that isn't good. God desires unbroken fellowship with all His children, so He made a provision called confession (1 John 1:9) to keep us in fellowship the maximum amount of time.
Verse 9, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."
LGT "Thus you should therefore pray: Our Father who is in heaven: sanctified be Your name:"
"After this manner therefore pray ye:"
This model prayer has principles in it for every born again believer, but there are parts of it that can only be prayed by those who were present before Christ's glorification. It isn't until after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that we become full fledged family members; you see, it was not until after Christ had finished His work of salvation that we become children of God. Before the cross, the believer had to go to God through the High Priest, and offer his sacrifice before God for the remission of sins; now we have free access to the throne of grace, to go directly to the Father with our requests, or confession. Before the cross the believer was considered God's people; now we are the children of God with a Father son relationship, able to address God directly in the name of His Son. We will notice several more differences as we progress in this study.
"Our Father who is in heaven:"
This statement has never changed, but it has a fine nuance today in our age of grace that might be supplied; we are able to not only call God 'our Father,' but we are also able to claim Him as 'my Father;' this is one of the accusations that Christ was crucified for, that is, calling God, My Father.' The Jews considered anyone calling Jehovah, 'my Father', to be a blasphemer. Now we are able to personally say 'Abba Father', that is, my personal Father, just as the Only begotten did, so we also can because of our being adopted into this Holy Family. We are now related to our Older Brother the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Hallowed be thy name:"
This is literally, sanctified be Your name. Another way of putting this is: let Your name be set apart as Holy, as no other name. I don't believe we should pretend to be so familiar with God that we can use careless adjectives to describe Him; one such adjective is 'awesome,' and you all know how this superlative is bantered about, even in the secular world; God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are the only beings who qualify for this description, 'awesome'; in Greek it is Pantokrator.
Verse 10, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."
LGT "Let Your kingdom come: let Your will be done: as in heaven so also upon earth."
Here again, in this phrase we note that Christ is instructing the Jews to pray for His coming Millennial Reign. Of course we Christians in this age of grace do pray for God to have His will in our lives, but it will not be until Christ comes back and rules on this earth for one thousand years, that God's will can, and will have His perfect will completed on earth. When Christ sets up His earthly Kingdom He will rule with perfect justice and God's will, will and must be adhered to, the same as it is in heaven.
Verse 11, "Give us this day our daily bread."
LGT "Our needed bread give us today."
Bread here represents all that is needed to sustain life. We should always realize that our heavenly Father supplies all that we need, and what better lesson can we teach our children than this. The use of the plural 'us' seems to suggest that we should meet as a family and give thanks at every meal for what God has provided. If we as parents give thanks to God in front of our children, they soon will learn to do the same.
Verse 12, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
LGT "And forgive us our offences, as we also forgive the ones who offend us."
The Greek word for 'debt' is opheilamata from opheile, meaning to be morally obligated. So we see that Christ is not teaching here public debts as we know them, but sins or offences. God is the only One who can forgive sins, and as He forgives us, we are morally obligated to forgive our brothers and sisters. The word 'forgive' is aphekamen and it means 'to dismiss, send away, wipe away completely. Just as our sins have been removed 'as far as the East is from the West' (Psalm 103:12), so we are not to remember the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I must continually remind myself that God has been merciful with me, and has extended His grace to me in His forgiveness; I must also extend the same patience to my loved ones. God has never given up on me, and I must never give up on the ones I love.
Verse 13, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever."
LGT "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
"And lead us not into temptation,"
This phrase disturbs many people, and it should, if they think it means that God tempts His family to sin. James teaches, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man (James 1:13). The word 'temptation' in Greek is peirasmon which is a permissive imperative, as grammarians call it, and it means a test or trial. You see James teaches that God allows us to be tested and tried, but never to do evil. Again, here we have a principle of God's wonderful grace; God allows us to go through many and various trying situations in order to perfect us by His Spirit, but never allows us being tempted to do evil. We naturally pray that we won't have to go through trying situations, but our Heavenly Father knows what we have need of, and when He sees fit for us to go through a test, will positively gives us the grace to go through it; and by the way, we will come out stronger than we were when we began the test. We don't always know the why's and where fore's of the test, but we can rest assured that it is His way of bringing us into a closer walk with Him. God disciplines us also at times, and we should never despise His rod of correction, but should take it patiently, for we know that it will lead us to a closer communion with Him.
"But deliver us from evil:"
The word 'evil' in the Greek is ponarou, meaning wickedness, evil, and all that is opposed to God. The word in the original has the article, so it reads; deliver us from the evil one. Satan is the 'prince of the power of the air,' and as such, has turned this world into a snare for all believers. The thought Christ is stressing is, that we should all pray that we do not succumb to the pressures of sin.
The last part of this verse is a doxology and was added by the translators probably to make the ending final before moving on to a new subject; they wanted to present a smooth transition.
Verse 14, "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
LGT "For if you forgive men their offenses, your Father in heaven will forgive your offenses."
This is not a part of the model prayer; the Lord expands on the principle of forgiveness. All through the Scriptures this principle is manifest. If a man has offended you, and asks forgiveness, we should be very ready to forgive and forget; if he doesn't ask forgiveness, we should still treat him with kindness, and not seek vengeance. Christ lays down this principle of forgiveness, because He is very interested in our living in communion with the Godhead, and this is impossible if we harbor malice in our hearts. We must forgive regardless of the spirit of the offender; God has forgiven us, and is longsuffering with us, so we should practice always to forgive and forget. Whenever we are forgiven our offences we are immediately restored to fellowship; when we forgive men, our fellowship with him is immediately restored, if we have the right mental attitude in our forgiveness.
Verse 15, "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
LGT "But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your offenses."
Here we have the flip side of the previous verse; the same principle applies; if we are concerned with fellowship we must forgive and forget, and we must confess our sins to the Father, because He will forgive and forget, and restore us to communion.
Teaching about Fasting
Verse 16, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
LGT "And whenever you may be fasting, do not be as the hypocrites with a sour, gloomy, and dejected countenance, for they deform their faces, so that they appear as men fasting: Verily I say to you, they have their reward."
"For when ye fast,"
Notice the present tense brought out in my LGT, whenever you may be fasting. Jesus is addressing a Jewish ritual of fasting. This is one principle that is strictly applied to the Jews; fasting has no significance for us today except in the case of sorrow, when the body does not crave food or drink.
Barnes notes:
"The Jews fasted often. They had four annual feasts - in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem (Jer. 52:2), of the burning of the temple (Zech. 7:3), of the death of Gedeliah (Jer. 41:4). And of the commencement of the attack on Jerusalem (Zech. 8:19). In addition to these, they had a multitude of occasional fasts. It was customary, also, for the Pharisees to fast twice a week (Luke 18:12)."
"Be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:"
The word 'hypocrite' is hupokritai meaning a stage player, an actor. The Pharisees would put on a long face showing that they were fasting.
"For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast."
This phrase is literally, for they deform [distort] their faces so they may appear as men fasting.
Barnes adds:
"The Pharisees do not anoint and wash themselves as usual; they are uncombed, filthy, squalid, and haggard. It is said that they were often in the habit of throwing ashes on their heads and faces; and this, mixing with their tears, served still farther to disfigure their faces. So much pains will men take, and so much suffering will they undergo, and so much that is ridiculous will they assume, to impose on God and men. But they deceive neither. God sees through the flimsy veil. Human eyes can pierce a disguise so thin. Hypocrites overact their part. Not having the genuine principles of piety at heart, they know not what is its proper expression, and hence they appear supremely contemptible and abominable. Never should men exhibit outwardly more than they feel; and never should they attempt to exhibit anything for mere sake of ostentation."
"They have their reward."
Even though God and men can see through their pretentious make-believe imitation, these hypocrites feel they are believed, and they are satisfied with themselves, they have received the reward they desired.
Verse 17, "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;"
LGT "But you, who are fasting, anoint your head and wash your face,"
The Lord begins by telling the Jews to do the opposite of the hypocrites; instead of pretending, they were to be sincere.
Verse 18, "That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward the openly."
LGT "So that you may not appear to men fasting, but to your Father who is [in] secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you."
As in all Christ's directions he gives the same principle that our service to the Father is a very personal communion. As long as we seek the praise of men we have our reward. This reminds me so much of a little child who wants to let his or her parents know how unhappy they are, they screw up their little face and stick out their bottom lip, and pout; they sometimes, unlike the hypocrite, say, 'I'm mad.' The hypocrite will not say, 'look at me I'm fasting;' they want everyone to know how pious they are by public observation. What a wonderful principle we should adopt in our prayers, and our giving.
Treasures in Heaven
(Luke 12:33-34)
Verse 19, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:"
LGT "Do not treasure up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust spoil and where thieves dig or break through and steal:"
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,"
The Greek word for 'treasures' is thasaureus, meaning to keep in a treasury or a box. The idea is not to put your priority on earthly treasures. The phrase is literally, treasure to yourselves not treasures. It is not wrong to have a savings account, in fact, today I would say it is a necessity; the lesson is, not to spend too much time thinking of your savings account. We are afforded a savings account in order to be able to give where God directs.
"Where moth and rust doth corrupt,"
The Greek word for 'rust' is brosis, meaning to eat up, gnaws or corrodes. Barnes notes on this corruption:
"Treasures or wealth, among the ancients, consisted in clothes or changes of raiment, as well as in gold, silver, gems, wine, lands, and oil. It meant an abundance of anything that was held to be conducive to the ornament or comfort of life. As the Orientals delighted much in display, in splendid equipage, and costly garments, their treasures, in fact, consisted much in beautiful and richly-ornamented articles of apparel. See Genesis 45:22, where Joseph gave to his brethren changes of raiment; Joshua 7:21, where Achan coveted and secreted a goodly Babylonish garment. Compare also Judges 14:12. This fact will account for the use of the word moth. When we speak of wealth, we think at once of gold, and silver, and lands, and houses. When a Hebrew or an Orientalist spoke of wealth, he thought first of what would make a display; and included, as an essential part, splendid articles of dress. The moth is a small insect that finds its way to clothes and garments, and destroys them. The moth would destroy their apparel, the rust their silver and gold; thus all their treasures would waste away. The word rendered rust signifies anything which eats into, and hence anything which would consume one's property, and may have a wider signification than mere rust."
"And where thieves break through and steal."
Here the Greek gives us a very descriptive picture of the Oriental thief; The Greek word for 'break through' is diorussousin, literally meaning to dig through. The Oriental house was made of mud or clay and the thief would literally dig through the walls of the houses. "The Greeks called a thief toichoruchos, a mud or wall-digger" (Robertson). In Job 24:16, we read, in the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime;"
Verse 20, "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."
LGT "But treasure up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust spoils and where thieves cannot dig through nor steal."
Christ is teaching us that the only safe place for our treasures are in heaven, and the fact they are incorruptible. Here we have just the beginning of what Christ will teach us about what real treasures consist of, for we know that we will not be able to take our earthly treasures with us when we go, thank God!
Pentecost writes:
"The Jewish philosophy toward money was expressed in their statement, 'Whom the Lord loveth, He maketh rich.' In Deuteronomy 28 God promised that He would bless the people materially if they walked in obedience to the Word of God, and He also promised to discipline them by reducing them to want and poverty if they disobeyed. The Jews thought riches were a sure sign of God's pleasure and blessing. In Christ's day their highest goal in life was to accumulate material wealth. But Christ taught that material goals may be lost to thieves, moths, or rust. Thus what is material is temporary, not permanent. On the other hand, one may store up in heaven treasure that is eternal and permanent. In accumulating treasure there is the danger that one will love what is accumulated. It follows that what is loved will enslave the person."
Verse 21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
LGT "For where your treasure is, there is your heart."
When a person cannot concentrate on anything more important than making money, and being successful, what a disadvantage he puts himself under for earning eternal rewards. I have heard the excuse 'I don't give for rewards,' because it is good enough that I am going to heaven; I am not worried about getting rewards. This may seem to be a pious remark, but it is very stupid. Christ tells us here in verses 20, 21 that it is a very noble and an advantageous thing for us to lay treasure up in heaven. If Christ instructs the believer to think about eternal rewards, it is a very good motive for service.
Ironside notes:
"He who is in touch with eternal realities can well afford to hold earthly possessions with a loose hand. Worldly wealth soon passes away and leaves him, who had nothing else, poor indeed. But those who lay up heavenly treasures by spending and being spent for God, while numbered perchance among the poor of this world, will be rich in faith; and when life is ended here they will find endless treasures held in reserve above. The more we distribute for the blessing of others, as guided by the Lord, the more wealth we lay up in heaven."
The Light of the Body
(Luke 11:34-36)
Verse 22,"The light of the body is the eye; If, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
LGT "The lamp of the body is the eye. If, therefore, your eye be single [uncompounded], your whole body will be light."
"The light of the body is the eye;"
The body has five senses seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling. Without healthy eyes one does not see things clearly, and on the same note, what one sees affects the whole man. This is a follow up Christ is using on admonishing men to set their affections on heavenly things.
"If, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
Christ says that the eye should be single that is uncompounded, directed or set on spiritual things; the whole body follows. An illustration of this singleness of the eye is if you train your eye on an object, and then look slightly away at another object, your vision of the first object becomes blurred, yet not out of sight completely. The person who sets his or her vision first on spiritual reality, and leaves it there, will keep the whole body in the light. We cannot walk in fellowship, and entertain the world at the same time. Of course, walking in the Light cannot be accomplished apart from the daily intake of Bible Doctrine.
Verse 23. "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!"
LGT "But if your eye be evil, your whole body will be dark. If, therefore, the light which is in you be darkness, how great is the darkness."
"But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness."
As the context seems to indicate that through the eye man sees all that he can or should desire; if evil, he sees what satisfies the flesh; if he sees the Light, through the Word, he sees what can satisfy his spirit. I repeat the only way we can repel the darkness is by not concentrating on the poneros, which is evil. Keeping a single eye on the Word of God can and will keep us from concentrating on worldly wealth, which cultivates worldly passion for things.
"If therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!"
"The eye is the lamp of the body: when it is healthy we see to do our daily work, when diseased we are in darkness. So with the eye of the soul, the heart, seat of desire: when it is free from covetousness, not anxious to hoard, all goes well with our spiritual functions - we choose and act wisely. When sordid passions possess it there is darkness within deeper than that which afflicts the blind man. We mistake relative value of things, choose the worse, neglect the better, or flatter ourselves that we can do both" (The Expositors Greek Testament).
Vincent adds this illustration from Ruskin:
"Seeing falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is too dim-sighted to discern the road from the ditch, may feel which is which; but if the ditch appears manifestly to him to be the road, and the road to be the ditch, what shall become of him? False seeing is unseeing, on the negative side of blindness."
God and Mammon
(Luke 16:13)
Verse 24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."
LGT "No one is able to serve two lords; for either he will hate the one, and the other he will love, or one he will stand face to face to, and the other he will [naturally] despise. You are not able to serve God and Mammon [riches]."
"No man can serve two masters:"
The context is still Christ correcting the Pharisees false conception of the importance of wealth; that is, master no. 1, God, and master no. 2 the world's wealth. Christ uses the illustration of the impossibility of the slave serving two masters; the natural tendency is to cater to the one and ignore the other, or visa versa.
"For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other."
The Greek word for other here in this context is eteron, meaning another of a different kind. This is the law of the nature of man; man will be loyal to one while neglecting the other. Man cannot serve God and riches at the same time; he will have to surrender one or the other. Christ is giving a principle every serious Christian should heed. We should not let ourselves give in to the pleasures of material wealth, which will last only for a brief time on this physical earth; that is why Christ is advising every Christian to lay up eternal treasures in heaven.
"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon,"
"Mammon is a Chaldee, Syriac, and Punic word like Plutas for money-god (or devil). The slave of mammon will obey while pretending to obey God" (Robertson).
The idea is that one cannot be involved in accumulating the riches of this world and serve God at the same time. He will either love the one or hate the other, or he will hate the one and love the other; that is exactly what it says, so don't try and rationalize the meaning to include the possibility of serving both. As Roberson points out, man will either serve mammon, while pretending to serve God at the same time, but he will only be fooling himself, and only pile up his own empire here on earth.
Care and Anxiety
(Luke 12:22-34)
Verse 25, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"
LGT "Because of this I say to you, Be not anxious about your life, what you eat, [what you drink], nor as to your body what you should put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the clothing."
"Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life. What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on."
Christ is not teaching His disciples that they were not to think of their lives at all, but that they were not to be as the Pharisees who were worried about their future. The Pharisees were very concerned about accumulating material wealth so as to secure their future; they believed that if they had enough wealth, they would have no need for faith; in other words, they would be able to secure their own future. This obsession with worldly goods is always a substitute for faith.
The Greek word for 'thought' is merimnate, meaning to be anxious or give careful thought to. Christ is teaching that we are not to be too caught up with this physical existence that we should become worried about the future. When a person becomes so worried about their future that they ignore their heavenly reward they have gone too far.
"Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?"
Christ is teaching here that surely our lives are more than the food we consume. Our God, who created us and also created the food we eat, surely will take care of us; it is not in the council of God to create something, and then leave it to its own for continuance of existence. If we worry about the future we are saying that God is unconcerned, so we must make our own provision for the future; this 'take no thought' is that we have gone beyond good sense, and have become worried about our future. Christ will assure us in the remainder of the chapter that we have no reason to be worried if we put our confidence in our Creator.
Verse 26, "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?"
LGT "Look at the birds of the heavens, that they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them: are you not much better than they?"
The second example Christ uses is the birds in the sky; if God cares for them, which are not of the same value to him, by any means, is it not truly divine logic that He will provide for His children. The fact that Christ uses the term 'your Father' He is assuming that He is talking to believers. Unbelievers are never able to call God 'Father', until they become children; they may call Him God, but they can never call Him, Father. The question Christ asks, 'are ye not much better than they?' is literally, you are definitely of more value to Him.
Verse 27, "Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?"
LGT "And which of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his height?"
The third example Christ uses is that man is not able to add one inch to his height, or as some manuscripts have it, to his life. In either case, man is not able to prolong life or make himself taller. We are in complete dependence on God, like it or not. As a matter of fact, according to medical science, man can certainly shorten his life by worry, so, in either case, whether we depend on God or not, it does absolutely no good to worry.
Verse 28, "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."
LGT "And why are you worried concerning your clothing? Observe the lilies of the field how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin."
Next Christ uses the example of the beauty of the lily; if God is able to clothe the fields with the splendor of the lily, how is it that man is so worried about his own garments; anxiety is never a good substitute for faith.
Verse 29, "And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
LGT "But I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not put around himself as one of these."
Christ is not teaching here how one should clothe oneself, He is making a point on how unimportant it is to worry about such trivial things as clothing. Clothing is important for many reasons, the least of which is for self-glorification, and vain pride.
Mathew Henry notes:
"The array [collection] of Solomon was very splendid and magnificent: he that had the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces, and studiously affected pomp and gallantry, doubtless had the richest clothing, and the best made up, that could be got; especially when he appeared in his glory on high days. And yet, let him dress himself as fine as he could, he comes far short of the beauty of the lilies, and a bed of tulips outshines him. Let us, therefore, be ambitious of the wisdom of Solomon, in which he was outdone by none (wisdom to do our duty in our places), rather than the glory of Solomon, in which he was outdone by the lilies."
Verse 30, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"
LGT "But if the grass of the field which is today, and tomorrow is cast into an oven, God thus clothes, [will He] not much rather [clothe] you, O [you] of little faith."
Christ goes from the beautiful lily to the common grass of the field that also grew wild. One day the grass is lush and green and then it withers and becomes fuel for the ovens. Christ is teaching that the things of this world are but for a moment, and we should not be too concerned with temporal things.
Verse 31, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed
LGT "Therefore, be not worried, saying, What will we eat? What will we drink? With what will we be clothed?"
The bottom line in Christ's teaching here is that worry is definitely sin; for if God can care for the earth and all of its functioning, He can surely take care of His dear children. Not to trust the Father for everything is a gross sin.
Verse 32, "(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
LGT "For all these things the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things."
Even the Gentile nations who do not have God as their Father seek for these things, and they worry about them; however, you that know God should trust Him that He will provide for your every need without such worry.
Verse 33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
LGT "But you seek first the kingdom [of God] and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
Here Christ puts spiritual matters ahead of physical needs. This verse is assurance to the believer that God does and will provide what is best for His children. Instead of seeking what this world has to offer, we should seek first the kingdom of God's grace provision, and we are guaranteed happiness.
Verse 34, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
LGT "Therefore, do not worry for the morrow, for the morrow shall be careful [about] itself: sufficient to the day [is] the evil of it."
In essence, Christ is teaching that we need to live one day at a time; God is immutable [He never changes], He will be the same God tomorrow as He is today. We should be concerned with the present without borrowing trouble from the future. McGee notes: "As someone has said, Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday." Barnes also notes: "Do your duty faithfully now, and depend on the mercy [grace] of God and His divine help for the troubles which are yet to come." I can think of many sins that are worse than worry, but worry can be very disabling. Robertson has a nice side note about worrying about the future: "The ghost of tomorrow stalks out with all its hobgoblins of doubt and distrust."
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
Our present day has enough trials for us without borrowing from the future. "This present day has trouble enough attending it, we need not borrow perplexities from to-morrow's evils to add to those of this day. It is uncertain what to-morrow's evils may be, but whatever they be, it is time enough to take thought about them when they come. What a folly it is to take that trouble upon ourselves this day by care and fear, which belongs to another day, and will never the lighter when it comes? The conclusion of this whole matter then is, that it is the will and commandment of the Lord Jesus, that His disciples should not be their own tormentors, nor make their passage through this world more dark and unpleasant, by their apprehension of troubles, than God has made it by the troubles themselves" (Matthew Henry).
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