“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 24, 25 They suffer not their first hue to be seen,…
They suffer not their first hue to be seen, that is to say, they mar the natural color of their faces, that they may seem lean and palefaced.
Against such as hunt after a name of holiness, by fasting.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–25 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the…
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.
Ver. 16. Moreover, when ye fast] Fast then they must, yea, even after the Lord’s ascension, when God’s grace and Spirit was poured upon them in all abundance, Luk 5:33. This exercise hath still the warrant and weight of a duty, as well from precepts as examples of both Testaments. {Joe 2:12; Isa 22:12; Mat 9:14-15 Act 13:3; 1Co 7:5} And he that blamed the Pharisees here for fasting amiss, will much more blame those that fast not at all. The Israelites (besides other occasional) had their annual fast appointed them by God, Lev 23:27. It was called a day of expiations or atonements, in the plural; because of their many and various sins they were then to bewail and get pardon for. God had appointed them various sacrifices for several sins. But forasmuch as it might not be safe to confess some sins to the priest (as those that might bring them, by the law, in danger of death), of his grace he vouchsafed them this yearly fast, for expiation of their secret sins, and making their peace with their Maker, by a general humiliation. Now, albeit the circumstance of time be abolished, the equity of the duty abideth, and tieth us no less (if not more) than it did the Jews. Heathen Nineveh practised it: so did, in their superstitious way, the Egyptian priests, the Persian magi, Indian wizards, Priam in Homer, &c. The Turks at this day have their solemn fasts (as before the fatal assault of Constantinople), wherein they will not so much as taste a cup of water or wash their mouths with water all the day long, before the stars appear in the sky: which maketh their fasts (especially in the summer, when the days be long and hot) to be unto them very tedious. In the year of grace 1030 there arose a sect of rasters, that affirmed that to fast on Saturdays with bread and water (as they called it) would suffice to the remission of all sins; so that men bound themselves to it by oath. {a} And many French bishops voted with them. But Gerardus Episcopus Cameracensis withstood and abandoned them. So great ignorance was there, even then, of the merits of Christ among the governors of the Church. The Papists slander us, that we count fasting no duty, but only a moral temperance, a fasting from sin, a matter of mere policy: and outrival us, as much as the Pharisees did the disciples with their often fasting. But, as we cannot but find fault with their fasts, in that, first, they set and appoint certain fasting days however, to be observed upon pain of damnation, be the times clear or cloudy, &c. Secondly, they fast from certain meats only, not all; which is a mere mock fast, and a doctrine of devils, 1Ti 4:3. Thirdly, they make it a service of God, yet consecrate it to the saints. Fourthly, they make shameful sale of it. Fifthly, they ascribe (as those older heretics) merit unto it, even to the mere outward abstinence, as these Pharisees did, and these hypocrites in Isaiah. {Isa 58:3} {b} Now since we cannot but condemn their superstition, so neither is our forlorn indolence and dulness to this duty to be excused. God hath given us, of late especially, many gracious opportunities of public humiliations, more, I think, than ever before, since the Reformation. But, alas, how do many fast, at such times, for fashion, fear of law, or of mere form; so that they had need to send, as the prophet speaketh, for mourning women, that by their cunning they may be taught to mourn, Jer 9:17. And for private fasting, whether domestic with a man’s family, Zec 12:12; 1Co 7:5; Act 10:30; or personal by himself, as here, Mat 6:17; we may seem to have dealt with it, as the Romans with the Tarquins; they banished all of that name for Superbus’ sake. And as the Nicopolites are said so to have hated the braying of an ass, that for that cause they would not endure the sound of a trumpet: so many are departed so far from Popish fasts, that they fast not at all; and so open the mouths of the adversaries. But acquaint thyself with this duty, thou that wouldst be acquainted with God. It is a foretaste of eternal life, when in holy practices we taste the sweetness of that heavenly manna, this angels’ food, those soul-fattening provisions, that makes us for a time to forbear our appointed food. It is a help to the understanding of heavenly mysteries, as Daniel found it. {Dan 9:20} It fits us for conversion, Joe 2:12, and furthers it, Act 9:9. Hence it is called a day of humiliation, or of humbling the soul, Lev 16:31; because God usually by that ordinance gives a humble heart, to the which he hath promised both grace, 1Pe 5:5, and glory, Pro 15:33. It ferrets out corruption, and is to the soul as washing to a room, which is more than sweeping; or as scouring to the vessel, which is more than ordinary washing. It subdues rebel flesh, which with fulness of bread will wax wanton, as Sodom, Jeshurun, Ephraim. {c} It testifies true repentance, by this holy revenge, 2Co 7:11, while we thus amerce and punish ourselves, by a voluntary foregoing of the comforts and commodities of life, as altogether unworthy, Psa 35:13. What shall I say more? Hereby we are daily drawn to more obedience and love to God, faith in him, and communion with him; a more holy frame of soul and habit of heavenly mindedness. Whence our Saviour, after this direction for fasting, immediately adds that of laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven, Mat 6:19-20. And, lastly, our prayers shall be hereby edged, winged, and made to soar aloft, which before flagged, fainted, and, as it were, grovelled on the ground. Therefore our Saviour, here, next after matter of prayer, adds this of fasting, which is a necessary adjunct of prayer (that which is extraordinary especially), as that which very much fits the heart for prayer and the severe practice of repentance. {d} Hence it is that elsewhere these two, fasting and prayer, go coupled, for the most part, as Luk 2:37; Mat 17:21; 1Co 7:5, &c. A full belly neither studies nor prays willingly. Fasting inflames prayer, and prayer sanctifies fasting; especially when we fast and weep, Joe 2:13, fast and watch, watch and pray, and take heed to both, Mar 13:33.
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Be not as the hypocrites] For they fast not to God, Zec 7:5; Zec 7:11-12, but to themselves; they pine the body, but pamper the flesh; they hang down their heads, Isa 58:5, but their hearts stand bolt upright within them. {e} Their fasting is either superstitious or secure; while they rest in the work done, or with the opinion of merit; whereas the kingdom of heaven is not in meat and drink, Rom 14:17; and whether we eat or eat not, we are neither the more nor the less accepted of God, 1Co 8:8: they fast for strife and debate, and to make their voices to be heard on high, Isa 58:4; whereas secrecy in this duty is the best argument of sincerity. They "loose not the bands of wickedness," nor break off their sins by repentance; therefore God regards not (which they repine at), but rejects their confidence, and answers them according to the idols of their hearts. "When they fast," saith he, "I will not hear their cry," Jer 14:12, they are not a button the better for all they can do. Displeasing service proves a double dishonour ( simulata sanctitas duplex iniquitas); their outsideness is an utter abomination: they present the great King with an empty cask, with a heartless sacrifice, with a bare carcase of religion, as the poets feign of Prometheus.
Of a sad countenance] Make not a sour face, look not grim and ghastly, as the word signifieth; {f} so that one would be afraid to look on them, they do so disfigure their faces, so waste and wither their countenances, so deform and (as St Jerome rendereth it) demolish their natural complexions; pining themselves to make their faces pale and meagre, that they may be noted and noticed for great fasters. {g} Such a one was that none-such Ahab, and those spungy bulrushes, Isa 58:5, those hollow hypocrites, Jer 14:12, that proud patriarch of Constantinople, that first affected the style of universal bishop, and is therefore pointed at by Gregory the Great, as the forerunner of Antichrist: yet by his frequent fasting, this proud man merited to be surnamed Johannes Nesteutes, John the faster. Such pains men will put themselves to for a name, so far they will trouble themselves to go to hell with credit. The Jesuits had set forth a psalter, a little before the gunpowder plot should have been acted, for the good success of a wicked counter parliament. And to increase the iniquity, with wicked Jezebel, they would colour it with a fast: yea, with blasphemous Rabshakeh, they would by their hypocritical practices bear the world in hand, that they came not up against us without the Lord.
That they may appear unto men to fast] There is a great deal of seemingness, and much counterfeit grace abroad. The sorcerers seemed to do as much as Moses, the Pharisees to do more, this way, than the disciples. But bodily exercise profiteth little. Somewhat it may get at God’s hands, as Ahab, for a temporary repentance, had a temporal deliverance; such is God’s munificence, he is rich in mercy to all that do him any duty. But if the leaves of this exercise be so medicinable, what is the fruit? If the shadow thereof be so sovereign, what the substance? If the shell so profitable, what the kernel? Oh, let us rather seek to be good than seem to be so: {h} lest the Lord say of our outward shows, as Jacob said of Joseph’s coat, "The coat is the coat of my son, some evil beast hath devoured him," Gen 37:33. So the outward form of their fasting, praying, practising, is the form of my sons and daughters, but some evil spirit hath devoured them, that use it in hypocrisy. Lest men also say unto such, as John Capocius did to Pope Innocent III, preaching peace and sowing discord; "You speak like a God, but do like a devil." {i} You are fair professors, but foul sinners. And when the filthy sinner goes damned to hell, what shall become of the seeming saint? As the clown said to the Bishop of Cullen praying in the church like a bishop, but as he was duke, going guarded like a tyrant, "Whither thinkest thou the bishop shall go, when the duke shall be damned?"
They have their reward] All they looked after, and all they are to look for. The eagle, though she fly high, yet hath an eye to the prey below all the while. So hath the hypocrite to profit, credit, or some other base respects, and let him take it, saith our Saviour. Non equidem invideo, miror magis: Breath they have for breath; much good do them with it.
{a} Ex illa Synodica conclusione, feria sexta ieiunare constituerat, secta ille ieiunantium originem suam habuisse videatur. Func.
{b} Cave, ne si ieiunare coeperis, te putes esse sanctum: haec enim virtutis adiumentum est, non perfectio sanctitatis, &c. Jerome ad Celant.
{c} 1Co 9:27; Eze 16:15; Deu 32:15; Isa 28:1-2. Saturitas parit ferociam.
{d} Ieiunium orationem roborat: oratio ieiunium sanctificat. Bern. in Quadrages., ser. 4.
{e} Quid prodest tenuari abstinentia corpus, si animus intumescat superbia? Jerome.
{f} σκυθρωποι. Demissis oculis, et subductis superciliis tetrici. Chemuit.
{g} αφανιζουσι. Christus alludit ad larvas, quibus Mimi veluti in theatrum prodibant, ut cum alias essent tutus festine ridiculi, repraesentarent vultum maestum. Chemnit.
{h} Ne appetat quisquam ultra videri quam est, ut possit ultra esse quam videtur. Greg.
{i} Verba tua Dei plane sunt, facta veto diaboli videntur.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 24, 25 Our Saviour in these words returns to his former…
Our Saviour in these words returns to his former work, to caution his disciples against hypocrisy, vain glory, and ostentation in their religious duties, the doing them to be seen of men. What he before said as to giving alms and prayer, he here again applies as to private fasting, which is by this discourse of our Saviour confirmed, though not as a stated, yet as an occasional duty of Christians, in order to, and as an indication of, their humbling of their souls for their sins, or under the mighty hand of God; but he requireth that it should be in sincerity, not in hypocrisy, for the glory of God, not for ostentation and appearance unto men. Our Saviour probably in this discourse hath a respect to some hypocritical usages of the Pharisees, using to disfigure their countenances, and look demurely or sourly upon their fasting days. Not that he prohibits here habits or gestures suited to the duty, himself sometimes commanded the Jews to put off their ornaments, nor was any thing more ordinary for good men than to cover themselves with sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads. All that our Lord prohibits is the affecting of these things, to cover the hypocrisy of their hearts. Nor must we think that it is the will of God, that we on such days should indeed anoint our heads and wash our faces; or (which is the same thing with us) adorn, paint, or perfume ourselves, or use any habits or gestures unsuitable to mourning, and not indicative of afflicted souls; but that we should rather do this than the other, viz. put on a mask and vizard of sorrow for sin, when indeed we had no sense of it; for still we must appear to our heavenly Father to fast, which we cannot very well do, if our outward habit and demeanour be not something proportioned to the inward sorrow and affliction of our souls; for the putting on of fine dresses and ornaments must be an imperate act of the soul, and not like to be commanded by a soul in affliction, it being natural to such a soul to neglect the culture of the body, being wholly swallowed up with bitter thoughts relating to its own spiritual and eternal state. Our Saviour addeth the same argument to press sincere fasting, which he had before used concerning the duty of giving alms and secret prayer, where I have before spoken to those words.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 24, 25 The next duty which our Saviour instructs his disciples…
The next duty which our Saviour instructs his disciples in, is that of religious fasting; which is, a devoting of the whole man, soul and body, to a solemn and extaordinary attendance upon God, in a particular time set apart for that purpose; in order to the deprecating of his displeasure, and for the supplicating of his favour, accompanied with an abstinance from bodily food and sensual delights, and from all secular affairs and worldly business. Now our Saviour’s direction, as to this duty of fasting, is double:
1. He cautions us to beware of an abuse in fasting: Be not as the hypocrites are, of a sad countenance; that is, do not affect a sullen sadness, ghastliness, and unpleasantness of countenance, like the hypocritical Pharisees, who vitiate and discolour their faces, who mar and abolish their native complexion. Hypocrisy can paint the face black and sable, as well as pride with red and white.
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2. He counsels us to take the right way in fasting; to anoint the head and wash the face: that is, to look as at other times, using our ordinary garb and attire, and not to affect anything that may make us look like mourners, when really we are not so.
Where we may note, That though hypocrites by their dejected countenances and mortified habits do seek to gain an extraordinary reputation for piety and devotion, yet the sincere Christian is to be abundantly satisfied with God’s approbation of his services, and with the silent applause of his own conscience.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 25 We are here cautioned against hypocrisy in fasting, as…
We are here cautioned against hypocrisy in fasting, as before in almsgiving, and in prayer.
I. It is here supposed that religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, when God, in his providence, calls to it, and when the case of their own souls upon any account requires it; when the bridegroom is taken away, then shall they fast, Mat 9:15. Fasting is here put last, because it is not so much a duty for its own sake, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Prayer comes in between almsgiving and fasting, as being the life and soul of both. Christ here speaks especially of private fasts, such as particular persons prescribe to themselves, as free-will offerings, commonly used among the pious Jews; some fasted one day, some two, every week; others seldomer, as they saw cause. On those days they did not eat till sun-set, and then very sparingly. It was not the Pharisee's fasting twice in the week, but his boasting of it, that Christ condemned, Luk 18:12. It is a laudable practice, and we have reason to lament it, that is so generally neglected among Christians. Anna was much in fasting, Luk 2:37. Cornelius fasted and prayed, Act 10:30. The primitive Christians were much in it, see Act 13:3; Act 14:23. Private fasting is supposed, Co1 7:5. It is an act of self-denial, and mortification of the flesh, a holy revenge upon ourselves, and humiliation under the hand of God. The most grown Christians must hereby own, they are so far from having any thing to be proud of, that they are unworthy of their daily bread. It is a means to curb the flesh and the desires of it, and to make us more lively in religious exercises, as fulness of bread is apt to make us drowsy. Paul was in fastings often, and so he kept under this body, and brought it into subjection.
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II. We are cautioned not to do this as the hypocrites did it, lest we lose the reward of it; and the more difficulty attends the duty, the greater loss it is to lose the reward of it.
Now, 1. The hypocrites pretended fasting, when there was nothing of that contrition or humiliation of soul in them, which is the life and soul of the duty. Theirs were mock-fasts, the show and shadow without the substance; they took on them to be more humbled than really they were, and so endeavored to put a cheat upon God, than which they could not put a greater affront upon him. The fast that God has chosen, is a day to afflict the soul, not to hang down the head like a bulrush, nor for a man to spread sackcloth and ashes under him; we are quite mistaken if we call this a fast, Isa 58:5. Bodily exercise, if that be all, profits little, since that is not fasting to God, even to him.
2. They proclaimed their fasting, and managed it so that all who saw them might take notice that it was a fasting-day with them. Even on these days they appeared in the streets, whereas they should have been in their closets; and the affected a downcast look, a melancholy countenance, a slow and solemn pace; and perfectly disfigured themselves, that men might see how often they fasted, and might extol them as devout, mortified men. Note, It is sad that men, who have, in some measure, mastered their pleasure, which is sensual wickedness, should be ruined by their pride, which is spiritual wickedness, and no less dangerous. Here also they have their reward, that praise and applause of men which they court and covet so much; they have it, and it is their all.
III. We are directed how to manage a private fast; we must keep it in private, Mat 6:17, Mat 6:18. He does not tell us how often we must fast; circumstances vary, and wisdom is profitable therein to direct; the Spirit in the word has left that to the Spirit in the heart; but take this for a rule, whenever you undertake this duty, study therein to approve yourselves to God, and not to recommend yourselves to the good opinion of men; humility must evermore attend upon our humiliation. Christ does not direct to abate any thing of the reality of the fast; he does not say,"take a little meat, or a little drink, or a little cordial;" no, "let the body suffer, but lay aside the show and appearance of it; appear with thy ordinary countenance, guise, and dress; and while thou deniest thyself thy bodily refreshments, do it so as that it may not be taken notice of, no, not by those that are nearest to thee; look pleasant, anoint thine head and wash thy face, as thou dost on ordinary days, on purpose to conceal thy devotion; and thou shalt be no loser in the praise of it at last; for though it be not of men, it shall be of God." Fasting is the humbling of the soul (Psa 35:13), that is the inside of the duty; let that therefore be thy principal care, and as to the outside of it, covet not to let it be seen. If we be sincere in our solemn fasts, and humble, and trust God's omniscience for our witness, and his goodness for our reward, we shall find, both that he did see in secret, and will reward openly. Religious fasts, if rightly kept, will shortly be recompensed with an everlasting feast. Our acceptance with God in our private fasts should make us dead, both to the applause of men (we must not do the duty in hopes of this), and to the censures of men too (we must not decline the duty for fear of them). David's fasting was turned to his reproach, Psa 69:10; and yet, Psa 69:13, As for me, let them say what they will of me, my prayer is unto thee in an acceptable time.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–25 Moreover when ye fast,.... This is to be understood,…
Moreover when ye fast,.... This is to be understood, not so much of their public stated fasts, and which were by divine appointment, as of their private fasts; which, with the Jews, were very frequent and numerous, and particularly every Monday and Thursday; see Luk 18:12 in which they affected great severity, and is here condemned by Christ:
be not as the hypocrites, the Scribes and Pharisees,
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of a sad countenance; who put on very mournful airs, and dismal looks; made wry faces, and distorted countenances; banished all pleasantry and cheerfulness from them, so that they looked quite like other men than they really were;
for they disfigure their faces; not by covering them out of sight, by putting a veil over them, as some have thought; but they neglected to wash their faces, and make them clean, as at other times; and not only so, but put ashes upon their heads, and other methods they used: they discoloured their faces, or "made" them "black", as the Arabic version reads it; that they might look as if they became so through fasting: and such persons were in great esteem, and thought to be very religious. It is said (f), in commendation of R. Joshua ben Chanamah, that all his days , "his face was black", through fastings; and this is said (g) to be the reason of Ashur's name, in Ch1 4:5 because "his face was black" with fasting: yea, they looked upon such a disfiguring of the face to be meritorious, and what would be rewarded hereafter.
"Whoever (say they (h)) , "makes his face black", on account of the law in this world, God will make his brightness to shine in the world to come.''
Now these practices they used,
that they might appear unto men to fast: so that either they did not really fast, when they pretended to it; only put on these outward appearances, that men might think they did; or, not content with real fasting, which they must be conscious of themselves, and God knew, they took such methods, that it might appear to men that they fasted, and that they might be taken notice of, and applauded by them: for their view in fasting was not to satisfy their own consciences, or please God, but that they might have glory of men. Hence, says Christ,
verily I say unto you, they have their reward; they obtain what they seek for, honour from men, and that is all they will have.
(f) Juchasin, fol. 59. 1. (g) T. Bab. Sota, fol. 12. 1. (h) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 100. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25 When ye fast? - Our Lord does not enjoin…
When ye fast? - Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms- deeds, or prayer: all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God. Disfigure - By the dust and ashes which they put upon their heads, as was usual at the times of solemn humiliation.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 Verse 16. When ye fast] A fast is termed…
Verse 16. When ye fast] A fast is termed by the Greeks νηστις, from νη not, and εσθειν to eat; hence fast means, a total abstinence from food for a certain time. Abstaining from flesh, and living on fish, vegetables, c., is no fast, or may be rather considered a burlesque on fasting. Many pretend to take the true definition of a fast from Isa 58:3, and say that it means a fast from sin. This is a mistake there is no such term in the Bible as fasting from sin; the very idea is ridiculous and absurd, as if sin were a part of our daily food. In the fast mentioned by the prophet, the people were to divide their bread with the hungry, Isa 58:7; but could they eat their bread, and give it too? No man should save by a fast: he should give all the food he might have eaten to the poor. He who saves a day's expense by a fast, commits an abomination before the Lord. See Clarke on Mt 9:15.
As the hypocrites-of a sad countenance] σκυθρωποι, either from σκυθρος sour, crabbed, and ωψ the countenance; or from σκυθης a Scythian, a morose, gloomy, austere phiz, like that of a Scythian or Tartar. A hypocrite has always a difficult part to act: when he wishes to appear as a penitent, not having any godly sorrow at heart, he is obliged to counterfeit it the best way he can, by a gloomy and austere look.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 24, 25 Mat 6:16-18. When ye fast — Our Lord does…
Mat 6:16-18. When ye fast — Our Lord does not enjoin either fasting, alms-deeds, or prayer, all these being duties which were before fully established in the Church of God. Be not as the hypocrites, &c. — Do not follow the example of the hypocrites, who, in order to show that they fast, assume a sad countenance; a dejected, austere, and mortified look, such as false devotees affect, who make piety to consist in outward show, rather than in true goodness. For they disfigure their faces — Viz., by dust and ashes put upon their heads, as was usual in times of mourning and solemn humiliation. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward — I assure you, persons of this character shall have no other reward but the esteem of those whom they deceive by such appearances. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, &c. — Come abroad in thine ordinary dress. The Jews often anointed their heads. That thou appear not, &c. — That, desiring the approbation of God, and not the applause of men, thou mayest chiefly be solicitous to appear before God as one that fasts; and God, who is ever with thee, and knows thy most secret thoughts, shall openly bestow on thee the blessings which belong to a true penitent, “whose mortification, contrition, and humility he can discern without the help of looks, or dress, or outward expressions of any kind. But it must be remembered, that our Lord is speaking here of private fasting, to which alone his directions are to be applied; for, when public sins or calamities are to be mourned over, the duty of fasting ought to be performed in the most public manner.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25 Moreover, when ye fast - The word “fast” literally…
Moreover, when ye fast - The word “fast” literally signifies to abstain from food and drink, whether from necessity or as a religious observance. It is, however, commonly applied in the Bible to the latter. It is, then, an expression of grief or sorrow. Such is the constitution of the body, that in a time of grief or sorrow we are not disposed to eat; or, we have no appetite. The grief of the “soul” is so absorbing as to destroy the natural appetites of the “body.” People in deep affliction eat little, and often pine away and fall into sickness, because the body refuses, on account of the deep sorrow of the mind, to discharge the functions of health. “Fasting, then, is the natural expression of grief.” It is not arbitrary; it is what every person in sorrow naturally does. This is the foundation of its being applied to religion as a sacred rite. It is because the soul, when oppressed and burdened by a sense of sin, is so filled with grief that the body refuses food. It is, therefore, appropriate to scenes of penitence, of godly sorrow, of suffering, and to those facts connected with religion which are suited to produce grief, as the prevalence of iniquity, or some dark impending calamity, or storm, or tempest, pestilence, plague, or famine. It is also useful to humble us, to bring us to reflection, to direct the thoughts away from the allurements of this world to the bliss of a better. It is not acceptable except it be the “real expression,” of sorrow; the natural effect of the feeling that we are burdened with crime.
The Jews fasted often. They had four “annual” fasts in commemoration of the capture of Jerusalem Jer 52:7, of the burning of the temple Zec 7:3, of the death of Gedaliah Jer 41:4, and of the commencement of the attack on Jerusalem Zec 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, Luk 18:12.
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Of a sad countenance - That is, sour, morose; with assumed expressions of unfelt sorrow.
They disfigure their faces - That is, they 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 further to disfigure their faces. So much pains will people take, and so much suffering will they undergo, and so much that is ridiculous will they assume, to impose on God and people. 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 people exhibit outwardly more than they feel; and never should they attempt to exhibit anything for the mere sake of ostentation.
They have their reward - They have all that they desired - the praise of men and “the pleasure of ostentation.” See the notes at Mat 6:2.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25 He condemns not public fasts as prescribed to the…
He condemns not public fasts as prescribed to the people of God, (Judges xx. 26. 2 Esdras ix. Joel ii. 15. John iii.) but fasting through vain glory, and for the esteem of men. (Bristow)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v19 4. Spurious worldliness of the Pharisees in their righteousness;…
4. Spurious worldliness of the Pharisees in their righteousness; or, the Pharisees’ sharing of the cares of the heathen
Mat_6:19-34
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( Mat_6:24-34 the Pericope for the 15th Sunday after Trinity.)
19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt 20[consume], and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt [consumeth], and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your20 treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But 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 that darkness! 24No 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. 25Therefore I say unto you, Take no [anxious] thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;21 nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly 27Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature [age]? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, Whatshall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;22 and all these things shall be added unto [to] you. 34Take 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.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Connection.—Considerable importance attaches to the question as to the connection between this and the preceding section. According to Strauss and others, the two are wholly unconnected. De Wette remarks: “Hitherto the discourse proceeded upon a definite plan; but now the connection seems loose, and longer and shorter sayings follow each other.” Even Neander regards the verses under consideration as an interpolation of Matthew. Meyer misses only the connecting link with the preceding section, but maintains, against de Wette, the connection of what follows, without, however, tracing it out. [He adds, p. 154, that we must not confound the unity of the Sermon on the Mount with the unity of a modern sermon.—P. S.] Tholuck maintains, that while in all probability this section belongs to the context as given in Luk_12:22-34, it is impossible to deny that its position in the Gospel by Matthew is the correct one. “The transition was natural from the idea that good works should be done only with reference to Him who is invisible, to the conclusion expressed in Mat_6:33, that in all our aims and undertakings the mind should be set upon the things of eternity.” In our opinion (as expressed previously in the Leben Jesu, ii. 2, 619), the internal connection between the two sections appears from Mat_23:14 : “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer.” The false spirituality of these hypocrites arose from the worldly-mindedness with which they are specially charged in the text. The external connection with the previous section lies in the relation between the μὴ θησαυρίζετε, and the ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν of Mat_6:2; Mat_6:5; Mat_6:16. Having shown how the Pharisees by their false spirituality sought to lay up for themselves treasures in a figurative sense, the Lord next exhibits their hypocrisy and worldliness in seeking to gather treasures in the literal sense. Thus far Tholuck is right in saying that the admonition to lay up for themselves treasures in heaven is closely connected with what was formerly said about doing good works in secret, which the Father would reward openly. But that our Lord refers to worldly-mindedness in the garb of hypocrisy, and not to ordinary worldly-mindedness, appears from the expression, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon;” and, again, from that most important declaration, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,” etc. The history of the Middle Ages, of monasticism, and of the hierarchy, has amply proved that false spirituality is closely connected with worldly-mindedness, long prayers with covetousness and ambition, almsgiving with avarice, and fasting with feasting. Indeed, this love of the world, while apparently fleeing from it, is the characteristic feature of monasticism.
Mat_6:19. Θησαυρούς, treasures.—Treasures of any kind, but more closely defined by the addition of the term upon earth, and by the possibility of their being corrupted by moth and rust, or carried away by thieves. The moth attaches itself principally to garments which are not used, especially to precious robes of office.—Consumption, βρῶσις (the Vulgate and our authorized version render it rust, Jam_5:2-3; Kuinoel and Baumgarten-Crusius refer it to a species of worms; Casaubonus and others speak of a ἓν διὰ δυοῖν, hence σὴς βρώσκουσα); a general expression, but points primarily to provisions, to accumulations of food and corn; while the breaking through of thieves refers to the possession of gold and silver. The meaning seems to be, that everything which is passing away has its own principle of destruction, suited to its special nature, whether vegetable, animal, or moral. In general, it exhibits the vanity of all earthly possessions, and the unsatisfactory character of the enjoyments which they yield. Irrespective of their use, these possessions are dead, exposed to the moth, to consumption, and to thieves,—to the organs of physical and moral annihilation. It scarcely requires to be added, that the place of these treasures, the kind of treasures, and the manner in which they are collected, are in this instance equally of the earth, earthy.
Mat_6:20. Treasures in heaven.—Our attention is first directed to the place where genuine treasures are to be found, viz., heaven, where God reveals Himself, and where all is eternal. The kind of treasures is in accordance with their place, or with heaven. Similarly, these treasures must be gathered in a heavenly manner—by kindness, by spiritual fellowship with God, by self-denial; in short, by a surrender to our Father who is in heaven. It is therefore quite erroneous (with Chrysostom and others) to apply it to almsgiving, in the expectation of a heavenly reward. On the other hand, it may be necessary to remind those who, like Meyer, seem to regard the kingdom of heaven as something external and future, that this heavenly life begins upon earth by faith.—The heavenly possessions are characterized according to their negative advantages, where no moth doth corrupt, etc.; comp. 1Pe_1:4.—These words are also directed against the carnal anticipations of the Jews, especially of the Pharisees and scribes.
Mat_6:21. For where your treasure is.—Our treasure, or dearest possession, forms the ideal on which our affections are set, and in accordance with which our feelings and desires assume shape. Hence, if our treasure is on earth, our heart will also be there, our inclinations and desires will be earthly; and, since this is contrary to our heavenly destiny, the consequence must be eternal sorrow and shame. But if the heart has its treasure in heaven, its affections will also be directed thither, and it will be transformed in accordance therewith.
Mat_6:22. The light of the body.—Connection Not: in order to fulfil this duty, you must “preserve your inner light or reason (Chrysostom: ὁ νοῦς) undimmed;” but: ye must preserve your mental eye undivided in its gaze. The Lord evidently alludes here to the Pharisees, whose attention and affections were divided between what was temporal and what was spiritual. Their state of mind is illustrated by the eye. The eye is the light of the body (lighted from the light of the sun). Everything now depends on a right condition of the eye. It must be ἁπλοῦς, i. e., simple, in opposition to the πονηρός, or bad, spoiled eye. If the contrast between a healthy and a diseased eye were intended (in the sense of any ailment affecting it), it would have been otherwise expressed. We conclude, therefore, that it refers to the contrast between proper sight and deceptive or double sight. “The word is never used to indicate healthy. Hence we might agree with Elsner and Olshausen in explaining it as an eye which does not see double—double sight being a disease; and, with Quesnel, apply it as meaning, that it knows only one object of love—even God. But if we inquire what Hebrew word corresponded to the Greek term, we find that Aquila and the Sept. translate ἁπλοῦς for the Hebrew יָשָׁר ,תָּם = ὁλόκληρος, which latter, like integer, is related to ἁπλοῦς. Thus Theophylact explains ἁπλοῦς and πονηρός by ὑγιής and νοσώδης.” Tholuck.—But we object to any translation of definite and distinct into more general terms, in order thus to give them a meaning which is not warranted by the context. The desire of serving at the same time God and mammon may be characterised as a moral double sight, as an evil eye, which is rightly designated by πονηρός, in direct contrast to ἁπλοῦς. But the eye is ἁπλοῦς, when it wholly, consciously, and calmly agrees with the state of the mind and heart,—when it is not wandering, and therefore not double-sighted nor untrue, and hence worse than blind. On the other hand, the eye is evil if it lose its power of perceiving, or begins to wander and miss the object set before it. Then the whole body will be full of darkness, or enveloped in night. But the darkening of the mind has more sad consequences than that of the body. If therefore—a conclusio a minori ad majus—the light that is in thee (the inward light) be darkness, etc.
Mat_6:23. The question as to the meaning of the light that is in thee, is of importance. Chrysostom: ὁ νοῦς. Calvin: Lumen vocat Christus rationem, quantulacunque hominibus reliqua manet post lapsum Adœ. Beza, Chemnitz, Gerhard, Calov: “The eye which is enlightened by the word and Spirit of God.”—Tholuck: That which is left of the Divine image in man, after Joh_8:47; Joh_18:37; or, as Gerhard has it, lumen naturœ, the light of nature.—Meyer: Reason, especially practical reason.—The capacity of the inner eye of reason to become the organ of knowledge is evidently here alluded to, although the expression has a more special meaning. It is not the inner eye itself, the νοῦς, but the light of the inner eye, or the Old Testament revelation so well known by the Pharisees and scribes, which had, by their carnal views, been perverted into error.—If the bodily eye is blind, the danger is less, because precaution will be used. The real peril lies in the eye seeing falsely or double, because in that case the light of the sun will only serve to blind, which is worse than utter darkness. The same holds true of the inner eye when it converts the light of revelation into a blinding and misleading light. This was the case with the Pharisees and scribes. They would have had God and a carnal Messiah,—they would serve the Lord and mammon.
As the organ of light, the eye of the body is, so to speak, our light; occupying, so far as we are concerned, the place of the sun, and in that respect representing the whole body, as if the whole body were an eye. This makes it also the organ and symbol of the inner eye, or of reason, by which the light of the spiritual sun is communicated to the inner life, and which, if healthy, converts the whole inner life into a capacity of spiritual perception. But just as when the external eye is not simple or double in its light, the outward light only serves to dazzle, so also in reference to the inner eye and the light of revelation. How great is that darkness! The history of pharisaical Judaism has amply corroborated the truth of this statement.
The inward eye is intended to be the eye of the heart. Eph_1:18. The state of the heart and the state of the eye influence each other. If the heart is set on heavenly treasures, the eye must be directed toward the light. Comp. the biblical psychology of Beck, and Delitzsch.
Mat_6:24. No man can serve two masters.—Double sight of the spiritual eye is both the cause and the consequence of duplicity in reference to the desires of the heart (Jam_1:8, ἀνὴρ δίψυχος). But the Pharisees, in their false spirituality, reduced it to a system, and deemed themselves capable of combining the service of Heaven with their earthly inclinations. The Lord dispels in the text this delusion. It is plain that no man can at the same time truly serve two masters. One of the two services must necessarily be merely outward, or, what is worse, one of the masters must be hated or despised,—because true service presupposes love and attachment. But why two examples? Meyer: “He will either hate the one and love the other, or else hold to the one and despise the other.” This commentator correctly reminds us that, as in other places, so here, μισεῖν and ἀγαπᾶν must have their full meaning, and not be interpreted by posthabere and prœferre, as de Wette and others propose. But then there must have been some special object for giving two instances. Perhaps the difference between them may lie in this, that the real master cannot be despised, but may be hated, since he must be respected, and it is impossible to get away from him. But if the real master is loved, the servant will hold to him and despise the usurper, who has no real claim, and from whose power it is possible and easy to withdraw. The application of this to spiritual life is plain. Man can have only one master, or only one highest good and principle of life. But if he choose the world as his highest good, and, along with the worship of the true God, attempt the service of an idol, he must decide for himself. First, however, let him clearly understand that he cannot at the same time serve two masters, and that, in attempting this double service, he can only be a traitor and a hypocrite.
And Mammon.—Probably mammon was originally not the name of a mythological deity, but was gradually imported into mythology from common life, in a manner similar to that in which the term is still employed. Bretschneider: “Μαμωνᾶς, Hebr. מָמוֹן, fortasse significant id, cui confiditur, ut Sept. אֱמיּנָה Isa_33:6, θησαυρούς, Psa_37:3, πλοῦτον reddiderunt, vel est, ut multi putant, nomen Idoli Syrorum et Pœnorum, i. q. Plutos Grœcorum.” Augustine remarks on this passage: “Congruit et punicum nomen, nam lucrum punice Mammon dicitur.” “Money, in opposition to God, is personified and regarded as an idol, somewhat like Plutus, although it cannot be shown that such an idol was worshipped.”—Olshausen.
Luther: To have money and property is not sinful, provided it become not thy master, but remain thy servant and thou its master.23
Mat_6:25. Take no thought.24—Connection. Anxiety, which is distrust of God, is the source of avarice. Accordingly, the following sins follow each other in regular genealogy: 1. Anxious care, distrust of God, commencement of apostasy; 2. avarice, and service of mammon, along with spurious and merely external service of God; 3. hypocrisy, and further development of external service into religious parade before men.—Again, anxious care itself springs from evil inclination and vanity, from worldliness (What shall we eat, etc.?),—which marks the beginning of apostasy from God. The word μεριμνᾷν, to take thought, denotes not merely “anxious care” (de Wette), which would be a tautology, but inordinate or solicitous concern or grief beyond our immediate wants, calling, or daily occupation; hence it is in reality to weaken one’s hands in prospect of the work before us, or the direct opposite of carefulness. From its nature, care extends εἰς τὴν αὔριον, Mat_6:34.—By its solicitude the heart becomes divided, which is hinted in the word μεριμνᾷν (Tholuck).—Τῇψυχῇ, in reference to the soul as the principle of physical life.—Is not the life more?—He who has given the greater will also give the less.—Solicitude is entirely at fault; Christ teaches us to reason,—God gave me life, which is the greater; therefore also, etc.
Mat_6:26. The fowls of the air [literally: the sky or heaven].—עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, which fly along the heavens,—i. e., appear separated from earth and its provisions, and yet fly so cheerily; like the lily, שׁוּשָׁן, which in its splendid apparel stands in the midst of a desolate and dusty plain.
Mat_6:27. Age [Com. Version: Stature], ἡλικία.—There are two interpretations of this term: First, nature of the body; Vulgate, Chrysostom, Luther [our authorized version, also Fritzsche, Conant]. Secondly, duration of life, age; Hammond, Wolf, Olshausen, Ewald, Meyer [de Wette, Tholuck, Stier, Alford, J. A. Alexander, Dav. Brown]. Both translations are warranted by the use of the language, but the context is decidedly in favor of “duration of life.” For, 1. our Lord refers to the preservation or the prolonging of life: 2. the adding of a cubit to the stature were not something very inconsiderable, as is implied in the text.25—A cubit (2 spans), a figurative expression, denoting that the duration of life has its fixed measure. Similarly also the provision for our life is fixed.
Mat_6:28. Consider the lilies, κατα μάθε τετὰκρίνα.
Very significant, as much as: learn to understand, study the symbolical language of the lilies.
Mat_6:29. In all his glory, δόξα, which may either mean his royal pomp, or the pomp of his royal army. The word περιεβάλετο, which follows, is in favor of the first of these explanations. Solomon was to the Jewish mind the highest representative of human glory (2Ch_9:15).
Mat_6:30. The grass of the field, or every kind of herb,—among them the lilies, which adorn and are cut down with them. Dried grass and the stalks of flowers were used for heating ovens. “A number of beautiful flowers grow wild on the fields and meadows of the Promised Land,—among them the splendid purple or bright yellow lily, of which the stem is three feet high, and of a dark red color, the flower forming a crown which is surmounted by a tuft of leaves. Son_4:5; Son_6:2; 1Ki_7:19. In Palestine, the grass withers in the course of two days under a strong east wind; when it is only fit for hay or fuel.” Gerlach. (Comp. Heubner, p. 90, on extravagance in dress and avarice.)
Mat_6:32. After all these things do the Gentiles seek.—Such is the essential feature of heathenism; and this worldliness led to their apostasy, polytheism, and idolatry. It deserves notice, that Christ here refers for the third time to the Gentiles, since the Pharisees made it their special boast that they were free from all heathen contamination. But the very extreme of their traditionalism led them into heathen views and practices.
Mat_6:33. Seek ye first.—Meyer: “Πρῶτον, first, before ye seek anything else; your first seeking. There is no room then for any other seeking, as their eating, drinking, etc., προστεθήσεται. Not seeing this inference, a few authorities have omitted the word πρῶτον, as in Luk_12:31. De Wette is mistaken in supposing that πρῶτον at least ‘indirectly’ implies the lawfulness of subordinately seeking other things. All other seeking, whether the πρῶτον be retained or not, is excluded by Mat_6:32 (πάντα γ. ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνη ἐπιζητ.) and by καὶ—προστεθήσεται.”—But in this case the word πρῶτον must mean not merely first in order of time, but refers to the principle which actuates us in seeking, on which our earnestness in our temporal calling, and the blessing upon that calling, depend. This principle of ever setting before us, even in temporal matters, the grand spiritual object, leads onward and upward, until that which is secondary and subordinate is wholly swallowed up in that which is spiritual.—The difference between the simple ζητεῖτε and its compound ἐπιζητοῦσιν deserves mention. The former refers to a seeking which in itself is healthy; the other, to that which is unhealthy and excessive.
The kingdom of God, and His righteousness.—The kingdom of heaven is here called that of God, because the former verses refer to God as the highest good. To seek the kingdom of God, is to seek those blessings which are expressed in the Lord’s Prayer, and of which the corresponding righteousness is delineated in the Sermon on the Mount.
Mat_6:34. The morrow, ἡ αὔριον, is personified. Every day brings its own evil—κακία, ταλαιπωρία, κακότης—from an evil world, but also its own help and deliverance from our heavenly Father.26
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The real nature of false spirituality appears in the dualism to which it leads, in the attempt violently to sever between God and the world; and in the false worldliness which it cherishes, in order to make up for this deficiency. Hence, fanum and profanum—holiday and work-day; priest and layman; cloister and the world; spiritual and temporal care; spiritual and temporal power (the two swords, as they are called); spiritual and temporal gain; spiritual and temporal possessions; spiritual and temporal enjoyment (Carnival and Lent). Or rather, more correctly, it is not spiritual and temporal, but temporal and spiritual.
True Christianity, on the other hand, combines spiritual with temporal life, by viewing the world itself as the symbol of God, and by sanctifying everything in it for the service of the Holy One.
2. Moths, consumption, and thieves corrupt the possessions and the enjoyments of the world, if we regard the world as our lasting habitation. See in this respect the whole Book of Ecclesiastes, or the Preaching of Solomon.
3. Science, natural philosophy, and even the highest poetry, have only recognized at a comparatively late period the sun-like nature of the eye, while here it is painted as with a sunbeam. To each of us, the eye is his sun, provided it be calm and single. Thus our vision depends on two conditions,—the outward sun in the heavens, and the inward sun of the mind. And thus the outward eye is at the same time a symbol and a medium of the inward eye, or of intelligence, the νοῦς. Our intelligence serves as the organ of the sun of revelation, and becomes light, if it reflect not merely our own finite understanding, but our higher reason, and transmit divine revelation to the inmost soul. Otherwise the light itself becomes darkness. And such night is the most dense,—more so than ordinary night, which is only black, implying the absence of light, or ignorance. Less guilt attaches itself to this than to the grey of mist—the interruption of light by folly or prejudice. But worst of all is that splendor of false light, when the light of revelation is perverted by the worldly mind into error, and truth itself converted into a lie.
4. Christ unmasks the worldliness which hides under the garb of false spirituality, and traces it to its ultimate source: hypocrisy, avarice, solicitude, and worldly lust. He next invokes, against this spirit of solicitude in its spiritual garb, the testimony of the Spirit of God in nature, which the Pharisees, in their ultra-piety, had overlooked. Throughout, nature discloses its symbols to the Lord; and they all serve as symbols for the faithfulness of God and the trustfulness of man.
5. Christ Himself first sought the kingdom of God and His righteousness, in the fullest and most perfect sense; and everything else has been added to Him, Isaiah 53. So shall it also be with His people (Romans 8).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
How false spirituality always has its root in worldliness: 1. Its source is secretly cherished worldliness; 2. it is essentially a manifestation of the carnal mind, and hence worldliness (Col_2:18); 3. it seeks in vain to conceal the worldliness which it everywhere betrays. Or, 1. Proof from the nature of the thing; 2. from history; 3. from experience of the twofold temptations with which every Christian is familiar.—Temporal possessions: 1. What they are in themselves; 2. what they become by faith; 3. what they become to the carnal mind.—“Treasures upon earth.” A contradiction, when viewed in connection with our never-dying souls: 1. As being outward treasures; 2. as being transient; 3. as liable to loss.—Treasures upon earth,—so unsubstantial, and yet so dangerous: 1. Because they are spoiled by moths, consumption, and thieves; 2. because they bring moths, consumption, and thieves into the heart.—The worm of death in its threefold ravages: 1. In inanimate nature; 2. in physical life; 3. in human society, or in the moral world.—A thief, or a deceiver, the moth and consumption of the moral order of things.—The treasures in heaven.—The treasures in heaven, in their unchangeable character: 1. They cannot be corrupted from within; 2. they cannot be consumed from without; 3. they cannot be taken away from beneath.—The treasures of earth and the treasures of heaven.—Gathering in appearance and gathering in reality.—False gathering is a casting away, under the appearance of gain.—Real gathering is gain, under the appearance of loss.—True and false gain.—Wondrous character of the possessions of heaven: 1. They are hidden, yet manifest; 2. infinitely far, yet infinitely near; 3. one treasure, yet innumerable treasures.—Only in connection with heaven can we again acquire earth as God’s earth.—“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 1. The truth of this saying (the heart ever lives in its highest good). 2. Inferences from this saying: (a) As the treasure is, such shall the heart become: the heart will become heavenly or earthly according as its treasure is; (b) strictly speaking, our heart cannot become earthly,—it rather becomes devilish, a prey to the passions of hell; (c) our heart is of heavenly origin, and cannot find rest or satisfaction in earthly possessions.—“The eye is the light of the body:” 1. The truth; 2. the symbol.—The body in its relation to the mind: 1. It is an instrument of the mind, by which man is to serve and glorify God; 2. a symbol of the mind, by which God admonishes man.—The eye and the light, in their physical and spiritual import: 1. The eye is also of the light, and shares the nature of light; 2. the eye itself becomes light by receiving light; 3. the eye gives light to the whole body.—The eye and the sun: 1. The eye is sun-like; 2. the sun is the eye of heaven; 3. the eye and the sun combined give light to the body.—A single eye and an evil eye, in their respective bearing on the inner life: 1. The eye, if single, has an undivided, and hence true vision; it beholds what is right, because it rightly beholds. 2. The eye that is evil is an ignis fatuus: its vision is divided, and hence false; it beholds what is false, because it falsely beholds.—The difference between a diseased eye and an evil eye, or him who is really blind and him who is blinded.—Not the blind, but the blinded, fall: for, 1. in their carelessness, they do not see; 2. in their excitement, they do not behold the principal object; 3. in their confusion, they see everything in a dim and disordered manner.—The inward eye and its object: 1. Its nature: to perceive that which is eternal. 2. Its light: the revelation of God in its widest sense. 3. Its giving of light: truthful application of the light which it has received.—An evil eye in our hearts, or perverted reason, may turn even the light of revelation into darkness.—The most dense darkness is that which the hypocrite makes to himself from the light of revelation.—The threefold night: 1. The blackness of night: want of light, ignorance. 2. The grey of mist: obstruction of light, prejudice. 3. The blinding light,27 or abuse and perversion of light, superstition and hypocrisy.—An evil heart changing the inward light into darkness: 1. By its spiritual pride; 2. by its carnal security; 3. by its treating the flesh as if it were spirit, and perverting the spirit into flesh.—“How great is that darkness!” 1. When the inner eye is not only blind, but blinded; 2. when the inner light is not only obscured, but misleads; 3. when the day of salvation is changed into the night of destruction.—“No man can serve two masters:” 1. The truth of this statement; 2. its import and weight.—Earthly possessions as mammon.—Mammon the greatest of all idols: 1. The idol of all times; 2. the idol of all nations; 3. the idol of all unconverted hearts; 4. the origin of all idolatry; 5. the first and the last among all the hidden idols of God’s people, both under the Old and the New Testament.—The service of mammon converts the service of God into a lie.—True service of God excludes the service of mammon.—It is impossible to disown the service of our Lord and Master, by serving Him unfaithfully: we may hate, but we cannot cast off His authority.—If we despise him who falsely claims mastery over us, we shall soon be free from his service.—Solicitude is the mother of avarice.—Anxious care the certain consequence of worldly lust.—“Take no [serious or anxious] thought:” 1. Neither for your life (your maintenance); 2. nor for your body (your attire); 3. nor for what may befall you (for to-morrow).—Spiritual reasoning calculated to extinguish our solicitude. 1. God has already given us the greatest and best gift: (a) The life of the body is more than its nourishment; (b) the life of the mind is more noble than that of its instrument, the body; (c) the life of life, or the divine life, is the highest gain. 2. God will also give us all other things in addition: nourishment for the body; preservation of the body, and spiritual sustenance for the life which is from Him.—The birds of the air and the lilies of the field, preachers of trustfulness.—The difference between solicitude and lawful providence.—What solicitude cannot achieve and what it can achieve: 1. What it cannot achieve: (a) It cannot pray; (b) it cannot work; (c) it cannot create anything; (d) it cannot alter anything. 2. What it can achieve: (a) Conceal heaven from our view; (b) spoil earth; (c) open hell.—Solicitude the main principle of heathenism. It springs, 1. from the ignorance of the heathen, who know not the living God; 2. from their deifying the things of the world.—“Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”—God will not only nourish, but also adorn us.—How strange, if the little bird were to attempt sewing, or the lily spinning?—What solicitude loses, and what it gains: 1. It loses, (a) the present moment; (b) to-day; (c) all eternity. 2. It gains, (a) foolish projects; (b) anxious dreams; (c) a terrible awakening.—Christianity the source of highest order: 1. It restores proper order in our affections and desires; 2. it sets objects before us in their proper order; 3. it sets our daily work in order; 4. it sets time and eternity in their proper order.—Solicitude, as indicating a divided heart, is closely connected with the eye that is evil, and with the attempt to serve two masters.—Carefulness and freedom from care.—Solicitude and everlasting negligence.—Solicitude a sinful distrust: 1. Of God; 2. of our neighbor; 3. of ourselves.—We need not be concerned for what is least, since we may obtain what is highest.—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” How do we learn it? 1. From the succession of things (Lord’s day first, then work-day; prayer first, then work);28 2. mainly from our wants; 3. in a unique manner, when we surrender ourselves to God.—Our earthly calling is included in our heavenly calling.—He who prays well, will also work well.—All the wants of the children of God are supplied.—Nourishment and raiment are supplied without money in the kingdom of God.—Do not allow thoughts of the morrow to interfere with the duties of to-day: 1. Let them not distract you; 2. not tempt you; 3. not terrify you.—Wait each day upon God for to-day.—Let to-day’s duty engross to-day’s attention.—Preparation for to-morrow forms part of the duty of to-day.—Every day brings’ its burden from beneath, but also its help from above.
Starke:—Parallel passages: Mat_19:21; Heb_11:26; Heb_13:5; 1Ti_6:9-17; Jam_5:3; Psa_62:10.—We ought not to gather treasures from distrust of God’s providence, nor from a desire to become rich; but to save, in the fear of God, to gather the crumbs , to make provision for our children, 2Co_12:14, is not displeasing to God.—Hedinger: What does it profit a man though he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mat_16:26; Php_3:7-8; Php_3:19-20; Col_3:1-2.—Not to have treasures, but yet to desire them is also sinful, 1Ti_6:9; Psa_49:17.—This warning applies also to the poor; for a beggar may set his heart as much upon one crown-piece as a rich man upon thousands, Luk_12:19; Sir_11:17-19; Tob_4:7-9.—The heart, which is created only for God and for eternity, is dishonored and degraded if we set it on things which perish, and, so to speak, convert it into a moth, Jam_5:1-2.—Quesnel: Avarice, 1Ti_6:9.—God has given man earthly possessions for use, 1Co_7:31 : he who is unwilling to employ them for that object, will frequently experience that they may either be taken from him, or disappear in his hands, Psa_39:6.—If we forsake our earthly possessions for the sake of Christ, we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, Mat_19:29. The best of all riches is the kingdom of God in the soul, Luk_17:21.—If we frequently contemplate the reality, the continuance, and the excellency of heavenly treasures, our minds will not be engrossed with transient and contemptible things, Col_3:1-2; Psa_73:25.—The heavenly treasures, which are entrusted to God’s keeping, are best kept, Luk_12:21; Gal_6:9.—Passing possessions become everlasting, if they are employed for the glory of God, and in almsgiving. In this kind of exchange we cannot be losers, Pro_11:4; Psa_41:1-2.—For where your treasure is, Php_3:20; Col_3:1-2.—What we love and esteem is always in our mind.—He whose every desire is in heaven, seeks nothing upon earth.—Majus:—Totum mundum debet contemnere, qui sibi thesaurizat in cœlo; Augustine, Psa_73:25. Everything depends upon the heart, Isa_26:8-9; Mat_12:35; Psa_7:10.—Be careful that your heart be single, sincere, and honest, or else all is lost.—Say not, in your carnal confidence, I have a good heart, Jer_17:9; rather pray, Search me, O God, and try my heart, Psa_139:23-24.—Remain Thou, O God, in my heart, and let my heart remain in Thee; since it is created only for Thee, and Thou alone deservest it, Psa_132:13-14.—The light of the body is the eye. There is nothing more single than the eye of faith; follow that light, and you are safe.—The eyes are the road into the heart.—Hedinger, 1Co_13:1.—The way of the righteous is a way of light, but that of sinners is only darkness. Cramer, Pro_14:8.—The service of mammon, Hab_2:9.—Much here depends on the little word serve.—Whoso seeks heaven in the world, acts contrary even to nature and sound reason, 1Ki_18:21; 2Co_6:14-15.—The service of mammon an abominable bondage. Majus.—A covetous person renounces God, for covetousness is idolatry, Eph_5:5; Col_3:5.—Not cared, well cared for, 1Pe_5:7.—All nature and every creature is like a ladder by which we may ascend to our heavenly Father.—The birds of the air are only the creatures of God, yet they are nourished. How much more shall we be provided for, who are not only His creatures, but called to be His children! Isa_63:16; Psa_103:13.—If we would only consider our high origin, we should trust more to infinite goodness and wisdom, Isa_44:2; Sir_11:23.—Just as solicitude is the punishment of unbelief, so much complaining is the fruit of unbelief.—Christians must differ from the heathen not only in respect of their faith, but also of their use of earthly things.—All the requirements of this life are added along with the one great possession of the kingdom of heaven.—Anxiety for the kingdom of God makes rich, since it bestows God Himself and all His blessings, Psa_84:12; Psa_73:25.—The future belongs to God alone.
Gossner:
Mat_6:21. What man loves attracts his heart like the magnet the iron. If your treasure is in the earth, your heart is in the earth also; if your treasure is in God and in heaven, your heart is in God and in heaven. Braune:—Every man has a master. Being freed from the service of sin, we become servants of righteousness.
Lisco:—Only one direction of the heart is right; to seek earthly things betrays inward defilement.—To serve, means to dedicate all that we are and have to another; in this sense we ought to serve God alone.—Prayer and labor.—Solicitude is foolish, being useless.
Gerlach:—Our minds and hearts must be fully directed toward God, so that everything else may be subordinate.—“Lord, Thou hast created us in Thine image, and our heart is without rest till it finds rest in Thee.” (Augustine.)—In this and the following passage, care means anxious and distracting solicitude; not that carefulness which our calling demands (Php_4:6; 1Pe_5:7; Heb_13:5).—Psa_104:27; Psa_145:15. The circumstance, that many birds and other animals die of cold and hunger, does not affect the argument, since this is not the consequence of their want of solicitude.
Heubner:—If the heart and inclinations are at fault, the whole life shall be at fault.—But if the will is directed toward that which is good, everything will bear reference to that one grand object: there will be harmony and light within and without; man will understand his wants, and where they may be satisfied.—God demands our whole heart.—The service of the world is slavery and idolatry, that of Christ, liberty.—The tendency of materialism toward heathenism.—Difference between the absence of solicitude in a Christian and in a worldly man: 1. In the former, it springs from earnestness for the great concern; 2. in the latter, from thoughtlessness.—What is the right state so far as care is concerned: 1. Not to place what is heavenly on the same level with what is earthly ( Mat_6:24); 2. not to assign the first place to what is earthly ( Mat_6:25-32); but 3. to assign the first place to what is heavenly ( Mat_6:33-34).—Wretched folly of earthly cares.—The great care of the Christian.—The decisive question: The world or Christ?—How Jesus leads to true freedom from care.29
Sermons on the pericope, Mat_6:24-34, by Schleiermacher, Erdmann, Liebner, Reinhard, Dräseke, Steinmeyer, and Claus Harms.
Footnotes:
[20] Mat_6:21.—Recepta: ὑμῶν. [Lachmann, Tischendorf, Fritzsche, Meyer, and Alford give the preference to σου, thy treasure.—P. S.]
[21] Mat_6:25.—Lachmann ἤ, following Cod. B., etc., ἢ τί πιητε. The addition is omitted by the later authorities and Tischendorf.
[22] Mat_6:23.—[Cod. B.: τ. δικαιοσύνην κ. τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ.]
[23][The same idea is expressed by St. Jerome in loc.: “Non dixit (Dominus), qui habet divitias, sed qui servit divitiis; qui divitiarum servus est custodit ut servus; qui servitutis excussit jugum, distribuit eas ut dominus.”—P. S.]
[24][Μὴ μεριμνᾶτε: Take not thought, be not concerned about, care not for, be not solicitous, be not distracted (from μερίζω). English interpreters generally take the word thought of the Com. E. Vers. in the old English sense for solicitude, anxious care (Bacon and Shakspeare; e. g., “Queen Catharine Parr died of thought”). Hence Campbell and others translate: “Be not anxious,” laying the stress wholly on the excess of care or solicitude. Jos. Addis. Alexander, ad Mat_6:25 : “The idea of excess is here essential, so that ordinary thought or care is not excluded.” Alford: “The E. V., ‘Take no thought.’ does not express the sense, but gives rather an exaggeration of the command, and thus makes it unreal and nugatory. In Luk_12:29 we have μὴ μετεωρ ζεσθε.” But the prohibition has reference rather to the future (comp. Mat_6:34 : “Take no thought for the morrow”), and to all that exceeds our actual wants, as expressed in the petition: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Meyer says: “Care is here generally understood emphatically of anxious care (which the word does not mean even in Sir_34:1), but this is an arbitrary assumption. Jesus prohibits to his disciples all concern about eating, drinking, etc. (das Besorgtsein überhaupt).” Yet some limitation is obviously suggested by Mat_6:34, as already remarked, and required by the nature of the case as well as the consistency of Scripture teaching, which plainly enjoins forethought and proper care in temporal things, and condemns only that care which springs from unbelieving doubt and distrust in Providence; comp. 1Ti_5:8; 2Th_3:10; Joh_12:6; Joh_13:29.—P. S.]
[25][The only objection to the version age, is that cubit is a measure of space, and not of time. But this objection is easily removed if we remember the frequent representation of human life as a journey, and the familiar phrase: length of life. “Lebenslänge.” Comp. Psa_39:5; 2Ti_4:7, etc. Meyer: “Die von Gott geordnete Lebensdauer wird im Bilde eines bestimmten Längenmaasses, gedacht.” The primary meaning of ἡλικία is age and corresponds better with the parallel passage. Luk_12:26 : “If ye then be not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?” For to add a cubit, i. e., eighteen inches or a foot and a half, to man’s stature would be doing something very great.—P. S.]
[26][Dr. Dav. Brown, in loc.: “Sufficient unto the day is the exil thereof. An admirable practical maxim, and better rendered in our version than in almost any other, not excepting the preceding English ones. Every day brings its own cares; and to anticipate is only to double them.” Dr. Wordsworth, in loc.: “This adage is found in the Talmud Berachot, fol. 9, 2. Verst, De Adag. N. T., p. 806. Here it may be observed, that our Lord adopts and spiritualizes several proverbial sayings in succession, which were known to the Jews. In the same manner as in the Lord’s Prayer He adopted and spiritualized petitions from the Jewish Liturgy. He thus exemplified His own precept concerning new wins and new bottles (Mat_9:16-17), and on bringing out of the storehouse things new and old (Mat_13:52). In all those cases He animates the old letter with the new Spirit of His own.”—P. S.]
[27][Dr. Lange calls the three nights: black night, gray night, and white night, or Lichtmangel, Lichthemmung Lichtzersetzung.—P. S.]
[28][Remember the familiar adage: “Ora et labora;” “Bete und arbeite.”—P. S.]
[29][Wordsworth: “Our Lord does not forbid provident forethought (comp. 1Ti_5:8), as was imagined by the Euchites (‘qui volebant semper εὺ́χεσθαι et nunquam laborare’), against whom St. Augustine wrote his book: ‘De opere monachorum.’ But He forbids anxious, restless, and distrustful solicitude about earthly things, and this He does by seven considerations: 1. The care which God shows for our life and bodies; 2. for the inferior creatures which exist for our sake; 3. because all our care is vain without God; 4. from a consideration of the flowers and grass which God clothes and adorns; 5. because such solicitude is unchristian and heathenish; 6. because God adds everything necessary to them who seek first His kingdom; 7. because sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Comp. Php_4:6; 1Pe_5:7.”—P. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–25 Moreover, when ye fast--referring, probably, to private and voluntary…
Moreover, when ye fast--referring, probably, to private and voluntary fasting, which was to be regulated by each individual for himself; though in spirit it would apply to any fast.
be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces--literally, "make unseen"; very well rendered "disfigure." They went about with a slovenly appearance, and ashes sprinkled on their head.
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that they may appear unto men to fast--It was not the deed, but reputation for the deed which they sought; and with this view those hypocrites multiplied their fasts. And are the exhausting fasts of the Church of Rome, and of Romanizing Protestants, free from this taint?
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 c. Sincerity in fasting.
c. Sincerity in fasting.
16. Moreover — Be not only thus sincere in alms and prayer, but also in fasting. Put on no grim airs to attract attention, but fast unto God.
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Of a sad countenance — Solemn thought naturally indeed produces a solemn expression of countenance. Penitence may produce tears. And all this is right, provided the external expression is produced by the internal feeling before God. Nay, one may put on sackcloth and ashes, or use other means to bring his feelings to the right state. But to assume expressions, or put on forms, for the purpose of a show where the reality is not within, is simply hypocrisy. Forms, indeed, are often in a degree deserted by the feeling they express; and yet they are well retained to keep us in that way by which the feeling may be made to return, so that the form may become reanimated by the power. But when the form has banished the power, and become a substitute for it and a mere show of it, the hypocrisy has fairly commenced.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (c) Fasting, 16–18.
(c) Fasting, 16–18.
16. Fasting, in itself a natural result of grief, as anyone who has witnessed deep sorrow knows, easily degenerates into a form without reality.
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disfigure] Either (1) make unseen, “veil,” or (2) cause to disappear, so “destroy,” “mar,” by leaving the face unwashen. The same word is translated “corrupt,” Mat_6:19.
The apparent play upon the Greek words for “disfigure” and “appear” has been adduced in support of their view by those who consider Greek to have been the original language of the gospel.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (16) When ye fast.—Fasting had risen under the teaching…
(16) When ye fast.—Fasting had risen under the teaching of the Pharisees into a new prominence. Under the Law there had been but the one great fast of the Day of Atonement, on which men were “to afflict their souls” (Lev_23:27; Num_29:7) and practice had interpreted that phrase as meaning total abstinence from food. Other fasts were occasional, in times of distress or penitence, as in Joe_1:14; Joe_2:15; or as part of a policy affecting to be religious zeal (1Ki_21:9; 1Ki_21:12); or as the expression of personal sorrow (1Sa_20:34; 2Sa_12:16; Ezr_10:6; Neh_1:4; et al.). These were observed with an ostentatious show of affliction which called forth the indignant sarcasm of the prophets (Isa_58:5). The “sackcloth” took the place of the usual raiment, “ashes” on the head, of the usual unguents (Neh_9:1; Psa_35:13). The tradition of the Pharisees starting from the true principle that fasting was one way of attaining self-control, and that as a discipline it was effectual in proportion as it was systematic, fixed on the fasts “twice in the week,” specified in the prayer of the Pharisee (Luk_18:12); and the second and fifth days of the week were fixed, and connected with some vague idea that Moses went up Mount Sinai on the one, and descended on the other. Our Lord, we may note, does not blame the principle, or even the rule, on which the Pharisees acted. He recognises fasting, as He recognises almsgiving and prayer, and is content to warn His disciples against the ostentation that vitiates all three, the secret self-satisfaction under the mask of contrition, the “pride that apes humility.” The very words, “when thou fastest” contain an implied command.
Of a sad countenance.—Strictly, of sullen look, the moroseness of affected austerity rather than of real sorrow.
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They disfigure their faces.—The verb is the same as that translated “corrupt” in Mat_6:19. Here it points to the unwashed face and the untrimmed hair. possibly to the ashes sprinkled on both, that men might know and admire the rigorous asceticism.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 Vers. 16-18. Matthew only.
Vers. 16-18. Matthew only.
Fasting. The third in the series of recognized religious duties (ver. 1, note). (On the prominence given to fasting, see "Psalms of Solomon," 3:9, with Ryle"s and James"s note, and Schurer, II 2:118; cf. Mat_9:14) Observe
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(1) Christ does not abolish it, but regulates it;
(2) yet fasting is mentioned much less often in the true text of the New Testament than in that which, developed contemporaneously with ecclesiasticism, became the Received Text. Be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance. The Revised Version, by inserting a comma between "not" and "as," shows that the true emphasis of the warning lies, not on resemblance to the hypocrites themselves, but on being of a sad countenance, as in fact also the hypocrites were. The hypocrites (ver. 2, note; cf. also "Didache," "But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites," where, however, the thought is rather of hypocrites as representing the Pharisaic, the typically Jewish party). The early Jewish Christians are bidden in the "Didache" to avoid the fasting-days chosen by the Jews. Be not. Our Lord does not forbid even this sad countenance if it be, so to speak, natural; but do not, because you fast, therefore purposely become so (mh ginesye), i.e. in sign of your supposed sorrow for sin (cf. Ecc 19:26). Of a sad countenance (skuyrwpoi); gloomy, especially-in knitting the brows. In Dan_1:10 (Thee-dotion) used of merely physically bad looks (cf. "Test. XII Patr.," of the look of a man whose liver is out of order). In the New Testament elsewhere only Luk_24:17, "And they stood still, looking sad," Revised Version. (cf. Gen_40:7; Ecc 25:23) For they disfigure. The play on the words (afanizousin ... opwv fanwsin , hardly to be reproduced in English," They disfigure... that they may figure before men as fasting") points to the "Gospel having been originally composed in Greek (see Introduction, p. 13.). It is curious that afanizw comes elsewhere in Matthew only in vers. 19, 20, while in the whole of the New Testament it only comes twice besides: Act_13:41 (from the LXX) and Jam_4:14. (afanismov , Heb_8:13) As ver. 19 is peculiar to Matthew, and ver. 20 is a corollary to it though in part found also in Luk_12:33, the whole passage vers. 16-20 is probably either due to the author of the First Gospel or else derived by him from some one source. In this connexion it may be noticed that krufaiov comes in the New Testament only in ver. 18 (twice). Physical disfigurement, common in many nations as a sign of grief, such as tearing or marking the flesh, is not to be thought of, since this was forbidden. (Lev_19:28 Deu_14:1) Afanizein , too, has no such connotation, but rather hiding out of sight, hence causing to vanish, destroy (ver. 19); here, in the sense of giving a strange, unpleasant appearance, e.g. by ashes, or by not washing, or even by covering part of the face or the head. (cf. Eze_24:17 2Sa_15:30 Est_6:12) That they may appear unto men to fast; Revised Version, that they may be seen, etc.; i.e. not the mere appearance, as though there were appearance only, but the being seen as fasting conspicuousness, not mere semblance. Hence nhsteuontev is expressed (contrast ver. 5), since while in ver. 5 not the praying but the piety that induced it is to be made apparent, here it is the very fact itself of fasting, which, except for these external signs, might escape human notice. They have (ver. 2, note).
Vers. 16-18. The manner of fasting.
As, of the three specific admonitions regarding our personal religious exercises, the first on "the manner of almsgiving," and the second on the manner of praying," have had their gracious treatment; so now the third follows, on the manner of fasting. " We have not here any express injunction to fast, nor had we any to give alms or to pray. In each case the prefatory words are in the same form, "when thou doest thine alms;" "when thou prayest;" and now, "when ye fast." However, not only is there not one disparaging word uttered at the expense of fasting, but directions are given for the right observance of it; and, above all, it is to be noted that it is ranked with the two ever undisputed duties and virtues of the Christian life, viz. charitableness and prayer.
I THE OSTENTATION OF SANCTITY IS STRUCK AT. No two things could less agree, no two extremes less conceivably for one moment meet.
1. The very origin and reason of fasting disallow display; for its design is to search out and reckon with certain discreditable, subtle tendencies and temptations to sin, ever too actively working in the body, and through the lower appetites of our nature, and unfailingly warring against the soul hindrances to religious life, the poison of devotion. Of the genuine, solemn attempt to sap the strength of such enemies within as these, who could dare to take opportunity to make parade? And if the solemnity of that attempt be nothing but an occasion of seeking the praise of men, and itself an "art of deceit," what can measure the guilt of the vanity of that "hypocrite"? The spiritual vanity, and yet more the spiritual pride, that sows itself in the spare soil of fasting, only then good if spare, is too sure, by the surest Nemesis, to grow a crop, briar, bramble, thistle, malignant in their fertility.
2. The meagre littleness of human sanctity, at its best, disallows display under any conditions. Nothing so certainly proves to demonstration that littleness as any proffer of ostentation on the part of it. Sanctity can only grow in the prevailing sense and overshadowing conviction of that Divine holiness from which exclusively it comes, and by the side of which it is meantime ever reduced to a drop in the ocean. "Fasting," said one of old, "should show you, but not you your fasting." And again, "Christ says not, "Be not sad," but "Make not yourselves sad of countenance. And, once more, "If he who fasts, and makes himself of a sad countenance, is a hypocrite, how much worse he who does not fast, yet assumes a fictitious sadness of face as a token of fasting!
II THE NATURAL METHODS, OF HONEST MOTIVE AND OF DEEP RELIGIOUS DESIRE, HELD UP FOR IMITATION. The unconsciousness of daily habit is recommended by Christ for the outward appearance of the man most deeply convinced of the need of strenuous measures to cope with spiritual danger within. The sable garb and habit may well be left unstudied, unaffected, unput on, because of the sabler penitential habit of the heart. No "artifice of deceit" is anything but out of place and out of season, except it be that most skilled artifice of all, to make the least show of self, and over self"s own sacreder self to throw the concealing veil of voluntary retiringness. The man who fasts as a Christian and for Christian purpose is not to proclaim it by word or by sign, nor is he to proclaim it at all. If in the light of his life it proclaims itself by his own light, he is then free from the responsibility of the disclosure, and it will be found that he is the very last to know of that disclosure.
III THE EVER-OBSERVING EYE, WHICH MEN MAY RIGHTLY OBSERVE. Having guarded against all possible variety of danger that may arise from men"s notice, or our own supposition of it, consciousness of it, or craving for it, our one legitimate desire and "contrivance" in the matter should be that nothing divert, distract, or disturb the singleness of eye that should feed its gaze on God himself secret from the world, accepting and receiving us secret from the world. Where singleness of eye and simplicity of heart and transparency of motive are so indistinguishable from one another, one look aside from God, one moment relish for human praise, one listening for report of self, will dispel the holiness, and the holy fruit of any spiritual exercise. It is to the eye that is as unseen as it sees, as kind as it is searching, as searching as it is all-seeing and everywhere seeing, that the one safe appeal of our eye is to be directed, for guidance here, for encouraging approval here, and for its final unerring award. B.
Vers. 16-18. Fasting.
This is nowhere in the gospel enjoined as a duty. It is, like the profession of the Nazarite, left to individual freedom. The service of freedom is the service of love. (cf. Luk_2:37 Act_10:30 Act_13:3) The spirit of the fast is in the heart. (cf. Psa_35:13 Isa_58:5-7) The usefulness of fasting is recognized in the directions here given as to the manner of its use. It is useful as a means to dispose us to the fulfilment of duties enjoined. Note
I THAT THE PIETY OF OSTENTATION IS SPURIOUS,
1. It is an inversion of the highest propriety.
(1) For it prefers human to Divine applause. However indebted we may be to our fellows, we are infinitely indebted to God. For life. For health. For all things.
(2) To seek the praise of men rather than the praise of God is the superlative of impudence and folly.
(3) It is supreme ingratitude to take all from God and give him no thanks.
2. It is shameful hypocrisy.
(1) Fasting is an expression of humiliation and mourning. (cf. Psa_35:13 Isa_58:5-7) The disfigured face was produced by ashes and earth, with disordered hair and austere and doleful looks. (see 1Ki_20:38) Under such disguises the Pharisee concealed proud and contemptuous thoughts and a callous heart.
(2) The falsehood is aggravated by its affectation of religion. The Pharisee seeks the praise of men on account of a religion towards God which he does not possess, else he would rather seek the praise of God. The cheat is played off upon God.
3. This is fearfully demoralizing.
(1) The habit of falsehood becomes the character of falsehood. The devil is the original liar. He is here the model in his most odious character of the angel of light.
(2) We seek to resemble those with whom we would ingratiate ourselves. Imitation is the sincerest praise. We cannot rise higher than our standard. Men are our standard when we seek the praise of men.
(3) If our standard be below us, the result is degradation. Instead of growing into the "increase of God," the hypocrite is shrivelling into the degradation of a devil.
4. The piety is doubtful of our ostentatious mourning for the dead.
(1) If we believe the departed to be enjoying the exquisite bliss of Paradise, what reason have we to mourn? (cf. Joh_14:28) Is it not heathenish to mourn for the glorified?
(2) If we fear the departed are suffering the torments of perdition we may well mourn. But is it decent to publish this to the world in our clothes?
(3) If our mourning be simply that of natural affection, is it necessary to proclaim to the world that we have natural affection? Should we parade our grief? If the grief be not there, why, in deference to fashion, hang out the symbol of a lie?
(4) Ostentations mourning for the dead is often ruinously expensive to the poor.
II THAT GOD REWARDS AND PUNISHES MEN BY GIVING THEM THE DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS.
1. True men have praise of God.
(1) They seek this above all things.
(a) By the fasting of the mind from the delights of sin.
(b) By hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
(c) By trusting in the blood of Christ with a heart unto righteousness.
(d) By delighting in good works works of piety, works of benevolence.
(2) They have it:
(a) In the assurance of his favour. By the Spirit of adoption and regeneration.
(b) In the light and guidance of his grace.
(c) In triumph over death.
(d) In the "Well done!" of the judgment.
(e) In the rewards of immortality.
(3) The true man performs the duties of his spiritual fasting with cheerfulness. His face is "washed" in purity anointed" with benevolence. Rejoicing in the favour of God, he is dead alike to the praise and censure of men. (see Psa_69:10, Psa_69:13)
2. False men receive the praise of their fellows.
(1) They seek this in preference to the praise of God, and they get what they seek. But what do they get? Dishonesty. The hypocrite is dishonest in taking praise he has not deserved.
(2) From whom do they get this? From the simple, who cannot see through their knavery. Or from the sycophant, who does not object to be the accomplice of the knave.
(3) True men would reprove their wickedness after the example of Christ with the Pharisees of his time.
3. From God they have no praise.
(1) They do not seek his reward. To ensure this they must sacrifice sin and pride, which they are unwilling to do.
(2) In greed after the finite they miss the infinite. In greed after the evanescent they miss the enduring. They forfeit heaven.
(3) Moreover, they incur the anger of God. The perdition of hell is his retribution upon their insolence and folly. J.A.M.
The moral influence of fasting.
The three expressions of the religious life introduced here almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are not treated as duties which we are bound to fulfil, but as things to which we are inwardly impelled by the movements of that religious life. Fasting especially is a personal resolve rather than a prescribed duty helpful and useful, if a man thus voluntarily brings his body into self-restraint; a snare if, without a man"s will, it is done in order to gain merit. Religious fasting had long prevailed among the devout Jews. It had been perverted by ascetics on the one hand, and by Pharisees on the other. Because misused, our Lord dealt with it thus in the way of correction. He assumes that it is quite possible his disciples may desire to fast; he therefore deals with the proper spirit of fasting.
I FASTING IS AS ACT OF SELF-RESTRAINT. It belongs to the sphere of self-discipline. And that is strictly a personal and private matter. A man may help his brother by his example, showing the results of self-discipline. No man is called to show his brother the process of self-discipline; indeed, he must spoil the process if he attempts to show it. There is a growth of the plant which must go on in the soil and in the dark. You can never safely expose rootings. Our Lord teaches, that all moral discipline and bodily restraint which may be gathered up and represented by fasting belong to a man"s private life, and should not even be made publicly known by the man"s appearance. It is, indeed, a distinct failure of self-restraint to want to show others our self-restraint. "Else let us keep our fast within, Till Heaven and we are quite alone" Then let the grief, the shame, the sin, Before the mercy-seat be thrown. (Keble.)
II FASTING AS AN ACT OF HUMILIATION. Distinctly the design of fasting is to enfeeble appetite and to humiliate passions. It is noticed that appetites for self-indulgence are strong when the body is pampered with luxurious food. But it is no humiliation to show our humiliation, and get our restrainings praised. That does but change body-pride for heart-pride, which is more defiling. Note this danger: in fasting to restrain bodily appetite we may come to think that evil is in the body. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John A. Broadus 1886 · Public Domain On vv16, 19 Mat 6:16-18.
Mat 6:16-18.
Good Works Without Ostentation.
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III. Fasting
The third application of the general principle laid down in Mat 6:1 is to Fasting. Compare on Mat 6:2 and on Mat 6:5. The reference here is obviously not to general public fasts, but to voluntary individual fasting. This was common among the pious Jews, but the Pharisees had reduced it to a system (as formalists usually do with their religious observances), fasting "twice in the week." (Luk 18:12) The Talmud informs us that they chose the second and fifth days of the week, because of the tradition that Moses went up Mount Sinai on the fifth day, and came down on the second.
Mat 6:16. Be not, or more exactly,’ do not become,’ implying the assumption of such looks for the time. Of a sad countenance.[1] It had always been the custom among the Israelites, as among other Oriental nations, on occasions of severe personal or national affliction, to manifest their grief and humiliation by wearing sackcloth, putting ashes on the head and face, etc. (Compare on Mat 11:21) These the Pharisaic hypocrites appear to have adopted in their regular individual fasting, in order to make known the fact and gain credit for singular devoutness. The Talmud of Babylon says, "Whoever makes his face black (a common expression in the Jewish writers for fasting) on account of the law in this world, God will make his brightness to shine in the world to come." Verily I say unto you see, on "Mat 5:18". They have received, more literally, have in full, ’have all of.’ See on "Mat 6:2". Instead of they may appear, etc., (the more literal rendering), May be seen of men (Tyndale, Geneva), is preferred, because the former might suggest a mere appearance, which is not here intended. (So in Mat 6:18)
[1] See the same Greek term in Luk 24:17 (Rev. Text), and in the Septuagint of Gen 40:7, Dan 1:10.
Mat 6:17. The Saviour requires his disciple to dress on a day when he was fasting precisely as on other days. So far from ostentatiously a voluntary act of devotion, he should even purposely conceal it. But it is a gross misunderstanding to take this as an injunction to dissimulation. We cannot too often remind ourselves of the distinction between deception and concealment. Anoint thy head. This was an established custom among the Jews from an early period. (Rth 3:3; 2Sa 12:20; Psa 23:5, Psa 104:15, Psa 133:2; Ecc 9:8; Mat 26:7; Luk 7:46) When in great distress, they would omit this, as in 2Sa 14:2; Dan 10:8, and the Talmud enjoins a like course in connection with fasting. In one passage, however, we read of a man as "weeping at home, but when he went forth in public, he bathed, anointed, ate, and drank. But why did he not do it openly? God answered Although he himself did not manifest the thing, yet I will manifest it." But thou, the change our Lord so frequently makes from the plural to the singular (compare Mat 6:2, Mat 6:6, and see on "Mat 5:23"). This shows that the reference is to a case of private, individual fasting, as in Mat 6:6 to private praying. For the various phrases in Mat 6:18, see on similar phrases in Mat 6:4 and My Mat 6:6.
As to the propriety of fasting on the part of Christians now, we see that Jesus speaks as if taking for granted that his disciples would fast. It might be said that this was in the early part of his ministry, when things were in a transition stage. But in Mat 9:15, he likewise takes for granted that his disciples will fast after he shall have left them. Observe, however, that it is voluntary fasting of which he is speaking, and there is no trace in the New Testament of any appointment of a particular season for fasting. Indeed, the only fast enjoined by the law of Moses was that on the Day of Atonement; (Lev 16:29-34) all the other fasting mentioned in the Old Testament, whether national or individual, was voluntary. In Mat 9:15, the Saviour clearly teaches that fasting is right only when one’s condition makes it natural. In a time of joy, fasting would be unnatural, and could not express a genuine feeling. But persons who are in great distress are naturally inclined to abstain from eating. Now every feeling is deepened by being in any natural way manifested; and so a sincere, though less strong feeling of distress, as on account of sin, may be strengthened by abstinence from food. This may also help us for a time in fixing our attention upon worship and devout meditation. Yet fasting is not in itself a meritorious action, but is proper only so far as it is natural under the circumstances, and useful in such ways as have been indicated. Wherever this utility would be counterbalanced by injury to health, disqualification for active duties, or other grave evils, then fasting ought not to be practised. The observance of national fasts would appear to be in like manner optional, and subject to the same conditions. As to fasts appointed by some ecclesiastial authority for regular seasons of the week or year, no Scriptural authority can be claimed for making the injunction, and such regularly recurring fasts are extremely apt to degenerate into formality, (compare Isa 58:3 ff.) or to encourage excesses at other times ("Mardi Gras," etc.), or to be invested with an imaginary intrinsic meritoriousness, opposed to the spirit of the gospel. The mortification of the flesh, which is sometimes urged as a benefit of regular fasting, "can be better attained by habitual temperance than by occasional abstinence." (Alexander.) (Compare on Mat 4:2 and on Mat 9:15) But many Christians of the early centuries had an exaggerated conception of the importance of fasting (one of the many elements of Judaism which they imported into Christianity), and so the word fasting crept into numerous manuscripts and versions in Mar 9:29 Mat 17:21 (whole verse spurious); Act 10:30, 1Co 7:5. (See these passages in Ray. Test.) The word is part of the genuine text in Mat 9:15 Luk 2:37 Act 13:2 f; Act 14:23.
Homiletical And Practical
Fasting.
I. When? (1) On public occasions, if we really feel grief, and really desire to deepen it. (2) On private occasions, if it would be natural in our providential situation, (Mat 9:15) and would be profitable. (3) In either case, only so far as compatible with health and the proper discharge of existing duties.
II. How? (1) Without the least ostentation. (Mat 6:1, Mat 6:16) (2) With sincere desire and earnest effort to commune with God and gain spiritual profit.—Hypocrisy. (Mat 6:18)
I. Methods. (1) Religious observances—e. g., alms-giving, fasting, prayer. (2) Religious professions.
II. Rewards. (1) Glory of men, (Mat 6:2) and even this usually very partial and very transient. (2) No reward from God. (Mat 6:1) (3) Not even the approval of one’s own conscience. (4) Aggravated punishment in eternity. (Mar 12:40) Compare in general Matthew 23.
Chrys.: "And, whereas, in the matter of almsgiving..... after saying, ’Take heed not to do it before men,’ he added, ’to be seen of them’; yet in the matter of fasting and prayer, he made no such limitation; why was this? Because for alms-giving to be altogether concealed is impossible, but for prayer and fasting, it is possible." Vinet (in Luketteroth): "Fasting has no value save according to the dispositions by which it is accompanied; it is good only in proportion as it is not the body alone, but the heart, that fasts."
John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (American Baptist Publication Society, 1886) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 24, 25 When ye fast.
Mat_6:16
When ye fast.
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I. A few remarks on the practice of fasting at the time of our Lord.
II. The sinful and unprofitable manner in which the Jews observed it.
1. Their ostentation.
2. Its futility-They have their reward.
III. The directions given us for its observance.
1. The propriety of private fasting.
2. The manner of its observance.
3. The prosperity of personal religion may be promoted by it. (J. K. Good.)
Fasting
I. The nature, design, and importance of fasting. Not only abstinence from sin, but abstinence from food for a time, longer or shorter, as health and duty will allow. Scripture testimony, etc. What is the design of fasting?
1. To manifest and promote sorrow for sin, etc. (Isa_58:5).
2. Self-denial, and a means of mortification.
3. That it may help to prayer and other holy duties. These things manifest the reasonableness and importance of fasting.
II. How the hypocrites fasted. Partial, insincere, selfish, self-righteous, external, etc. How much reason is there to think that thousands among us fast in this way!
III. How the true people of God observe this duty. They are sincere and deeply affected with their own sins, etc. (Joe_2:12-17; Exo_9:4; Dan_9:3; Jam_4:9-10). They intend the glory of God (Mat_6:18), and the mortification of sin in themselves and others, and the reformation of the nation (Rom_13:14; Rom_8:13; Gal_5:16-24). They are humble, spiritual, consistent, practical (Joe_2:14; Isa_1:16; Isa_55:6-7; Mat_3:7-10; Luk_3:7; Luk_3:9; Luk_13:1-9; Jam_4:8; Isa_1:17; Isa_58:7; Psalms_17:25; Luk_3:11). (J. Benson.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 16, 17, 18. When thou fastest. This is the…
16, 17, 18. When thou fastest. This is the third example of the right and wrong way of righteousness, in contrast. The same principle of doing nothing for mere show is still insisted upon. Fasting is not wrong, and, indeed, is often blessed richly, but not when our object is to appear to men to fast. Of sad countenance. It was common to assume a woe-begone look, put ashes upon the head, and even wear sackcloth, in order to show to the world deep humiliation. This is condemned.
Anoint thine head. That is, dress as usual. Wash thy face. The usual practice before eating.
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Thy Father … shall reward thee. Our self-denial must be for the eyes of God, not of men.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv19, 25 Mat_6:19-20. Lay not up … lay up. An instance…
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat_6:19-20. Lay not up … lay up. An instance of “the idiom of exaggerated contrast.” A literal compliance with the negative half of this precept would discourage thrift, destroy commerce, and deprive the world of the manifold benefits of capital. It is plain that our Lord, in contrasting the two kinds of treasures, uses this emphatic idiom in order to point out in the most forcible way the kind which is beyond measure the more important (J. G. Carleton). Rust.—Money was frequently buried in the ground in those unsettled times, and so would be more liable to rust. Banks in the modern sense were unknown (Carr).
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Mat_6:22. Light.—Lamp (R.V.). The eye is not itself the light, but contains the light: it is the “lamp” or candle of the body, the light-conveying principle (ibid.). Full of light.—As it were all eye (Benyel).
Mat_6:23. Evil.—I.e. affected with disease. The whole passage is on the subject of singleness of service to God (ibid.). How great is that darkness?—As the conscience is the regulative faculty, and a man’s inward purpose, scope, aim in life, determine his character, if these be not simple and heavenward, but distorted and double, what must all the other faculties and principles of our nature be, which take their direction and character from these, and what must the whole man and the whole life be, but a mass of darkness? (Brown).
Mat_6:24. No man can serve two masters.—The application of the foregoing. Mammon.—Or mamon, was a common word in the East, among Phœnicians, Syrians and others, signifying material riches or worldly wealth. It is here personified, as a kind of god of this world (Morison).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_6:19-24
The evils of covetousness.—The great Teacher passes here from one snare to another; from the danger of thinking too much of the praises of men to that of thinking too much of the riches of earth. When we make them our “treasure”—when we so delight in them that we always long to have more of them—that is the evil meant here. Against this “covetousness,” this craving for more, we are here warned, as being at once:
1. A great folly.
2. A greater danger.
3. A deadly offence.
I. A great folly.—This folly is shown, first, in regard to that which this spirit seeks. Is it not foolish, indeed, to make that our “treasure” which we can never reckon on keeping; which nature herself is bent on “corrupting” by all sorts of agencies which cannot be guarded against by our powers; and which the envy and covetousness of other men always desires to appropriate (Mat_6:19)? Probable disappointment, more probable loss, certain anxiety, are the necessary results of so doing. Next, in regard to that which it misses. It misses that “treasure in heaven,” which can always be attained through the gospel; which never decays because there is nothing to defile it (cf. 1Pe_1:4), and is never stolen because there are none to steal it. Here is the vital difference between these two aims. In earthly riches my gain is another man’s loss. In heavenly riches my gain is my neighbour’s gain too. As a mere question of prudence, therefore, seek earnestly for this heavenly treasure, and “covet” nothing beside.
II. A greater danger.—When men do bring themselves, notwithstanding all this, to prefer earthly riches to heavenly, how is it done? It is done, as it can only be done, by shutting their eyes to the truth. The “deceitfulness” of such “riches,” to use the Saviour’s own words (Mat_13:22), blinds their minds on the subject. In other words, they bring themselves to the conclusion spoken of, by contriving to see only what they wish to see in the matter; and so, in regard to it, are without that “single” eye of which the Saviour here speaks (Mat_6:22). But this is a kind of process which cannot be made to terminate when and as we desire. If we thus pervert the instrument we look through in order only to see what we wish to see in one direction, it will inevitably, of course, do the same when we look in another. There is no direction, in fact, in which we can rely upon it, where such is the case; and no use we can make of it which, in the end, will not rather obscure than enlighten. Such is the result of trifling, in any way, with the light; and of wilfully looking at things, as covetousness does, as they are not. No darkness can be at once more complete and more dense (Mat_6:22-23). Who can, in anything, trust a judgment which has brought itself thus to think of earth as being higher than heaven?
III. A deadly offence.—We say this because there is more in this matter than mere perversion of judgment. Such intellectual misjudging implies also perversion of will. Devotion to wealth is more than an error—more even than such an error as leads to worse error in turn—it is also a sin. It is a sin, first, because it robs God of His due. What we ought to live for—what we ought to devote ourselves to—is obtaining His favour. If we devote ourselves to money-getting instead, we make money-getting our “god.” This is why covetousness (or πλεονεξία) is so often spoken of in the Bible as idolatry (Eph_5:5); and why both it and idolatry are so often compared in the Bible to the sin of unfaithfulness in the marriage relation (ibid.; 1Co_5:11, etc.). It is like a man’s taking away from his wife that exclusive love which he has promised to give her wholly all the days of his life. Also, this covetousness is sin because it transfers to the creature what it thus abstracts from the Creator (cf. Rom_1:25); and because it does so, also, to a creature or idol of a peculiarly contemptible kind. Is not this true of this money-greediness, this craving to grasp, this utter concentration on self? And is not this proved, also, by the very name we give to a man utterly under its power. We call him—and we call him rightly—a “miser” or “wretch.” We call him so because it is to such a “wretch” of an idol that he bows himself down. Hence, therefore, the peculiar offensiveness of this kind of spiritual “adultery,” and the utter impossibility of combining it with the worship of God. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mat_6:24). Even if such double worship were possible in other cases, it would be out of the question in this.
This very difficult lesson, for such it is to us, may be further confirmed by remembering:—
1. Who traversed it at the time.—Viz. about the most unreliable teachers ever known in the world (see Luk_16:14; Mat_23:16-17; Mat_23:19).
2. Who afterwards received it.—Viz. the wisest teachers, after Christ, ever known in the world. Not at first, indeed, even they, when only partly knowing the truth (Mat_19:23-25); but afterwards, when fully knowing the truth (Luk_24:44-48; Joh_16:12-13), acting on it in full (Act_3:6; 1Pe_1:18; 1Pe_5:2); also, through their example (Act_2:44-45; Heb_10:34; Heb_13:5); also in the case of one afterwards added to their number (1Ti_6:5-10; Php_4:11; Php_4:18). And thereby, indeed, only reviving, and as it were countersigning, that ancient deed and distinction of Psa_10:3, “blessing the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth.”
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Mat_6:19-21. Warning against greed.—Christ does not speak against material wealth; rather He implies in the text and words of similar meaning, that His disciples are not forbidden to accumulate the things of this world. Capital and property are necessary to social progress, civilisation, evangelisation, and the temporal well-being of mankind. But He does speak against making a god of them, and in all His teaching strikes deeply at the worldly-mindedness and disposition of those who are absorbed in “greed of gain.” Observe:
I. The treasures referred to.—Two kinds—“treasures upon earth” and “treasures in heaven,” The words contain an antithesis—
1. As to their nature.—“The treasures upon earth” are not only earthly, but earthy. “They are but earth, and it is but upon earth they are laid up,” including costly dresses and all worldly possessions. In eastern countries they treasured up gold, silver, precious stones, corn, wine, oil, and garments. To gain these the most sacred things often were bartered. So now. Character and most sacred rights have been and are sold to gain earthly treasures. But “treasures in heaven” are absolutely different in nature and tendency, and inestimably more valuable, and hence should be more diligently sought after.
2. As to their influence upon character.—“For where your treasure is” etc. This is important, for it shows clearly that wherever the heart is the man is. The betting man is at the Derby, the mercenary in his office, the politician in the strifes of ambition, etc. But if the treasure be in heaven there is a transformation.
3. As to the nature of the places where these treasures are laid up.—Which is the best place to treasure up in—“earth” or “heaven”?
(1) Earthly treasures are precarious at best. Think of the risks, etc. Riches of grace and everlasting peace and happiness are in Christ, which are the true and lasting wealth and glory of the Christian man. Paulinus, when he was told that the Goths had sacked Noia and plundered him of all that he had, lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Lord, Thou knowest where I have laid up my treasure.” It was in heaven—the right place, the only safe place.
(2) Earthly treasures are perishable—“moth and rust corrupt.” But spiritual treasures are absolutely secure and imperishable.
II. The exhortation enjoined.—“Lay up.” The love of accumulation is so strong in our nature that it behoves us to beware continually in “laying up earthly treasures” that we do not become avaricious and miserly. The prohibition, “lay not” has reference to that kind of spirit; for the more we gain and possess, the more we shall love that gain, until we become fully absorbed in it, make a god of it, and worship it. The whole of life is a treasuring up for eternity, either character “unto eternal life,” or “wrath against the day of wrath.” Use your time, your talents, your influence, your money, your life to this great and glorious end—the chief end of being.—J. Harries.
Treasures in heaven.—
I. The character of the covetous man.—He lays up for himself treasures upon earth, and not in heaven.
1. Our hearts are too much set on the world if we are strongly bent and resolved to be rich (1Ti_6:9).
2. If we make too much haste to be rich (Pro_28:20).
3. If we look on our neighbour’s thriving and prosperity with envy and discontent.
4. When we contemplate our own wealth and flourishing circumstances with too much complacence and delight. Good men delight themselves in God.
5. When we come to put our trust and confidence in our wealth; like the rich man in the Gospel, who trusted more in his full barns than in God.
6. When our time, thoughts, projects, etc., are spent chiefly on worldly things.
7. When upon any great losses, or even poverty itself coming upon us, we grow angry, peevish, and discontented.
8. Whenever, to save or increase our wealth, we betray our duty and conscience (1Ti_6:10; 2Ti_4:10).
II. Our Saviour’s dissuasive from this practice of the covetous man.—“Lay not up,” etc.
III. The reasons of this exhortation.—
1. The one is an earthly, the other a heavenly treasure.—
(1) The gross, earthly nature of these blessings. We may as well think to make fish feed upon grass and corn, and oxen live upon water and mud like fish, as to make men happy only with worldly things.
(2) But suppose they were ever so well fitted to make us happy during our stay in this world, how small a part of man’s immortal duration is included in this present life!
2. The earthly treasure is liable to perishing by divers accidents.—Some native, breeding in itself, such as moth and rust which corrupt it; some foreign, as thieves that break through and steal it; whereas the heavenly treasures are secure.
(1) They are fitted for our heaven-born souls.
(2) They last for ever.
(3) They are subject to no accidents, either of inward corruption or external violence.
3. If our treasures are upon earth they will draw our hearts after them and make them earthly too.—Consider:
(1) The influence our treasure has upon our hearts, to draw them after it. The heart runs out naturally after that which it loves best.
(2) The influence the heart has on the whole man, to govern all his thoughts, words, and actions. As the mainspring of the heart goes, the man thinks, contrives, speaks, and acts.
(3) From whence the conclusion follows very naturally, that the laying up our treasure on earth makes us worldly, and forgetful of heaven; and that the laying up our treasure in heaven makes us of a heavenly temper, and reforms the whole heart and life.—Jas. Blair, M.A.
Treasure.—According to our Lord’s metaphor, His followers are to treasure up treasures in heaven. This cannot mean to wish for high seats in heaven, with great lustre and distinction for themselves, for such desires may indicate nothing more than a new form of selfishness. The treasure must be of a more spiritual character, and such as a lowly heart may crave. It must be riches towards God and in God. It must mean the satisfaction of longings of the human spirit which the world cannot meet. It must be treasure of a calm conscience and a holy mind, resting in the love of God and sustained by the fellowship of the Spirit. The portion of the wise deserves to be called treasure because it is:—
I. Precious, as meeting not the fancy of a day or even the wants of the passing years, but the most profound requirements of the human soul, and that, too, when Divine regenerating grace has made it capable of eternal life and joy.
II. Secure, as laid up in heaven above the risk of loss.
III. Capable of indefinite increase.—D. Fraser, D.D.
The passion for hoarding.—In one of the best of his essays Montaigne tells how a passion for hoarding money possessed him at one period of his life, and plunged him in continual solicitude. “After you have once set your heart upon your heap it is no more at your service; you cannot find in your heart to break it; ’tis a building that you fancy must of necessity all tumble down to ruin if you stir but the least pebble.”—Ibid.
Dr. South’s sermon.—In the year 1699, Dr. South preached on this theme before the University of Oxford. The sermon appears in his works under the title, “No man ever went to heaven whose heart was not there before.”—Ibid.
Mat_6:21. The heart and the treasure.—The heart follows the treasure, as the needle follows the loadstone, or the sunflower the sun.—M. Henry.
Mat_6:22-23. Singleness of aim in the kingdom of God.—The text bears on what went before, which is, that the supreme attraction of the heart should be spiritual and heavenly and not secular and earthly. And it bears also on what follows, viz. that right and acceptable service in the kingdom of God must be a single service.
I. The truth here taught.—“The light of the body is the eye.” This expression is misleading. Literally interpreted, it is not correct. The eye is not the light, but it is the medium of light to the body, it is the window that admits light. The human eye is the most striking feature in the human constitution. It is the closest to the soul. Hence, spiritually, the great truths suggested by the text. Notice:
1. The soul of man has perceptive faculties—the spiritual eye of his moral constitution. Some say that this “eye” is the intellect, whereby we discover causes and effects, and trace their logical relation, processes, and products. But it is not the mere intellect that is suggested by the figure “eye.” Some say it is conscience, whereby we arrive at the knowledge of things unseen, the conception of God, of moral truth, and spiritual force, by which we judge of acts as right or wrong, and by which we discover the reality of the moral law and determine our character according to that law. But it cannot mean any one faculty, but the seat of all faculties and affections, purposes and inclinations; the undivided spirituality of our being, represented again and again in Scripture, as the heart.
2. The heart, the organ of sight, requires light.—We have only to open our hearts and Christ, the Light, enters.
3. The organ of sight is subject to disease.—Spiritually, there is one word expressive of moral darkness and blindness, viz. sin. No man can see either earth or sky aright, God, truth, or man aright, if the coloured glass of self is always in the window.
II. The condition specified.—“If thine eye be single,” etc. The idea conveyed by the singleness of eye is threefold:
1. Oneness.—The contemplation of one object. The heart bent on one thing.
2. Clearness.—When the eye is directed singly and steadily towards an object, and is in health, everything becomes clear, distinct, and plain.
3. Concentration.—The eye is “single” when it not only sees or lives for one thing, but also when it concentrates all its power in one direction. All thoughts and all actions are focussed in one object.
III. The inevitable result.—“The whole body shall be full of light.”
1. The blessed state of those in the kingdom of God whose aim is single.—The light of personal knowledge of salvation. The light of holiness—purity of heart. The light of peace and joy.
2. The awful result of “the evil eye.”—Full of darkness. Dark in himself and dark to every good around. He may be a man of talent, and learning, and genius, and yet blind spiritually. Darkness is a symbol of misery, adversity, and death; of ignorance and alienation, from the darkness of death to the “outer darkness.”—J. Harries.
The single and the evil eye.—
I. There is an inward light of the mind and conscience, which is to direct the moral part of our actions, as the eye directs the external motions and actions of the body.
II. Every evil affection obscures this inward light, that it cannot so well perform its duty, but is apt to mislead us into sinful courses.
III. This is particularly verified in the evil affection of covetousness or worldly-mindedness.
IV. When the inward light of the mind and conscience is darkened, this occasions a vast number of other errors and follies in the life and conversation.
V. It is our duty to use our utmost endeavours, to keep that inward light free from all clouds of evil affections and inclinations, that it may give us clear direction in all duty; and to follow those good directions in our life and conversation.—Jas. Blair, M.A.
Mat_6:22. The single eye.—The idea conveyed by a “single eye” appears to be, from its etymology, threefold. First, it means clear, with no film; secondly, it means in opposition to double, seeing one object at a time; and thirdly, it means concentration, centred upon a focus. These three thoughts mainly go to make up the word “single,”—distinctness, oneness, fixedness.
I. Many things may give a dulness to the moral sight.
1. If it be impaired by disuse.—If you do not exercise the spiritual perception which God has given you, by meditation, by prayer and religious thought, then the perception must grow weak.
2. Things coming in between, veil and darken that higher vision. A worldly life is sure to do it. Much care will do it. Luxury will do it. But, still more, any wilful unbelief or any strong prejudice.
II. A clear eye must be often cleared.—It is the great secret of a happy, holy life—to have made up your mind, once and for all, to live for one thing—to do what is right, and to live to the glory of God. And then upon that one object you must concentrate yourself.
III. There are two worlds around us—a seen world and an unseen world; and we move equally in the midst of both. And the unseen system is far more beautiful, and far grander and more important than the system that we see. The seen is mainly the type and the shadow of the unseen. It is the unseen which is the real, for that unseen is for ever and ever. But it is not all of us who see the unseen. Few of us are seeing the unseen very distinctly, and none of us are seeing it as we might; and the reason is the state of the eye of the soul, which is as really an eye to see the unseen as that natural eye by which you gaze upon a star or by which you admire a flower.—J. Vaughan, M.A.
Mat_6:23. The evil eye.—The eye which is sharp for self-interest is dimmed for moral insight.—W. Jackson, M.A.
Mat_6:24. One Master only in the kingdom of heaven.—These words of the great Teacher plainly indicate not only, as in the previous verses, that the aim of the true disciple in the kingdom should be “single,” but also that the service must be single, the motive single, the purpose single, the object single, and the Master single. The object we love most rules us. Robert Hall once wrote the word “God” on a small slip of paper, showed it to a friend, and asked whether he could read it. He replied “Yes.” He then covered the word with a guinea, and again asked “Can you see it?” and was answered “No.” He did this in order to show his friend how easy it is for the world to shut out of the mind a sight and sense of God.
I. The great principle here emphasised.—“No man can serve two masters.” “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” We desire to show the impossibility of serving two masters—God and mammon.
1. Philosophically.—Dr. Brown’s and Dugald Stewart’s proposition is irrefutable—“That the mind cannot exist, at the same moment, in two different states,” proving, so far, the great maxim of the text, that, if the mind cannot exist in two different states at the same moment, it cannot be heavenly and worldly at the same time. We cannot concentrate our mind, which is indivisible, upon more than one object. Sir Isaac Newton, it is said, was so absorbed in his endeavour to discover the law of gravitation that he knew not his surroundings; could not hear or recognise the voice and calls of his wife; and when one morning he was roasting before a big fire he called the servant to move the fire back. The servant said, “Please move back your chair, sir.” “Ah,” replied the great man, “I did not think about that!” A man must have two hearts, two souls, and two selves, before he can give a heart to God and a heart to the world too. The utter impossibility of serving two masters, God and mammon, is further shown:—
2. Morally.—
(1) God and mammon are absolutely opposites.
(2) The interests of the two are absolutely diverse.
(3) The effects of the two are absolutely different. “For either he will hate the one and love the other.” The chief point of our Lord is that the man of the world cannot be truly religious; that is, the man that makes worldly gain supreme—such a man, generally speaking, hates religion.
II. The important truths here implied.—The key-word is “serve.” A man may try to serve God and mammon, because self is so dear, and the world is so sweet; but Jesus Christ shows that even the attempt is an absurdity. The practical truths inferred are—
1. That religion is a spiritual service.
2. That religion demands one supreme object.—“Serve God.”
3. That religion requires wholeness of heart in its service.
4. That religion implies the power of choice.—God or mammon. Which?
5. That religion teaches and enforces the necessity of immediate and manly decision.—We act upon decisions. When Alexander the Great was asked how he conquered the world, he answered, “By not delaying.”—J. Harries.
Neutrality.—“Of all unsuccessful men in any shape, whether Divine, human, or devilish,” says a secular historian, “there is no equal to Bunyan’s ‘Facing-both-ways’; the fellow with one eye on heaven and one on earth, who sincerely professes one thing and sincerely does another, and from the intensity of his unreality is unable either to see or feel the contradiction; he is substantially trying to cheat both God and the devil, and in reality only cheating himself and his neighbours. This, of all characters upon the earth, appears to us to be one of which there is no hope at all—a character becoming in these days alarmingly abundant.” Now, no one who. has learnt the lesson of the gospel will say of any character that there is no hope for it at all But it is true that this class of characters, the insincere professors, the Mr. Anythings, are hardest of all to deal with.
I. The characteristics of neutrality.—Scripture is full of indications of the peril and shame of this compromise—e.g. Samaritans, Israelites, Laodiceans, Balaam, Pilate, young ruler who made “the great refusal.” And Scripture being thus full of warnings, the significance of those warnings has not been lost upon the great Christian teachers—e.g. Dante, Bunyan (man with the muck rake). In the precincts of this insincere religion good and evil are not wrestling as they should be, shoulder to shoulder, in an irreconcilable antagonism, but they are feebly walking together, hand in hand, in futile amity.
II. The causes of neutrality.—Mainly two.
1. Indolence and unbelief.
2. Some besetting sin.—With one man it is drink, with another it is gold, with another it is envy, hatred, or refusal to forgive; with others it is impurity. And thinking that they can give the rest of their heart to God, men try to reserve this one dark corner, this one secret chamber of unhallowed imagery for their own idolatry. St. Augustine tells us, in his terrible Confessions, that in his unconverted days he used indeed to pray to God to deliver him from lusts of the flesh, but he prayed with the great desire that God would not hear him yet, because he still desired to live in their base indulgence.
III. The issue of neutrality.—Death. The poet saw in the lowest hell the soul of the Prior Elbrigo, and was amazed because he knew that the man was still alive; but when he asks for explanation he receives the awful answer that sometimes a man seems to live above, and eat, and drink, and sleep, and put on clothes, but in reality his soul is sunk down even in his life-time into the abyss; he has become that most fearful kind of ghost—not a soul without a body, but a body without a soul. Give up this shameful attempt to deceive God by semblances and shams! Be not like that Dead Salt Sea, of which it has been said that it reflects heaven on its surface and hides Gomorrha in its heart.—Archdeacon Farrar.
Mammon the greatest of all idols.—
1. The idol of all times.
2. The idol of all nations.
3. The idol of all unconverted hearts.
4. The origin of all idolatry.
5. The first and the last among all the hidden idols of God’s people, both under the Old and the New Testament.—J. P. Lange, D.D.
Mat_6:24-34. Greed and care.—On the one side must be shunned the Scylla of greed, on the other the Charybdis of care.—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v19 Section 4. (Mat 6:19-34.)
Section 4. (Mat 6:19-34.)
The way amid the temptation of the world.
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4. We pass now out of the sanctuary into the world, but carrying with us the sanctuary still, as Israel did in their journey through the wilderness. The way is thus not merely marked out morally for us, but we are empowered also for it; and we need this, for, wilderness as it is, the trials of the way are real ones, and if they are not in the way of allurement, the allurements of Egypt are felt through them, as we see with Israel. "The leeks, and the onions and the garlic" - earthy enough and never much above the earth, - displace (for they only compete with by displacing) the "bread from heaven;" and it is to Egypt that the heart turns back.
(1) Here we have the remedy for it all: a word which, if it could be spoken to a Jewish remnant in view of millennial blessing, is so fully and transparently our own as Christians that the natural thing is to take it as if it had no other application. Yet, for those who are to inherit the earth, in the day to which all this looks forward, there will be abundant need to lay up their treasures in heaven, in the care of Him who is coming to give reward to His saints, and while the earth is yet vibrating with shocks of upheaval, such as the Old and New Testaments combine to assure us will be, and which God will use also to make the frightened hind to calve (Psa 29:9, see notes) - the nation of Israel thus to be born spiritually, as in one day (Isa 66:8).
From this, however, without losing sight of it, we may turn to consider our Lord’s words in the way most profitable to ourselves; and here, as I have said, all is transparent. Heaven is where we belong; the earth is simply what we are traveling through. Our need and our privilege are one - to have our treasures there where nothing decays or corrupts, and where nothing can deprive us of them. Not only shall we then not lose the treasures, but the heart too will rest in undisturbed security, outside all alarms, and our feet will not be endangered by a loss of balance.
Let us note well that the Lord says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." He does not say, "ought to be," but "will." We are not allowed to escape with the easy assurance that what we are diligently accumulating our hearts are not engaged with. Why, then, accumulate it? We should say of a man who was heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish, that he was a maniac. But to him, nevertheless, the worthless pile is valuable; and that you can argue most surely from the fact of the accumulation. Who would not change worthless paper into good security? and this we are privileged to do; while treasure in heaven will keep the heart there, and draw the feet on to where the heart is.
And this alone gives a single eye: there is no confusion, no distraction of vision; no unsteadiness therefore, or uncertainty. The eye is the lamp of the body; not the light, but what holds and fixes the light. The light comes from elsewhere: the organ of perception does not create the light, but receives it. The light for us is in the Word alone: it is this that judges and makes plain; but there must be spiritual reception and, for this, capacity of reception, which the Lord indicates here, as it is stated by the apostle (Eph 1:18, R.V.) to be in the heart and its condition. With the heart set on things above, the eye is single and clear: God is before it, and in His light we see light. Then the whole body becomes full of light:* the hands and feet have plenty of it for work and walk. On the contrary, if the eye be evil, the very light may blind one; and when the word of God becomes this, how great may the resulting darkness become.
{*Not "luminous," as it has been strangely taken: for this is never the effect of the eye receiving light.}
(2) Separate interests distract thus and divide the heart. God and mammon - that is, the treasures of earth personified and viewed as an idol, - each claim the man in ways entirely incompatible with one another. Such service, if attempted, can only be a form on one side. One master will be despised, if not hated. "He who will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God;" he who cleaves to God will despise all the world can offer. Yet how many are seeking to unite things that cannot be united! the result being only a halting inconsistency of life in which the Christian side is necessarily that which suffers eclipse.
(3) But are there not, in going through the world, necessities which demand one’s attention; from which one cannot escape, and which tend to such distraction as this, even when the heart would gladly be free? Yes, surely; but there is a remedy also, which is an effectual one, - a sanctuary-refuge which faith finds ever open: it is the apprehension of a Father’s care, of which His creatures preach incessantly. The birds of heaven are fed, and we are of more value: the life, indeed, of too great value to make it a question of the food by which it is sustained; or the body, of what it may be clothed with.
(4) The human impotence that we feel has its own instruction. All one’s anxiety cannot add a cubit to the stature; and how much there is in this way for which we are absolutely dependent on the will of another! why not, then, leave all things to Him to whom we have to leave so much, and who clothes the perishing lilies of the field with a glory greater than Solomon’s? The weakness of a man’s faith is the only really sorrowful weakness, after all.
(5) And here, the Lord appeals to us, whether those who know God are to find His presence with them count for anything or not. The Gentiles, away from God, seek after these things as His people do; but we have a Father in heaven who knows our need. We have but to set the heart on His things, and let Him take the burden of ours. Seeking first His Kingdom and righteousness, all these things shall be added to us.
(6) Finally, He gives us a limit for care, which by itself would very much exclude it. How much of the burden that we carry belongs really to the morrow, - a burden not yet legitimately ours: for who can really tell what shall be on the morrow? Each day will have its own sufficient evil - not too much, for a careful hand has apportioned it: but by borrowing trouble not yet come, we not only necessarily make the burden of the day too heavy, but we cannot reckon upon divine grace for that which is not come, and bear it thus so far without assistance. Nay, we have lost Him from our thoughts in all this calculation of the unknown future which is in His hands. How often has love in the most undreamed of way, disappointed all our fears!
In all this it is not taking thought for the morrow that is forbidden us, but taking care, (in the full sense of care). The word used has been claimed in these different senses by different interpreters; but it certainly is derived from one* which suggests "division," and so "distraction" of heart; and this is completely in accordance with the warning about singleness of eye and divided service. Moreover, James, where he is speaking explicitly of the boasting of those who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain," corrects such a speech in this manner, that "ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that" (Jas 4:13; Jas 4:15). He blames only the confident assurance of the speech, and not all "taking thought for the morrow." This, in fact, should be evident: the whole current of our lives would be changed by the contrary supposition, which those who make it have immediately and seriously to modify.
{*Merimnao from merizo.}
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v19 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLII. F. Heavenly…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XLII. F. Heavenly Treasures].
XLII. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. (A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum.) Subdivision F. SECURITY OF HEAVENLY TREASURES CONTRASTED \line WITH EARTHLY ANXIETIES. aMATT. VI. 19-34.
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a19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal. [In our Lord's time banks, such as we have, were unknown, and in order to keep money its possessor frequently buried it, thus subjecting it to rust and corrosion. The havoc caused by moths is too familiar to need comment ( Jam_5:2). Costly and ornamental apparel was reckoned among a man's chief treasures in olden times. See Jos_7:21, 2Ki_5:5, Luk_16:19. Oriental houses were frequently made of loose stone or sun-dried bricks, so that the thief found it easier to enter by digging through the wall than by opening the barred door. A too literal compliance with this negative precept would discourage thrift. The precept is not intended to discourage the [255] possession of property in moderation, but it forbids us to hoard for selfish purposes, or to look upon our possessions as permanent and abiding. The lives of many men of our day seem to be employed to no other purpose than that of amassing an abundance of earthly treasure. But no true Christian can envy them, or follow their example]: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal [As the impossibility of hoarding earthly treasures is in the Mat_6:19 urged as a reason against it, so in this verse the possibility of amassing perpetual possessions in heaven is set forth as the reason why we should do it. Thus the striking contrast between the two kinds of treasures is brought to our notice, so that it is the height of folly not to make a proper choice between them]: 21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. [Having contrasted the two treasures, Jesus here suggests the contrast between the two places where they are stored up. Since the heart follows the treasure, that it may dwell with the object of its love, we should place our treasures in heaven, even if the treasures there were no better than the treasures on earth; for it is better that our hearts should abide in the city of God than on this sinful earth.] 22 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 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! [In these two verses there is a brief allegory, the meaning of which is to be ascertained from the context. The subject under consideration is the propriety of laying up treasures, not on earth, but in heaven, and the effect which treasures have upon the heart. Now, the heart or affection is to the soul much the same as the eye is to the body. If we do not set our affections upon spiritual things, the time quickly comes when we can not see them ( 1Co_2:14, Joh_3:19-21). Jesus therefore represents our affections as if they were an eye. If the eye is single--i. e., [256] if it sees nothing with a double or confused vision--then the man receives through it clear views of the outside world, and his inner man is, so to speak, full of light. But if his eye is diseased or blinded, then his inner man is likewise darkened. Applying the allegory to the spiritual man, if his heart is single in its love toward God and the things of God, then he has clear views as to the relative importance and value of things temporal and eternal, things earthly and things heavenly. But if the heart looks with a double interest upon both earthly and heavenly treasure, it makes the man double-minded ( Jam_1:6-8), and so spoils his life. God does not permit a double affection any more than he does a double service, and a man who seeks to continue in it will soon be visited with great darkness as to the things of God, and will become blind in heart and conscience-- Rom_1:21-25.] 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. [Mammon was a common Chaldee word used in the East to express material riches. It is here personified as a kind of god of this world. Jesus here assumes that we are framed to serve ( Gen_2:15); and hence that we must choose our master, for it is impossible to serve two masters whose interests are different and conflicting. They conflict here, for it is mammon's interest to be hoarded and loved, but it is God's interest that mammon be distributed to the needy and be lightly esteemed. God claims our supreme love and our undivided service.] 25 Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious 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 the food, and the body than the raiment? [The word "anxious" is derived from a word which indicates a state of doubt or double-mindedness. It therefore indicates that sense of suspense or worry which comes from a mind in doubt. Compare Luk_12:29. Hence we may say that Jesus is here continuing the contrasts of the Mat_6:24, and that, having warned [257] against a double vision and a double service, he now warns against a double mind as to the comparative value of the benefits to be derived from the service of God or the service of mammom. Mammon can only supply food, but God gives the life; mammon can only furnish clothing, but God gives the body. By single-mindedness we can find peace, for God is to be relied upon. By double-mindedness we fall to worrying, for mammon may fail to supply those things which we feel we need.] 26 Behold the birds of the heaven they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they? [Literally, do ye not greatly excel them. The birds do not serve mammon at all, yet God feeds them. Surely, then, man who excels the birds both in his intrinsic value and in his capacity for temporal and eternal service, can expect to receive from God his sufficient food.] 27 And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the measure of his life? [Peace and trust characterize the service of God. The rewards of mammon, on the contrary, are won by anxiety. But the rewards of mammon can not lengthen life as can God. Therefore we should not hesitate to choose God's service.] 28 And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [The magnificence of Solomon and of his court is proverbial in the East unto this day. To the Jew he was the highest representative of earthly grandeur, yet he was surpassed by the common lily of the field. Which lily is here meant can not be determined. Calcott thinks it was the fragrant white lily which grows profusely all over Palestine. Smith favors the scarlet martagon; Tristam, the anemone coronaria; and Thomson, the Huleh lily, a species of iris. It is likely, however, that scholars are trying to draw distinctions where Jesus himself drew none. It is highly probable that in popular speech many of the common [258] spring flowers were loosely classes together under the name lily.] 30 But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, i shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ["This is the only term of reproach Jesus applied to his disciples" (Bengel). As to the grass and oven we may say that the forests of Palestine had been cleared off centuries earlier, and the people were accustomed to use the dried grass, mingled with wild flowers and weeds, for fuel. The oven was a large, round pot of earthenware, or other material, two or three feet high, and narrowing toward the top. This was first heated by fire within, after which the fire was raked out, and the dough put inside. Such is still the universal practice.] 31 Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? [God's care for the grass which lasts but for a day should teach us to expect that he will show more interest in providing for those who have been fashioned for eternity.] 32 For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. [Christians having a heavenly Father to supply their wants, should not live like the Gentiles, who have no consciousness of such a Father. Of what use is all our religious knowledge if we are still as careworn and distrustful as the benighted heathen?]; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. [Here is the panacea for anxiety. Being God, the Supreme One knows; being a Father, he feels. Many repose with confidence upon the regularity and beneficence of his providential laws; but far sweeter is that assurance which arises from a sense of God's personal interest in our individual welfare--an interest manifested by the gift of his Son.] 33 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. [The kingdom of heaven is the real object of our search. It must be sought first both in point of time and of interest, and it must be kept ever first in our thoughts after it is found. That Christian faith and obedience leads to worldly prosperity is proved by countless [259] instances which are multiplied with each succeeding day. The security of Christ's kingdom leads to that cheerfulness which renews the strength, and to that undistracted industry which brings success.] 34 Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. [Each day has trouble enough without adding to it by borrowing somewhat from the morrow. Serve God to-day with the strength you used to expend in carrying troubles which you borrowed from the future, and God will order the affairs of to-morrow.]
[FFG 255-260]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v16 i.e. the praise of men.
reward
i.e. the praise of men.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25 A lesson on fasting:
A lesson on fasting:
v. 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.
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Fasting was a part of the religious rites of the Jews, intended to show repentance and humility, in itself an unobjectionable custom. But the hypocrites, acting out their part in all lines, made their fasting another form of self-glorification, not only by observing additional days of fasting, besides those prescribed in the Jewish law, but also by affecting a gloomy face, inviting sympathy and praise. They neglected the daily care of the face, to make the effect of the semiweekly fast appear all the more harrowing. It was an empty show in order that they might play a more important figure and get the reputation of greater holiness. They have all the reward they will ever get. They need expect nothing from the Lord.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 19, 22, 25 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus begins to teach about fasting.
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General Information:
Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should or should not do. In verse 16 all occurences of "you" are plural. In verses 17 and 18 where Jesus teaches them how to behave when they fast, all occurrences of "you" and "your" are singular. In some languages those occurences of "you" may also need to be plural. (See: Forms of You)
they disfigure their faces
The hypocrites would not wash their faces or comb their hair. They did this purposely to draw attention to themselves so that people would see them and give them honor for fasting.
Truly I say to you
"I tell you the truth." This phrase adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.
anoint your head
"put oil in your hair" or "groom your hair." To "anoint" the head here is to take normal care of one's hair. It has nothing to do with "Christ" meaning "anointed one." Jesus means that people should look the same whether they are fasting or not.
Father who is in secret
Possible meanings are 1) no one can see God. AT: "Father, who is invisible" or 2) God is with that person who fasts secretly. AT: "Father, who is with you in private" See how you translated this in Matthew 6:6.
Father
This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
who sees in secret
"who sees what you do in private." See how you translated this in Matthew 6:6.
translationWords
fast
hypocrite
amen
receive
reward
anoint
God the Father
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 20, 22, 24, 25 6:16 Prayer and fasting are frequently connected (Lev 23:27-32;…
6:16 Prayer and fasting are frequently connected (Lev 23:27-32; Neh 9:1-2; Zech 7:3-5; 8:19; Luke 18:12). The practice had been abused before Jesus’ time (Isa 58:3-12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.