Our Lord passes from moral to religious duties, enjoining a ‘righteousness' (Matthew 6:1), which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (‘hypocrites'), and has regard to the character of our ‘Father who is in heaven.' The three leading manifestations of practical piety: _almsgiving_ (Matthew 6:2-... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:1. TAKE HEED. Obedience to this precept difficult as well as important. The duties are to be performed, the care respects the ‘end' and the ‘method.' The method to be cared for to guard against the wrong end. Hiding from men only necessary to prevent the praise of men from becoming the mot... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL CHARACTER. The magna charta of Christ's Kingdom: the unfolding of His righteousness; the sublimest code of morals ever proclaimed on earth; the counterpart of the legislation on Mount Sinai; Christ here appears as Lawgiver and King; Moses spoke in God's name; Christ speaks in His own. Its po... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:2-4. FIRST EXAMPLE (_Almsgiving)._ Matthew 6:2. THEREFORE, in view of this general precept ALMS. A contraction or corruption of the Greek word used by the Evangelist DO NOT SOUND A TRUMPET BEFORE THEE, etc. It would be impossible to blow a trumpet IN THE SYNAGOGUES, where the alms wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:3. It is not necessary to find symbolical meanings in the expressions: LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND; the verse is a figurative command to ‘complete modesty, secret, noiseless giving' (Chrysostom).... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:4. THAT, ‘in order that'. The mode should be chosen with a view to secrecy. IN SECRET; more than ‘secretly.' Literally, ‘in the hidden' (place). THY FATHER WHO SEETH IN SECRET, in this hidden place, who is ever and everywhere present ‘Himself' is probably to be omitted; if retained, it... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:5. BUT WHEN YE PRAY. The plural form is more correct. That men ought to pray is assumed. Prayerless men cannot consistently praise the Sermon on the Mount and the morality of Jesus of Nazareth. Religion is the backbone of morality; the second table presupposes the first: no love to man wit... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:5-15. SECOND EXAMPLE (_Prayer)._... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:6. Shows the proper way, and the injunction is made more personal: THOU, WHEN THOU PRAYEST, ENTER INTO THY CLOSET. The little room on the housetop of an Eastern dwelling, used for such purposes. ‘Thy' implies that the place is one where the person can secure privacy. SHUT THY DOOR. This e... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:7. BUT WHEN YE PRAY. The plural form is resumed, and continued throughout the Lord's prayer; this probably extends the application to public prayer. USE NOT VAIN REPETITIONS. The correct sense of the Greek word (lit, ‘to speak stammeringly') is given in our English version, although all... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:8. THEREFORE, because these things are heathen; the temptation to adopt or retain heathen worship will arise. FOR YOUR FATHER, etc. Another and more important reason for avoiding such practices. Our prayers do not tell ‘our Father' of our needs, but simply confess our consciousness of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:9-13. THE LORD'S PRAYER. Matthew 6:9. AFTER THIS MANNER THEREFORE. Because vain repetitions are forbidden, a _pattern_ or _specimen_ of the true form of Christian prayer is given. Hence other prayers are not only allowed but required. Two forms of this prayer exist; see Luke 11:2-4. Hence... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:10. THY KINGDOM COME (_second petition)._ The Messiah's kingdom, which in organized form had not yet come, but was proclaimed by the Lord Himself, as at hand. It did speedily come, as opposed to the Old Testament theocracy; but in its fulness, including the triumph of Christ's kingdom over... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:11. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD _(fourth petition)._ First of the second division relative to our wants. These are subordinate, but not opposed, to the subjects of the previous petitions. ‘Bread,' food in general; the form in the Greek hints that it is ‘ours,' _i.e.,_ created for our... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:12. AND FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS, etc. (_fifth petition). ‘_ Debts,' undoubtedly, moral obligations unfulfilled, _i.e., sins._ See Matthew 6:14, which requires this sense. AS WE HAVE FORGIVEN. ‘As' _i.e._, 'in the same manner as;' not, ‘to the same extent as,' nor ‘because.' The spirit of fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:13. AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION (_sixth petition)._ The next clause is reckoned the _seventh_ by many, more from a desire to find in the prayer the sacred number _seven_ than from sound interpretation. We prefer to join the clauses. God cannot tempt us (James 1:13), _i.e.,_ solicit us... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:14-15. These verses explain the fifth petition (Matthew 6:12), substituting the word ‘trespass' for ‘debt,' as some liturgies do in the Lord's Prayer itself. In ‘debt' the notion of obligation is prominent, in ‘trespass' that of misstep, falling away from what is right. The adoption of thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:16. WHEN YE FAST. Fasting as an aid to prayer and meditation, and a wholesome discipline, is a religious duty, and has a place in Christian practice. More is meant than temperance in meat and drink. Stated fasts are likely to become formal; public fasts are almost sure to become Pharisaica... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:16-18. Third Example _(Fasting)._... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:17. WHEN THOU FASTEST. He assumes that His disciples would practise private fasting. ANOINT THY HEAD AND WASH THY FACE. The usual practice before meals, especially before feasts. Special preparation would involve hypocrisy also. The meaning is, perform the cleansing usual and proper befo... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:18. THAT THOU APPEAR NOT, etc. The usual preparations would leave men unaware that the disciple was fasting, but God, with reference to whom all these duties are performed, sees and rewards. Comp. Matthew 6:4; Matthew 6:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:19. LAY NOT UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES, literally, ‘treasure not for yourselves treasures.' UPON THE EARTH. This qualifies ‘Lay not up,' rather than ‘treasures.' Earthly treasures are not forbidden in themselves, but the earthly storing up, the earthly desire manifesting itself in the c... [ Continue Reading ]
CONNECTION AND CONTENTS. The _external connection_ seems to be between ‘they have received their reward,' which closes each of the foregoing examples of false piety, and ‘lay not up for yourselves treasures' (Matthew 6:19). Main idea: supreme dedication to God; this is illustrated and applied in var... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:20. A positive precept, answering exactly to the negative one of the last verse: BUT LAY UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN. ‘Heaven' sometimes means the atmospheric heaven (Matthew 6:26), sometimes the starry heavens (Hebrews 11:12); here it is used in the highest and spiritual sense o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:21. FOR. A reason for the preceding precepts (Matthew 6:19-20). WHERE THY TREASURE IS, whether on earth or in heaven, THERE WILL THINE HEART BE ALSO. The singular pronoun adds impressiveness. Not a question of mere profit and loss, but of affection and of character. The precepts are for... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:22. Not an abrupt transition, but an illustration of the importance of dedicating the heart to God supremely. THE LAMP (the same word used in chap. Matthew 5:15, but different from that' rendered ‘light' at the close of this verse, and in Matthew 6:23) OF THE BODY IS THE EYE. The eye giv... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:23. IF THINE EYE BE EVIL. This means, according to the contrast, ‘double' distorted in vision. FULL OF DARKNESS, or, ‘in darkness' (The word is not the same as that in the next clause, but derived from it.) The evil result of a divided state of heart, where what God designed to be the me... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:24. A still plainer illustration, to prove that man cannot be thus divided, must be _one,_ light or dark, servant of God or of Mammon. Serve, _i.e.,_ be the slave of, yielding entire obedience. A hired servant might faithfully serve two masters, but such service is not meant here. FOR EI... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:25. THEREFORE. Because of the precept just given. Anxiety, which is distrust of God, is the source of avarice. Living to God is the proper life, and it relieves from care, because we trust Him for what we need. This thought is expanded in the remainder of the chapter. BE NOT ANXIOUS. The... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:26. BEHOLD, look attentively. THE BIRDS OF THE HEAVEN, the sky, the atmospheric heaven. This expresses the wild freedom above the earth which contains their food, and also their lower rank in the scale of creation. THAT. Not ‘for.' We are to behold with respect to the birds this fact,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:27. ADD ONE CUBIT UNTO HIS AGE, prolong his life in the least ‘Age' is preferable to ‘stature' (the word has both meanings); the reference is not to the body but to the life; further, to add a cubit (18 inches) to the stature would be a very great thing. Our age is conceived of as a race o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:28. FOR RAIMENT. The second thought in Matthew 6:25 is now expanded and illustrated; not only anxiety, but the common and childish vanity about raiment, is reproved. CONSIDER, _i.e.,_ study, observe closely; more readily done in the case of the plants than in that of the birds. THE LILI... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:29. EVEN SOLOMON. The magnificence of his court is still proverbial through the East. To the Jew he was the highest representative of human glory. LIKE ONE OF THESE. ‘One' is emphatic. The meanest of God's creatures exceed in glory the highest earthly pomp. Vanity about such things is th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:30. BUT IF GOD DOTH SO CLOTHE. ‘If' does not imply doubt. The direct creative purpose and act of God is here assumed. THE GRASS OF THE FIELD. Wild flowers belong to the herbage, which is cut down. It withers rapidly and is then fit for fuel, being east INTO THE OVEN, its beauty gone, eve... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:31. THEREFORE. The logic is so conclusive, even those of little faith might learn the lesson. It is not learned, if we are ANXIOUS, SAYING, WHAT SHALL WE EAT, etc. Too few have faith enough to interpret this verse correctly.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:32. FOR. A reason against this anxious thought is now given. The parenthesis is unnecessary. AFTER ALL THESE THINGS DO THE GENTILES SEEK. Worldliness and distrust are heathenish. The Pharisees, boasting of freedom from Gentile influence, were guilty of such distrust. Worldly men are quic... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:32. BUT SEEK YE FIRST. No ‘secondly' is implied, as though we might be avaricious, after we have attended to the duties of religion. The first object is supreme. This positive command is needed, for we can avoid such anxious thought, only when we have some better object HIS KINGDOM, _i.e... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 6:34. THEREFORE. Either: a further deduction; or a summing up. The first view accords better with the reason given and would presuppose the other lessons; the latter is favored by the position of the verse immediately after the general precept of Matthew 6:33, and finds a place more easily i... [ Continue Reading ]