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| Chapter 6 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ "Take heed that ye do not your alms giving before men, to be seen by them; otherwise ye have no reward from your Father who is in Heaven. 2 Therefore when thou givest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 3 But when thou givest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, 4 that thine alms giving may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee openly. 5 ¶ "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. 9 ¶ In this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 10 Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 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. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, 18 that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19 ¶ "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 "The light 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 that darkness! 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. 25 ¶ "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, 29 and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Therefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘Wherewith 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. 33 But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 "Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. |
6:1 to 7:12 The behaviour and attitude of Citizens of the Kingdom. Jesus now examines and compares the life He expects of His followers with those of the religious groups like the Pharisees. v1-4 The giving of help through money or material like food - Alms. Though Jesus wants His followers to show Christ and shine before the world He warns that deeds or actions of righteousness must not be done to give self glory, "to be seen by men," God considers that you have already been "rewarded" if you do. Verse 2 goes further that you must not make announcements of what you are about to do, "the sounding of a trumpet," Jesus continues to tell us that this is what the "hypocrites" or people who are ‘acting,- playing a part,’ are doing. They have their reward in full. The original use of the word "reward" indicated that it was in full payment, nothing to be added to it. Neither will God add to the reward. v3,4 However, those who are prepared to give help and gifts secretly, so secret that "even their own hands do not knowing what each is doing," and not expecting any reward from men, those will be rewarded by God the Father. v5-15 Prayer. It was common practice in the synagogues to stand and pray out loud. Mark 11:25, this behaviour was not said to be wrong by Jesus for He prayed publicly. Luke 10:21,22; John 11:41,42. But the deliberate praying in such a way that it became a display, this was the wrong way to pray and was condemned by Jesus. Neither should the prayer be "vain repetitions." It was common for Pagan worship to have repeated phrases or passages in an attempt to ‘wake the god up.’ Jesus is saying here that your prayers should not just be words with no meaning or worship but should come from your heart. It is not the length or the repeated prayer that Jesus is talking about, Jesus prayed all night, Luke 6:12, and repeated His requests, Matt 26:44, He is condemning the attitude of the person in the prayer, the motive or reason for making the prayers. v9-13 The Lord’s Prayer. Jesus now gives an example of a suitable prayer, though short it contains the essential ideas and thoughts. Worship, forgiveness for failures and requests. This prayer was never meant to be recited, repeated without meaning or true belief in the words by a person. Consider John 16:23,24. God and His plans. "Our Father" often used in Old Testament prayers but much more precious to a New Testament believer. "Hallowed be Your name" treated the name with reverence, holy, in awe and respect. "Your Kingdom come." The kingdom of Christ, not only the Jew but all believers should be looking and working for this kingdom. Man and his needs. "Our daily bread," necessary for us to exist. "Forgive us our debts." This is not financial problems but our spiritual failures to the righteous requirements of the Father. This prayer was only given to the disciples, so can only apply to believers confessing their failures. These are not the sins, the wrongs of a non believer coming to Christ. "As we forgive." All forgiveness of sin is totally dependant upon the grace of God through the Blood of Jesus, so a believer who is asking for forgiveness for their own wrong yet still refuses to forgive another person who has wronged them, this must be wrong and hypocritical, for they are making themselves god like by this action. Christians should consider how much God has forgiven them. Eph 4:32. "Lead us not into temptation." God will not lead anyone into temptation, James 1:13,14; Luke 22:40, here the prayer is for God to protect the person from unnecessary temptations. v16-18 Fasting. Under the Old Testament the Mosaic Covenant described one fast day a year on the Day of Atonement Lev 16:29. The Pharisee’s had added two fasts a week, Mondays and Thursdays, they often used these days for public displays of their "purity." The true meaning and use of fasting was to permit all of a persons time to prayer and spiritual meditation. Fasting therefore is a personal action and should not need to involve others as spectators because this means it is acting or done for praise. Jesus never indicated the need for fasting though it did appear occasionally in the early church, Acts 13:2,3. v19-21 Wealth. It was considered by most Jews that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing. Jesus explains that "treasures of the earth" only last a short period because it can be destroyed by animals, wear and tear or even stolen. The citizen of the Kingdom of Christ should store up their riches in heaven but using their life to the glory of God. see v33. Wherever your "treasures" are is where your heart wants to be. v22-24 What you look at and desire shows your interest, Jesus therefore said that your eye is what shines into your body and mind, if the eye is only interested in the things of God then you will have the light of God and understanding in your life. If you are interested only in the things of the world then your treasure and desires will be for the world, no understanding of the love and grace of God, a life full of darkness. Jesus goes on to explain that we are "slaves" and as such we cannot have two masters, we will want to serve one and not the other. So with a citizen of Christ, we can only serve God or riches (mammon). Jesus does not actually condemn wealth but our attitude and desires to it. 25-34 Faith. Those without wealth may be subjected to worry and lack of faith in God supplying their needs. "Take no thought for your life," does not mean that we should make no plans or preparation for the future, consider 1 Tim 5:8, but trust God for each daily need. God made our bodies, He is more than able to supply what is needed. v26 God provides all the needs of the birds and they do not have the ability to sow, harvest and store food like we do. v27 Our food is needed to live and grow, a child grows far more than a cubit (about 18 inches), but once we reach our mature height we are unable to get any taller, it is under the control of God. v28-30 "What we wear." Why Jesus referred to lilies is unknown, possibly they were visible at the place where they were. Jesus is pointing out the short lived beauty of a flower need no special hard work or effort. Solomon was the richest Hebrew king, yet he could not reach the beauty of a flower. God looks after the needs of the grass which we just burn, then He will not fail in our needs if we trust Him. v31,32 The Gentiles spend all their time looking for material gain because they do not know God the Father which the Jews did and had access to Him for all their needs. v33,34 Those who were the children of God should therefore not be concerned about their needs, they should work for the Kingdom of God and trust God for all their needs. Let God look after the future as it is stupid to added tomorrows problems to those of today. |
Easy English Translation
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