Matthew 6:1–18

Associate Professor of Religion and Director of Ministerial Formation, Samford University

Seeking Your Father’s Approval
Matthew 6:1–18

Giving (1–4)
An initial reading of verse 1 would seem to contradict Jesus’ earlier words: “[L]et your light shine before men” (Matt. 5:16). Both verses speak of doing good works, and in both, the objective involves being seen by others. However, Jesus commands this in Matthew 5:16 and prohibits it here. The binding issue in both cases is motive. With the first command, Jesus is concerned with cowardice, and in the second, He is concerned with vanity.

The Greek term for “alms” refers to acts of mercy beyond almsgiving. Here the special reference is to charitable gifts. “Hypocrite” is translated as a word used in drama for an actor, one playing a part. God is not impressed with the acts of a pretender who is trying to impress Him. True reward comes to those who serve out of purest motive. Those receiving the highest rewards in the judgment will be unaware that they had engaged in such praiseworthy service. Such is the point of Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The sheep ask the king when it was that they were serving the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned. The sheep were too concerned about serving “the least of these” to worry about the ultimate reward that they would receive for the service.

Praying (5–15)
Jesus tells His disciples not to pray as pagans do, heaping up “empty phrases” and hoping to be heard because of “their many words.” Here He is not referring to prayers that are either long or eloquent. Jesus is referring to words of flattery that pagans would pray to their gods, hoping to hit the right combination for an answer to the prayers. Believers need not pray such prayers to their heavenly Father. Why not? Because He knows their needs before they ask Him. Just get to the point and keep it simple. Jesus follows this message of plain praying with the model prayer for His disciples.

There are three parts to the prayer: the invocation (v. 9b), the three “Thou Petitions” (vv. 9c–10) and the three “Us Petitions” (vv. 11–13). The invocation begins with “Our Father,” which denotes the intimate level with which we can approach our loving “Abba.” “Who art in heaven” carried with it a subversive political message in Jesus’ day. Caesar was addressed as “Our Savior, Our Lord, the Son of God, Our Father.” Through their model prayer, Christians were daring to say that their true Father was not Caesar on earth, but the eternal Father in heaven. The Thou Petitions refer to the future, when God’s name will be hallowed and sanctified over all things (Ezek. 36:23, 38:23; John 12:28), when evil will be overthrown and His Kingdom established in fullness and when heaven will come down and set all things to the sovereign Lord’s will. Until this occurs, the disciples are to ask for the basic needs in the meantime: physical sustenance, forgiveness for sins, forgiveness of others.

Fasting (16–18)
Jesus sometimes fasted and expected His followers to do so. What He rejected was making a display of the fasting. The Pharisees fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12) and made it a test of spirituality. Jesus refused to be governed by a calendar. He fasted as a spiritual discipline in times of crisis (Matt. 4:2, 9:14–17). The Pharisees’ practice was to disfigure their faces and look grim. Sometimes they smeared their faces and beards with ashes in order to look pious and “holy.” Their objective was to be noticed by all. Their reward was the outward admiration that they received.

The true disciple does not “look somber” but follows a regular routine so others do not suspect that he or she is fasting. Practicing the discipline in this matter will result in eternal reward. William Barclay notes that in addition to eternal reward, there are also some valuable benefits of fasting in the present. These five benefits are self-discipline, the release from slavery to habit, the preservation of the ability to do without things, the positive value for health and the enhancement of our appreciation for things.