Righteousness
This chapter is no longer about the Christian principle in contrast to the law as in Matthew 5, but about our Father with Whom we have to do in secret. The expression “your Father” is used here more than ten times. The disciples are brought into a personal connection with the Father. He understands us, sees everything that happens in and around us, listens to us and gives us advice. Everything shows that He has the deepest concern for us.
The previous chapter deals with the nature of righteousness. This chapter is about doing righteousness. With this, the Lord points out the great danger that we will do righteousness before the eyes of men in order to obtain their appreciation and recognition. That is nothing but hypocrisy.
The Lord goes into three forms of righteousness which are easily practiced in order to garner the glory of men. He speaks of doing righteousness in the forms of giving [Verse 2-4], prayer [Verse 5-15] and fasting [Verse 16-18]. In outward display these forms can impress people, but not God. God seeks inward truth. We receive the reward that the Father pays out in the kingdom of peace. We lose that when we do things before the eyes of people.
Giving is about our attitude towards our fellow human beings, prayer is about our attitude toward God, and fasting is about ourselves. It is as by grace that teaches us that we “live sensibly, righteously and godly” [Titus 2:12]. ‘Sensibly’ is about our inner attitude, we are “righteous” towards our fellowmen and we show “godliness” towards God.
The previous chapter deals with the nature of righteousness. This chapter is about doing righteousness. With this, the Lord points out the great danger that we will do righteousness before the eyes of men in order to obtain their appreciation and recognition. That is nothing but hypocrisy.
The Lord goes into three forms of righteousness which are easily practiced in order to garner the glory of men. He speaks of doing righteousness in the forms of giving [Verse 2-4], prayer [Verse 5-15] and fasting [Verse 16-18]. In outward display these forms can impress people, but not God. God seeks inward truth. We receive the reward that the Father pays out in the kingdom of peace. We lose that when we do things before the eyes of people.
Giving is about our attitude towards our fellow human beings, prayer is about our attitude toward God, and fasting is about ourselves. It is as by grace that teaches us that we “live sensibly, righteously and godly” [Titus 2:12]. ‘Sensibly’ is about our inner attitude, we are “righteous” towards our fellowmen and we show “godliness” towards God.
 | Author: Ger de Koning Rank: Author Posted on: 2024-03-19 Source: Title: Matthew Author: Ger de Koning Copyright: kingcomments.com Note General: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author or the publisher. |
Our Lord next warned against hypocrisy and outward show in religious duties. What we do, must be done from an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may be praised of men. In these verses we are cautioned against hypocrisy in giving alms. Take heed of it. It is a subtle sin; and vain-glory creeps into what we do, before we are aware. But the duty is not the less necessary and excellencies for being abused by hypocrites to serve their pride. The doom Christ passes, at first may seem a promise, but it is their reward; not the reward God promises to those who do good, but the reward hypocrites promise themselves, and a poor reward it is; they did it to be seen of men, and they are seen of men. When we take least notice of our good deeds ourselves, God takes most notice of them. He will reward thee; not as a master who gives his servant what he earns, and no more, but as a Father who gives abundantly to his son that serves him.
Verses that belong to this explanation: 1-4
1 ‹Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.› 2 ‹Therefore when thou doest› [thine] ‹alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.› 3 ‹But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:› 4 ‹That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.›
 | Author: Matthew Henry Rank: Priest AD: 1714 Source: Title: Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible Author: Matthew Henry |
When Jesus warned, “Beware of practicing your piety before men,” he then added pointedly, “to be seen by them.” On first glance it seems as if the same thing were being repeated, but if you were carefully to pay attention, you will note a careful distinction. Alms may be given in the presence of others primarily to be seen by them, or they may be given in the presence of others but not to be seen, or they may be openly given in order to be seen but still not be seen, or they may be given quietly and still be seen. He is not focusing simply on the outward act done but the inward intent. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
 | Author: John Chrysostom Rank: Bishop AD: 407 |
He roots out in what remains the most tyrannical passion of all, the rage and madness with respect to vainglory, which springs up in them that do right. For at first He had not at all discoursed about it; it being indeed superfluous, before He had persuaded them to do any of the things which they ought, to teach in which way they should practise and pursue them. But after He had led them on to self-command, then He proceeds to purge away also the alloy which secretly subsists with it. For this disease is by no means of random birth; but when we have duly performed many of the commandments. It behooved therefore first to implant virtue, and then to remove the passion which mars its fruit. And see with what He begins, with fasting, and prayer, and almsgiving: for in these good deeds most especially it is wont to make its haunt. The Pharisee, for instance, was hereby puffed up, who says, I fast twice a week, I give tithes of my substance. Luke 18:12 And he was vainglorious too in his very prayer, making it for display. For since there was no one else present, he pointed himself out to the publican, saying, I am not as the rest of men, nor even as this publican. Luke 18:11 And mark how Christ began, as though He were speaking of some wild beast, hard to catch, and crafty to deceive him who was not very watchful. Thus, take heed, says He, as to your alms. So Paul also speaks to the Philippians; Beware of dogs. And with reason, for the evil beast comes in upon us secretly, and without noise puffs all away, and unobservedly carries out all that is within. Forasmuch then as He had made much discourse about almsgiving, and brought forward God, Who makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, Matthew 5:45 and by motives from all quarters had urged them on to this, and had persuaded them to exult in the abundance of their giving; He finishes by taking away also all things that encumber this fair olive tree. For which same cause He says, Take heed that you do not your alms before men, for that which was before mentioned, is God's almsgiving. 2. And when He had said, not to do it before men, He added, to be seen of them. And though it seems as if the same thing were said a second time, yet if any one give particular attention, it is not the same thing, but one is different from the other; and it has great security, and unspeakable care and tenderness. For it may be, both that one doing alms before men may not do it to be seen of them, and again that one not doing it before men may do it to be seen of them. Wherefore it is not simply the thing, but the intent, which He both punishes and rewards. And unless such exactness were employed, this would make many more backward about the giving of alms, because it is not on every occasion altogether possible to do it secretly. For this cause, setting you free from this restraint, He defines both the penalty and the reward not by the result of the action, but by the intention of the doer. That is, that you may not say, What? Am I then the worse, should another see?— it is not this, says He, that I am seeking, but the mind that is in you, and the tone of what you do. For His will is to bring our soul altogether into frame, and to deliver it from every disease. Now having, as you see, forbidden men's acting for display, and having taught them the penalty thence ensuing, namely, to do it vainly, and for nought, He again rouses their spirits by putting them in mind of the Father, and of Heaven, that not by the loss alone He might sting them, but also shame them by the recollection of Him who gave them being. For you have no reward, says He, with your Father which is in Heaven. Matthew 6:1 Nor even at this did He stop, but proceeds yet further, by other motives also increasing their disgust. For as above He set forth publicans and heathens, by the quality of the person shaming their imitators, so also in this place the hypocrites.
| Author: John Chrysostom Rank: Bishop AD: 407 |
Hom. xix: Yet be it known that the desire of fame is near a kin to virtue.
For when any thing truly glorious is done, there ostentation has its readiest occasion; so the Lord first shuts out all intention of seeking glory; as He knows that this is of all fleshly vices the most dangerous to man. The servants of the Devil are tormented by all kinds of vices; but it is the desire of empty glory that torments the servants of the Lord more than the servants of the Devil.
And therefore he enjoins this to be more carefully avoided, “Take heed that yedo not your righteousness before men.” It is our heart we must watch, for it is an invisible serpent that we have to guard against, which secretly enters in and seduces; but if the heart be pure into which the enemy has succeeded in entering in, the righteous man soon feels that he is prompted by a strange spirit; but if his heart were full of wickedness, he does not readily perceive the suggestion of the Devil, and therefore He first taught us, “Be not angry, Lust not,” for that he who is under the yoke of these evils cannot attend to his own heart. But how can it be that we should not do our alms before men. Or if this may be, how can they be so done that we should not know of it. For if a poor man come before us in the presence of any one, how shall we be able to give him alms in secret? If we lead him aside, it must be seen that we shall give him. Observe then that He said not simply, “Do not before men,” but added, “to be seen of them.” He then who does righteousness not from this motive, even if he does it before the eyes of men, is not to be thought to be herein condemned; for he who does any thing for God’s sake, sees nothing in his heart but God, for whose sake he does it; as a workman has always before his eyes him who has entrusted him with the work to do.
What shall you receive from God, who have given God nothing? What is done for God's sake is given to God, and received by Him; but what is done because of men is cast to the winds. But that wisdom is it, to bestow our goods, to reap empty words, and to have despised the reward of God? Nay you deceive the very man for whose good word you look; for he thinks you do it for God’s sake, otherwise he would rather reproach then command you. Yet must we think him only to have done his work because of men, who does it with his whole will and intention governed by the thought of them. But if an idle thought, seeking to be seen of men, mount up in any one’s heart, but is resisted by the understanding spirit, he is not thereupon to be condemned of man-pleasing; for that the thought came to him was the passion of the flesh, what he chose was the judgment of his soul.
| Author: John Chrysostom Rank: Bishop AD: 407 |
He removes all concern for things of the present and bids those thunderstruck by the hope of the future to pursue neither the favor of others by parading their virtue nor religious boasting through an outpouring of public prayer. Rather, the fruit of good works is to be contained within the knowledge of faith, because the pursuit of human praise will receive only that reward which it looks for from people, while to yearn for God’s approval is to pursue a reward longed for patiently.
 | Author: Hilary of Poitiers Rank: Bishop AD: 368 |
Take heed, says He, that you do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them; otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Here He has mentioned righteousness generally, then He follows it up in detail. For a deed which is done in the way of alms is a certain part of righteousness, and therefore He connects the two by saying, Therefore, when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. In this there is a reference to what He says before, Take heed that you do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them. But what follows, Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward, refers to that other statement which He has made above, Otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Then follows, But when you do alms. When He says, But you, what else does He mean but, Not in the same manner as they? What, then, does He bid me do? But when you do alms, says He, let not your left hand know what your right hand does. Hence those other parties so act, that their left hand knows what their right hand does. What, therefore, is blamed in them, this you are forbidden to do. But this is what is blamed in them, that they act in such a way as to seek the praises of men. And therefore the left hand seems to have no more suitable meaning than just this delight in praise. But the right hand means the intention of fulfilling the divine commands. When, therefore, with the consciousness of him who does alms is mixed up the desire of man's praise, the left hand becomes conscious of the work of the right hand: Let not, therefore, your left hand know what your right hand does; i.e. Let there not be mixed up in your consciousness the desire of man's praise, when in doing alms you are striving to fulfil a divine command.
 | Author: Augustine of Hippo Rank: Bishop AD: 430 |
i.e., take heed that you do not live righteously with this intent, and that you do not place your happiness in this, that men may see you. Otherwise you have no reward of your Father who is in heaven: not if you should be seen by men; but if you should live righteously with the intent of being seen by men. For, [were it the former], what would become of the statement made in the beginning of this sermon, You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works? But He did not set up this as the end; for He has added, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. But here, because he is finding fault with this, if the end of our right actions is there, i.e. if we act rightly with this design, only of being seen of men; after He has said, Take heed that you do not your righteousness before men, He has added nothing. And hereby it is evident that He has said this, not to prevent us from acting rightly before men, but lest perchance we should act rightly before men for the purpose of being seen by them, i.e. should fix our eye on this, and make it the end of what we have set before us. For the apostle also says, If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ; while he says in another place, Please all men in all things, even as I also please all men in all things. And they who do not understand this think it a contradiction; while the explanation is, that he has said he does not please men, because he was accustomed to act rightly, not with the express design of pleasing men, but of pleasing God, to the love of whom he wished to turn men's hearts by that very thing in which he was pleasing men. Therefore he was both right in saying that he did not please men, because in that very thing he aimed at pleasing God: and right in authoritatively teaching that we ought to please men, not in order that this should be sought for as the reward of our good deeds; but because the man who would not offer himself for imitation to those whom he wished to be saved, could not please God; but no man possibly can imitate one who has not pleased him. As, therefore, that man would not speak absurdly who should say, In this work of seeking a ship, it is not a ship, but my native country, that I seek: so the apostle also might fitly say, In this work of pleasing men, it is not men, but God, that I please; because I do not aim at pleasing men, but have it as my object, that those whom I wish to be saved may imitate me. Just as he says of an offering that is made for the saints, Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit; i.e., In seeking your gift, I seek not it, but your fruit. For by this proof it could appear how far they had advanced Godward, when they offered that willingly which was sought from them not for the sake of his own joy over their gifts, but for the sake of the fellowship of love. Although when He also goes on to say, Otherwise you have no reward of your Father who is in heaven, He points out nothing else but that we ought to be on our guard against seeking man's praise as the reward of our deeds, i.e. against thinking we thereby attain to blessedness.
| Author: Augustine of Hippo Rank: Bishop AD: 430 |
Prosper. Lib. Sentent. 318: How great strength the love of human glory has, none feels, but he who has proclaimed war against it. For though it is easy for any not to wish for praise when it is denied him, it is difficult not to be pleased with it when it is offered.
Serm. 54. 2: He says this, “that ye be seen of men,” because there are some whoso do their righteousness before men that themselves may not be seen, but that the works themselves may be seen, and their Father who is in heaven may be glorified; for they reckon not their own righteousness, but His, in the faith of whom they live.
Serm. in Mont.: That He adds, “Otherwise ye shall not have your reward before your Father who is in heaven,” signifies no more than that we ought to take heed that we seek not praise of men in reward of our words.
| Author: Augustine of Hippo Rank: Bishop AD: 430 |
The listed verse explanations of the individual persons have nothing to do with the explanations of the other persons. This also applies to the Bible translations.
