INTRODUCTION
As we continue in our series, Summer on the Mount, we move into chapter 6. Chapter 5 contains the start of the Sermon on the Mount and focuses on the importance of proper motivation for acts of righteousness. To begin chapter 6, Jesus will apply those principles to the three acts of faith, often deemed most important in first-century Judaism: gifts to the poor, prayer, and fasting.
This discussion focuses on the importance of proper motives when performing righteous deeds. Interestingly, the Lord’s Prayer is at the structural center of the Sermon on the Mount.
The theme of an inside-out change continues as Jesus stresses the importance of righteous behavior. Correct actions with improper motives do not please God. These verses are designed to help us reflect on why we help others and pray. Is it to glorify God or for ourselves?
Matthew 6:1–18 (ESV)
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you
SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS
The importance of motive in our faith is illustrated in the areas of benevolence, prayer, and fasting. Jesus esteemed all three and assumed that his followers would practice them. His point was that the motive behind religious expression gives it its true meaning. If one’s faith is performance-oriented and focused on self, then Jesus calls it out as false.
Verses 1-4
Verse one is the thesis statement that introduces the three examples of private faith. Prayer, fasting, and gifts to the poor were basic components of the Jewish faith. Greeks and Romans did not support personal charity; wealthy contributions to public projects or to lower-class clients were meant to secure the giver’s popularity. In contrast, charity to the poor was central to Judaism. Jesus was simply explaining that the motive for charity must not be the desire for praise from others.
Jesus did not prohibit public acts of righteousness, but he warned that the motivation for such acts is more important than the bare fact of performing them. All such deeds must be done for God’s glory, not human reputation. Those who seek human acclaim when performing good works will receive no heavenly reward. The words whenever you give assume that disciples will regularly assist needy people. The prohibition don’t sound a trumpet is in reference to making noise about what you have done. God’s people are not to give to draw attention to themselves instead of God. Jesus was simply explaining that the motive for charity must not be centered on the promotion of self.
Verses 5-8
As with giving to the needy, prayer can be perverted from a true act of faith into an act of hypocrisy when the external act masks an inner self-centered motive. The focus is on the intimacy of communion with God in one’s heart, which is at the center of all prayer, whether it happens to be given publicly or privately. Jesus does not prohibit or condemn any and all public prayer as indicated by his own public prayers.
The problem is not public prayer but motives directed toward anyone else rather than God. It is ironic that this prohibition against meaningless repetition is issued immediately before the Lord’s Prayer. This passage is, without doubt, the most often repeated passage in the Bible.
The babbling of Gentiles refers to the meaningless gibberish that appears in Greek mystic writings. Worshipers of the pagan gods believed that the words they used carried some kind of magical power. Thus, the more often these words were used, the more powerful the magic. Like the familiar “abracadabra,” these formulas were nonsensical combinations of sounds that were believed to have special power. Ancient texts show that Jews sometimes embraced these practices. The pagan worshiper believed he needed to pray repetitively with words and phrases. Once a worshiper got a god’s attention, he continued to pray repetitively to ensure that he was heard correctly and to convince the god that his request was worth granting. All of this practice was in an effort to manipulate their gods into their desires. While the prayer was toward their gods, the prayer was about self.
Jesus encourages us to be short and concise in our prayers. This is fantastically liberating because we no longer need to feel like we should impress God in prayer. Jesus does not forbid public acts; he forbids religious displays motivated by ego and self.
Verses 9-13
This is a prayer for the desperate, who recognize that this world is not as it should be and that only God can set things straight. The Lord’s prayer makes three petitions about God and his glory, followed by three about ourselves and our needs. The order is significant. We are not to be so taken up with ourselves that we rush into God’s presence and give him a shopping list of our needs. His name is to be hallowed: that is to say, we long for his name to have a top place in the world and in people’s hearts. ‘Lord, may we make you our Number One.’ What a marvelous note of adoration with which to begin a time of prayer! The second request is for his kingdom to come. That is to say, for the extension of his control in the lives of those who are at present rebels against his love. It is a prayer for the spread of the gospel. The third petition is perhaps more directed towards life in the kingdom. If the disciples are anxious to see God’s rule conquering the apathy and self-centredness of their friends who are not yet disciples, they should be no less concerned to see his will being done in their own lives, changing them and making them more like Jesus. It is only when these three priorities have been addressed that disciples should turn to their own needs.
The petition for daily bread is probably best taken at face value as a request for the food needed daily and that it be provided when it is needed. “Lead us not into temptation” does not imply “don’t bring us to the place of temptation” or “don’t allow us to be tempted.” Rather, these words are best taken as “don’t let us succumb to temptation” or “don’t abandon us to temptation.”
Those who have received forgiveness are so grateful to God that they eagerly forgive those who are “debtors” to them. This does not teach that humans must forgive others before they can receive forgiveness themselves; rather, the forgiveness of others is proof that a disciple’s sins are forgiven and that they received salvation. Disciples are to forgive those who have wronged them to maintain the joyful experience of our salvation.
The pattern of meaningful prayer is to begin by majoring on the person and nature of God and his kingdom interests, coming to personal requests and needs only secondarily.
Verses 14-15
The principle of forgiveness that Jesus states here seems to be that only people of grace understand grace. Receiving God’s forgiveness motivates forgiveness toward others. The kingdom servant who matures and grows in purity and obedience should rely less and less on the prayer for forgiveness and more and more on the prayer for protection. God forgives those who are truly repentant. True repentance results in a willingness to forgive others.
Verses 16-18
“Do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces” refers to the Jewish public practice of smearing ashes on the face and wearing grim expressions during times of fasting. Although these acts originally expressed true repentance, hypocrites adopted them as a mask of false righteousness. The main point of this passage is not fasting but the contrast between the hypocritically self-righteous and those who are truly righteous. While the practice of fasting is not commanded for New Testament believers, many saints who are prominent role models for us did practice fasting. Again, Jesus is pointing directly to the inner motives of all faith-based actions.
TODAY’S KEY TRUTH
Our Compassion for Others and Our Prayers are to be Centered on God.
APPLICATION
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the fashion models of righteousness. The way they dressed. The way they prayed. The way they helped others. Few doubted their devotion to God. Therefore, the people looked to them as role models, the standard bearers of obedience to God. The Pharisaical task of modeling holiness was essential to guiding Israel in the way they thought they should go. To be a member of the Pharisees, to have the honorable distinction of belonging to this group, was more desirable than we can imagine. That level of honor and respect was the ultimate goal of everyone in the first-century Mediterranean world. Honor defined success; therefore, pursuing honor was an unquestionable good. In other words, to get people to admire you for your honorable behavior was a social good recognized by everyone.
So when Jesus came along and stated in effect, “The Pharisees are not as righteous as you think,” he was not only challenging the faith of the Pharisees but also the entire cultural idea of honor, questioning the value of social approval, especially when it comes to religious activities. Since religious devotion was supposed to be directed toward God, then acts of faith performed for the sake of public approval were misguided and shortsighted. They were misguided because God can see what is secret and shortsighted because temporary public acclaim cancels out eternal divine rewards. Jesus keeps hitting this same point repeatedly as he talks about helping the poor, praying to God, and fasting. If you “practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them,” then you lose your heavenly reward because God treasures faith performed in secret.
Jesus is calling out an issue that is relevant today. Here is a simple way to understand what Jesus is saying: actors crave applause. Actors crave applause. Those who are acting want to be seen for the role they play, not who they really are. Actors want to be known for the fictitious role they play. Jesus was being clever when he used the term hypocrite to describe playing to the audience. The word comes from the world of theatre. To be a hypocrite is to be an actor who “wears a mask.” The theatrics of the hypocrites are evident because they perform their religious acts “in front of others to be seen.” Notice how Jesus always places the hypocrites in public places when they give alms, pray, and fast. He mentions not only synagogues but also streets as the desired location for these religious performances. Obviously, one cannot receive applause without a crowd. All the elements for a great performance were present: stage, actor, audience. Public acts of faith had become a great theatre for both the performers and those who watched the spectacle. Actors crave applause.
I want you to see that Jesus is not saying, “Don’t be like them because they don’t give to the poor, and they don’t pray.” Jesus is not saying, “I want my disciples to give to the poor and pray, not like these people over here who don’t give to the poor and they don’t pray.” No, no, no. They give to the poor, and they pray. In fact, they pray diligently, and yet Jesus says, “I don’t want you to have their attitude. I don’t want you to have their orientation of the heart. I don’t want you to have their motivation because it’s absolutely wrong.”
Actors crave applause.
Look how they pray. Again, it says, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues …” Which means the congregation. “… they think they will be heard because of their many words, babbling.” Now, babbling is a word that conveys an intensity. A lot of words were said with intentionality and intensity. Here, we’re told these people think that because of the intensity of their spiritual devotional actions, God will have to hear them. God will have to bless them. When people see how prayerful they are, people will also bless them.
So, what is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying there are two ways to live a moral life. A moral life is to give to the poor, to do moral actions, and to pray. There are two completely different ways. One is you can do it to control God and to control people. You’re doing it to get control of their regard and favor. You’re saying, “If I live like this, then people will have to bless me. They will have to admire me. God will have to listen to me. God will have to hear what I’m saying. God will have to bless me.”
Or you can do it as a response to God’s grace. You can do it just because you have been given everything and, in gratitude and joy, you just simply want to respond with prayer, giving to the poor out of gratitude, not out of a desire to control. Jesus is bringing into focus this inside-out change. Jesus is drilling down on this change of heart he’s preaching through out the entire sermon on the mount. Jesus’ followers must live for God in response to His love, not self-promotion.
Our Compassion for Others and Our Prayers are to be Centered on God.
CONCLUSION
What we do matters. Why we do it matters, too. Motives are important. Motives reveal the heart. Actors crave applause. I despise Hollywood award shows. I don’t care to spend my evening watching the 1% pat themselves on the back. They enjoy all the lights, attention, accolades, awards, and, of course, the applause. But it's all temporary, and it's based on fictitious acting. In the annals of history, who remembers what actor won what award or what actor played what role? No one. Why? Because we all know that in the grand scheme of life and eternity, acting and role-playing means nothing. Acting will win no awards in Heaven. When our motives are all centered on self and centered on the temporary nature of this world, everything we do isn’t real and eventually will fade to nothing.
Our Compassion for Others and Our Prayers are to be Centered on God.
Jesus calls our attention to the motive behind our obedience. Is it ourselves or God? A true disciple has the right two motives.
A true disciple operates out of gratitude to the Savior who has rescued us. Gratitude is developed as a motivating force by continually looking away from ourselves to the finished work of Jesus’ sacrifice and considering deeply the alternative consequences of our fate without it.
The second motive is love in response to God’s love for us. To have experienced real love from God will move us mightily to love him and to love others. We are to be motivated by the desire to emulate Jesus, who loved us before we loved Him.
Of course, there is the motive of our own future reward. Those who give to the needy, pray, and fast in the secrecy of the heart will be rewarded. But Jesus did not present rewards as the primary motivating force. Rewards are mentioned as the by-product of a life free from self-promotion. Believers’ motivation in this life should not be the obtaining of any rewards as an end in itself. Our motivation should be to please God wholeheartedly in gratitude and love for what he has already done for us through Christ.
What we do matters. Why we do it matters, too.
Motives are important. Motives reveal the heart.
Our Compassion for Others and Our Prayers are to be Centered on God.
Our compassionate acts for others and our prayers to God will either be centered on ourselves or God. Our hearts will be set on ourselves or God. In 100 years, there will be no one alive with a personal memory of you. We all fade into history. If your motives to be compassionate toward others and your prayer life are really about you, everything you do will fade into history as well.
But if our motives are centered on God, who is eternal, and whose mission to save and redeem humanity is eternal, then what we do has eternal meaning and purpose. Our motivation is to be grounded in our gratitude and love. Every compassionate act and every prayer must be centered on God because only God is worth remembering.
Our Compassion for Others and Our Prayers are to be Centered on God.
Hi Dr. Dennis. Thank you for this article. It's so easy to fall into the trap of seeking approval from others, but Jesus calls us to a higher standard—one where our compassion and prayers are centered on God. Our actions should reflect His love and grace, not our desire for recognition.