Commentaries
Commentaries for Matthew Chapter 6
Showing Righteousness to God Alone
Jesus begins this section of his teaching with a thesis statement summarizing his point: Do your righteousness for God to see you, not others (6:1)...
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Righteousness When Only God Sees
Several observations concerning 6:1, the thesis statement for this section, are appropriate before we approach the following paragraphs of the passage in more detail...
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Doing Charity Secretly
This paragraph assumes that disciples give to the poor (compare 6:19-24 at greater length); what it evaluates is how we give to the poor...
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Fasting Secretly
In this case (as opposed to generally) the hypocrites who disfigure [literally, ruin!] their faces may well evoke the original sense of "hypocrites" as actors in the theater, who typically wore large theatrical masks...
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Do Not Value Possessions
Jesus exhorts us not to value possessions enough to seek them (6:19-24), quite in contrast to today's prosperity preachers and most of Western society...
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Do Not Value Possessions Enough to Seek Them
So prominent in Jesus' parables and wisdom sayings is his emphasis on utter faith in God and relinquishment of possessions that Geza Vermes (1993:148) considers this a central element in Jesus' teaching...
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Do Not Value Possessions Enough to Worry About Them
Jesus' message here picks up his earlier discussion of secret charity (6:1-4)...
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