Matthew 6
Giving to the needy
1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you'll have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The word "secret" is used six times in this chapter.
Prayer
5 "And when you pray, you mustn’t be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 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.
7 "And when you pray, don't heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they’ll be heard for their many words.
8 Don't be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
The Lord's Prayer
9 Pray then like this: "Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Hallowed... Or: Let your name be kept holy. Or: Let your name be treated with reverence.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Or: Let your kingdom come, let your will be done
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen
The Greek for temptation can also mean testing.
Deliver us from evil or: the evil one.
Forgiveness
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you don't forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting
16 "And when you fast, don't look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Notice Jesus says, "when" you fast and not "if" you fast. It seems Jesus expects us to fast.
17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so 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.
In summary: We should do all the following in secret: give to the needy, pray, and fast.
Treasures in heaven
19 "Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
The Greek for healthy implies generous.
23 but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
The Greek for evil can also be translated bad or unhealthy, and may imply stingy.
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can’t serve God and money.
Money: Greek word mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions.
Do not worry
25 "Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious about your life, what you’ll eat or what you'll drink, or about your body, what you'll wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you of more value than they?
27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your lifespan?
Or single cubit to your height; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimetres
28 And why are you anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field, and how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory wasn't clothed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, won’t he much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
furnace: G.2823 κλίβανον klibanon: oven, fire, kiln. Also Luke 12:28
31 Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Gentiles: G.1484 ἔθνη ethnē
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The same "kingdom" that we pray for in the Lord's Prayer, v.10.
34 Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.