Bible Study series: Matthew 6:1-4. Giving generously in secret is the right way. Be careful about trumpeting your giving. You’ll lose your reward.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 6:1-4
1 Be on your guard against doing your righteousness in front of people for the purpose of being seen by them; otherwise, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do your act of generosity, don’t sound a trumpet ahead of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they are praised by people. I tell you the truth that they have been paid their reward. 3 When you do your acts of generosity, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your generosity is done in secret and that your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Comments
Jesus had said to let your light shine so brightly that people see your good works and glorify God (5:14-16). Here the flow of this teaching goes in another direction, seen in the purpose clause: “for the purpose.” In 5:14-16, the light shines naturally out of the kingdom citizen, out of who he is, because Jesus said he is the light of the world, before he begins his good works. In the earlier passage, light is the source; here, showing off is the purpose or goal, and that’s wrongheaded.
“Jesus’ warning does not, of course, preclude public acts of righteousness—even with the knowledge that such acts will draw attention—as long as the disciple seeks to be seen for God’s glory rather than his or her own (5:16)” (Keener, p. 206).
The Sermon on the Mount is related to Jeremiah 31:33, which says that in the New Covenant, which will be better than the covenant he made with his people at Sinai (Jer. 31:32), the law is written on the heart:
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. (Jer. 31:33)
So the heart matters in in the New Covenant, and Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter.
1:
“doing righteousness” is an accurate translation. It means that people do acts of righteousness, and in this context by being generous with the kingdom citizen’s money. If they perform their acts of generosity with the express purpose of showing off, then they have no reward before their Father in heaven. The main point in charity (6:2-4), praying (6:5-15) and fasting (6:16-18) is that the “disciples must guard against the perverse tendency to do good deeds in order to receive human admiration, because this forfeits divine reward (cf. Matt. 10:41-42; 19:27-29)” (Turner, comment on 6:1).
Righteousness is not only declared righteousness. It involves doing good works. First, the person is saved and declared righteous; then, second, he shows that he is declared righteous by doing righteous deeds. So the sequence is important: first salvation, then works of righteousness (and the sequence is more logical than chronological). Some scholars won’t like me introducing the concept of “salvation” in Jesus’s Sermon because it is out of place, but I simply mean that one enters the kingdom upon repentance (Matt. 4:17), which brings the person into right relationship with God.
Hyper-grace teachers need to be careful about downplaying or deemphasizing doing good works in keeping with repentance after the person has entered the kingdom of God (Matt. 3:8; Acts. 26:20).
8 Righteousness of the Kingdom
I really like the idea that our Father will reward us when we do our good works or acts of generosity in private or secret or in hiddenness. When we do things in private, our Father who sees things done privately and rewards in private.
2:
“act of generosity” means to give to the poor; in the old days, it was translated as “almsgiving” or “alms.”
“hypocrites”: originally it comes from the Greek play actor on the stage. They wore masks and played roles. There were stock characters, such as the buffoon, the bombastic soldier, or the old miser. The Septuagint (pronounced sep-too-ah-gent and abbreviated LXX for the “seventy” scholars who worked on it) is a third-to-second century (B.C.) translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It uses the term hypocrite to mean the godless. However, in Matthew’s Gospel (it is used only once in Mark 7:6 and three times in Luke 6:42; 12:56; 13:15), it is more nuanced. Hypocrites appeared one way, but in reality they were different. They appeared outwardly religious, but inwardly they were full of dead men’s bones (Matt. 23:27). They wore religious masks. They actually did many things that the law required, but they failed to understand God’s view of righteousness. They were more self-deceived than deceivers, though in Matt. 23, Jesus denounced the Pharisees and experts in the law for teaching one thing but living another. They are religious show-offs who act out their righteousness to impress others but are out of touch with God’s mercy and love. Eccl. 7:16 says not to be overly righteous, but that is what they were and displayed it publicly. Here in these four verses, ostentatious display is wrong.
You can believe that they really did sound their trumpets (a few scholars argue for this), but mostly we should see this as hyperbolic imagery (Keener). Remember that hyperbole (pronounced hy-PER-bo-lee) is a rhetorical device that means an “extravagant exaggeration.” (Example: “This ice cream guy is really generous! He piled the ice cream a mile high on my cone!” The ice cream is not literally a mile high). The goal of hyperbole is to shock the listener to take notice.
Back to sounding the trumpet. The offering receptacles were in the shape of a trumpet, with the wide opening facing upwards. A giver drops his coins in it, and they could make a sound. But I believe we should see the whole picture as hyperbole, and the hypocrites do not literally sound the shofar or the metal trumpet before they give. Rather, the phrase is another startling image—Jesus used many of them in the Sermon on the Mount—which means to broadcast your generosity by “blowing your own horn” (as we say today).
In any case, the main point in v. 2 here is that they give so that they are seen by men. When they do, they have their reward—the praise of men, not the praise of God.
“I tell you the truth”: Matthew uses this expression thirty times in his Gospel. “Truth” comes from the word amēn (pronounced ah-main and comes into English as amen). It expresses the authority of the one who utters it. The Hebrew root ’mn means faithfulness, reliability and certainty. It could be translated as “truly I tell you” or I tell you with certainty.” Jesus’s faith in his own words is remarkable and points to his unique calling. In the OT and later Jewish writings is indicates a solemn pronouncement, but Jesus’ “introductory uses of amēn to confirm his own words is unique” (France at his comment on 5:18). The authoritative formula emphasizes pronouncements which are noteworthy and will be surprising or uncomfortable to the listener.
“paid their reward”: The verb in this context means “receive a sum in full and give a receipt for it (commercial term”) (Shorter Lexicon). Then the editors cite 6:2 and 5, 16. it means to get something back in full or receive a reward in full. In this case, their reward is earth-bound and small. Maybe in this context the receipt is spiritual. The paper is blank or the amount is really small. I prefer blank. It’s an empty receipt.
Osborne quotes an old-school commentator (Plummer): “They receive their pay then and there, and they receive it in full … God owes them nothing. They were not giving but buying. They wanted the praise of men, they paid for it, and they got it. The transaction is ended and they can claim nothing more” (comment on 6:2). The rich need to be careful when giving generously. Do it anonymously.
3:
Now Jesus uses another hyperbole to drive home his point. Right and left hands don’t literally know what the other does. Instead, the teaching says that a kingdom citizen’s good deeds should be done in secret, so that he doesn’t pay attention to it. He doesn’t praise himself. He just gives out of love and compassion, not for his own positive reinforcement or feeling good.
4:
The word “secret” can be translated as “private” or “out of the public view” or “a hidden place.” It is the opposite of “out in the open” or “public.”
The Father sees every secret thing you do—and aren’t you glad he shows mercy!—so he will reward you in secret.
“reward”: This verb can mean “reward” or “recompense” or “give” or “pay back.” So hyper-prosperity teachers should not take the one word too far. God pays in full in private. No kingdom citizen needs to yell about having private jets or shout, “Money, come forth!” or have a church slogan that says, “Money cometh!” Or “Money come to me!” This is foolishness. Those preachers need to repent.
GrowApp for Matt. 5:1-4
1. Do you give your time and money for the kingdom? What is your motive for giving? Self-aggrandizement? To get rich? Generosity?
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14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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