Matthew 6b

The second half of this chapter continues with what appears to be Jesus’ commentary on the Lord’s Prayer.[1] Jesus’ ideal prayer begins with an appreciation of God’s character, God’s Kingdom, and God’s will. Then the prayer shifts to the life of the disciple who is dependent on God’s sufficiency. The commentary that follows teaches us that, if God gives us our daily bread, forgives our sins, and keeps us from tests that might become irresistible temptations, then what do we have to worry about? Surely God can also do the rest for us.

Jesus’ commentary begins with a shift in view from practices to motives. Yes, we should give alms, we should pray, and we should pursue justice for others; but these things should become so second-hand to us that we do them automatically. They certainly should not become occasions for showing off what pious fellows we are.

In today’s lesson, Jesus addresses the rest of our daily lives, which can often be fraught with anxiety if we forget that God gives daily bread, ready forgiveness, long-term security, and much more. So, to quote Alfred E. Neuman, “What, me worry?”[2]

6: 19-21.  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Greek words for ‘store up’ and ‘treasures’ are just the verb form and the noun form of the same word.[3] So as Witherington says, it could be read, “Do not treasure up treasures on earth where moth and eaters… can consume…. Rather treasure up in heaven where these things cannot happen.”[4] So, there is a strong tie here between the motive (“treasure up”) and the practice (“store treasures”) that leads to the conclusion that whatever one carefully stores away, one certainly values highly.

This is not, however, a teaching about shunning earthly goods entirely, as some religious orders have done by taking vows of poverty. Food is good, a furnished house is good, a reliable car is good. Think about it: How could we give alms and pursue justice for others if we do not work for earthly goods? The point here is the motivation for our behavior. Do we obsess about earthly goods so much that we hoard them? What treasures do we spend our time storing away? Earthly or heavenly treasures?

If heavenly, then what might the ‘treasures’ be that we store in heaven? Go back to the first half of the chapter, after the Lord’s Prayer is introduced, it is explained. According to Jesus, a well-known authority on such things, the practices of alms-giving, prayer, and fasting, when carried out with the proper motives, each earn spiritual ‘rewards’. These rewards are not secured by the FDIC, rather these rewards are secured by the FIH (Father In Heaven; verses 4, 6, 15, & 18). These spiritual rewards are the treasures that we should be storing up in heaven; and we can rest assured that nothing can consume or steal them there.[5]   

6: 22-23.  The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Jesus’ teaching here is a good one that follows the theme, but it requires some cultural historical background to flesh out the meaning. First, note that we moderns do not think that the eye is a window to the body or soul as did ancient Greeks and Jews. But Jesus is speaking to ancient Jews, so he uses this metaphor.

Second, Jews talked about people having an ‘evil eye’, by which they meant that the person was stingy and mean. By contrast, they thought a person with a ‘good eye’ was generous.

The Greek word translated as ‘healthy’ here means ‘single’,[6] and can be translated as ‘sincere’ or ‘genuine’.[7] Thus, a possible translation for ‘single eye’ today might be ‘single-minded’ or ‘devoted’. The Greek word translated as ‘unhealthy’ here also means ‘evil’, and implies an ‘envious’ or ‘jealous’ spirit. You can see, then, where Jesus is going with this. Let me offer this paraphrase: “If the only light you have comes in through a roving eye rather than a focused eye, then instead of real light you have a body filled with darkness.” That sets up the next teaching.

6: 24.  “No one can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth [Mammon].

Ain’t that the truth? Apparently, Bob Dylan came to that conclusion, at least during ‘the Gospel period’ of his life. His song, “Gotta Serve Somebody,”[8] made it clear that no one is really as  independent as they would like to think;[9] we are all followers of one trend or another. Dylan’s repeating refrain is: “Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord; But you're gonna have to serve somebody.”

The ‘single-mindedness’ that is recommended in the last two verses comes down to a matter of devotion and service. If you covet the possessions of others and try to hoard your own stash, then you look at the world through a ‘sick eye’ that is getting sicker. If you pretend that you are devoted to God, but you keep getting distracted in another quest for earthly security, then your hypocrisy is showing. If you follow God with single-minded devotion, give alms, pray frequently, and fast occasionally, then your treasures will accumulate in heaven no matter your current circumstances.

For older folks, like me, who first learned our verses in the King James Version, the word ‘Mammon’ is familiar; it is the Greek word in the text. The NRSV has translated the word as ‘wealth’, and that makes some sense. However, the ‘either-or’ phrase here is “God or Mammon,” and God is a person. Keener and Walton inform us that, “Mammon (KJV) was an Aramaic designation for money or property, but Jesus apparently personified it. (Personification  is an ancient technique for communicating graphically).”[10] As Bob Dylan said; you should realize that you end up serving somebody, so pay attention the implications of what you are doing.   

6: 25-33.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat {or what you will drink}, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life? [or one cubit to your height]

Would it read better if this translation said, “Do not be anxious” rather than “Do not worry”? I think so. Still, either of them seems better than the King James Version which says, “Take no thought about your life.” The warning here is about anxiety, not just planning ahead.  

Luke uses the same word in a perfect example of what this phrase means. Jesus and his disciples had come to the house of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. Of course good hosts would provide dinner, but perhaps not right away since Jesus has begun a teaching session. When Martha comes out of the kitchen to complain that Mary is not helping her fix dinner,[11] Jesus responds: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10: 41-42). Proper planning and preparation is one thing, but needless worry and anxiety are another.

Jesus then engages in another rhetorical tactic; it could be called ‘how much more’. First, present an obvious example that everyone will agree on. In this case, the birds do not plant or harvest, but they are not anxious about it; God takes care of them. Second, propose that, if that is so, then ‘how much more’ will God take care of those he values highly, that is, his faithful children.

Jesus then adds the observation that being anxious doesn’t seem to help. No one can add to their life span by being anxious. We now know that anxiety will likely shorten your life span. The words here have multiple meanings, and so Jesus could have been saying that excessive worrying will not add a cubit (18 inches) to your stature, although this translation is less likely since adding an hour to one’s life seems more believable than trying to add 18 inches to one’s height.

6: 28-30.  And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

As I have argued above, the better translation for the word ‘worry’ would be: “Why be anxious about clothing?” Certainly Jesus is not suggesting that we go around naked. But we are to observe the birds and the flowers, and learn something. We are not bid to imitate them exactly. There is a difference between taking normal precautions to have clothes to wear and becoming obsessed about which clothes to wear or not having enough options. Remember when Imelda Marcos was found to have 3000 pairs of shoes, 888 handbags, 508 gowns, and 15 mink coats… in the Philippines!  

Do not be anxious or uptight about what you will wear. Like manna, God will provide enough for today. Don’t worry, be happy.    

6: 31-34.  Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom and its righteousness [or ‘the kingdom of God and his righteousness], and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

This teaching segment began with the Lord’s Prayer, with phrases such as "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth” and "Give us our daily bread." The point is that the faithful disciple lives a non-anxious life daily praying for and looking for God’s reign in the marketplace, in the neighborhood, throughout the city. The secret is this; if you make that change, then one more disciple who is living in obedience to God IS evidence of the spread of God’s will and God’s reign on earth.

Will the rest of the world change? Yes, but not by force or by law, rather by one newly-obedient disciple at a time. Will evil go away? No, not until all embrace the change and become devoted to God. In the meantime, we should live a non-anxious life depending on God at every turn, and let God provide as God sees fit. God knows what we need.  

[1] Ben Witherington and others argue. “After the unit on fasting, it has seemed to many that Matthew has given up on a thematic … approach to his material…. This impression is enhanced in the minds of scholars who notice that Luke has this material in various (other) places…. But as Bornkamm has noted, it would appear that the structure of the Lord’s Prayer is the organizing principles for the rest of this material.” Matthew (2006). Page 149.

[2] For those who remember Mad Magazine, Alfred E. Neuman was the red headed freckle-faced mascot.

[3] We can do the same thing in English: “Walk with me and we’ll take a walk” or “That is a sight to see.”

[4] Witherington, Page 149.

[5] R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel According to Matthew, (1961). Page 75.

[6] Haplous, which we see in the scientific words for cells with one (Haploid) chromosome, not two (Diploid).

[7] Keener and Walton, The NRSV Cultural Background Study Bible, (2019). Page 1636.

[8] The lead song on the album “Slow Train Coming” (1979).

[9] Although John Lennon demurred with his parody song “Serve Yourself,” which is no surprise. Remember “Imagine… no religion.”

[10] Keener and Walton, footnotes in The NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, (2019). Page 1636.

[11] Notice the gender implications of the complaint. Martha succumbs to her culture’s assumptions when she implies that the women are expected to go away and cook dinner while the men sit around and learn from Jesus.