1712 | Matthew 6:24
24“ No one can serve two mas ters. Ei ther you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be de voted to the one and de spise the other. You can not serve both God and money. w
Do Not Worry
6:25-33pp— Lk 12:22-31
25“ There fore I tell you, do not worry x about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heav enly Fa ther feeds them. y Are you not much more valu able than they? z 27 Can any one of you by wor ry ing add a sin gle hour to your life a? a
28“ And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flow ers of the field grow. They do not la bor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Sol o mon in all his splen dor b was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here to day and to mor row is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you— you of lit tle faith? c 31 So do not worry, say ing,‘ What shall we eat?’ or‘ What shall we drink?’ or‘ What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pa gans run af ter all these things, and your heav enly Fa ther knows that you need them. d 33 But seek first his king dom and his righ teous ness, and all these things will be given to you as well. e 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it self. Each day has enough trou ble of its own.
6:24 w Lk 16:13
6:25 x ver 27, 28, 31, 34; Lk 10:41; 12:11, 22; Php 4:6; 1Pe 5:7
6:26 y Job 38:41; Ps 147:9 z Mt 10:29‐31
6:27 a Ps 39:5 6:29 b 1Ki 10:4‐7
6:30 c Mt 8:26; 14:31; 16:8
6:32 d ver 8
6:33 e Mt 19:29; Mk 10:29‐30
7:1 f Lk 6:37; Ro 14:4, 10, 13; 1Co 4:5; Jas 4:11, 12
7:2 g Mk 4:24; Lk 6:38
7:7 h Mt 21:22; Mk 11:24; Jn 14:13, 14; 15:7, 16; 16:23, 24; Jas 1:5-8; 4:2, 3; 1Jn 3:22; 5:14, 15
7:8 i Pr 8:17; Jer 29:12, 13
Judging Others
7:3-5pp— Lk 6:41,42
7“ Do not judge, or you too will be judged. f 2 For in the same way you judge oth ers, you
will be judged, and with the mea sure you use, it will be mea sured to you. g
3“ Why do you look at the speck of saw dust in your brother’ s eye and pay no at ten tion to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother,‘ Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to re move the speck from your brother’ s eye.
6“ Do not give dogs what is sa cred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may tram ple them un der their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock
7:7-11pp— Lk 11:9-13
7“ Ask and it will be given to you; h seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For ev ery one who asks re ceives; the one who seeks finds; i and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9“ Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to
a 27 Or single cubit to your height
6:24 A slave, owned entirely by one master, cannot serve two masters, and both God and money are masters that make all-consuming demands. money. Greek mamōna(“ mammon”) refers to material possessions that have become an idol. 6:25 do not worry. Means not that we should not think about or plan ahead but that we are not to be anxious. 6:26 – 27 God provides food and drink for birds, so he will surely provide them for his people. Of course, birds often work hard to find their food, so this is scarcely a call to laziness. 6:28 – 32 Even wild flowers and grass are beautifully dressed, so God will surely clothe his people much more wonderfully. Unbelievers worry about the basics of life such as food, drink, and clothing. 6:33 – 34 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. By definition includes sharing one’ s surplus with fellow Christians who lack the basic necessities of life or the ability to acquire them. When God’ s people worldwide do this,“ all these things”( food, drink, clothing) will be given to them as well. This is not a promise that faithful believers will never starve to death, but there need never be any poor among them( Deut 15:4). Only the disobedience of God’ s people makes it inevitable that at least a few poor believers remain( Deut 15:11). Moreover, each day has too many unavoidable worries of its own for us to indulge in worries about the future as well.
7:1 – 12 Verses 1 – 6 are tied together by the theme of judging others, while vv. 7 – 11 have to do with petitioning God. Verse 12 summarizes both themes as well as the entire section. 7:1 judge. Greek krinō can mean to condemn or judge overly harshly; that is what it means here in v. 1 because, following the lex talionis( see note on 5:38), God will judge accordingly. Jesus condemns censoriousness and judgmentalism( v. 1), but judgment in the sense of analysis or discernment is always necessary, once one has examined oneself first( vv. 2 – 6). Verses 5 – 6 make it clear that Jesus’ followers must analyze situations and correct people when they err( cf. vv. 15 – 20; John 7:24).
7:5 Once one has dealt with an area in which they have sinned greatly, they can and must offer sincere help for others struggling in that area. 7:6 Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. Probably refers to the prolonged offering of the gospel and its holy truths and practices to those who spitefully mock and reject it, especially given that dogs were wild scavengers in Israel and pigs were the most unclean of animals. 7:7 Ask... seek... knock. The commands are all in the present tense in Greek, suggesting continuous or frequent action. Jesus expects his audience to remember“ your will be done” in his model prayer( 6:10). These verses are not quite the“ blank check” they may first seem to be. 7:9 – 10 stone... snake. Small, hand-size loaves of bread often resembled stones in shape and color, and some eel-shaped fish could look like snakes. Normally, parents do not intentionally deceive their children in these potentially harmful ways. 7:11 though you are evil. Refers simply to the