NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER SIX

Part III (Con’t)

Verse 16: When you fast, don’t make yourselves look sad like the hypocrites. They put a look of suffering on their faces so that people will see they are fasting. The truth is, that’s all the reward they will get.

Jewish scholars tell us that in olden days fasting was instituted as a sign of mourning,¹ or when danger threatened,² or when a prophet was preparing himself for a divine revelation.³ One Jewish scholar remarks on Moses’ fasting: “During those forty days and nights Moses was under the immediate supervision of God and did not even feel the absence of food and drink, as the nearness of God compensated for such mundane necessities without which he could not have done without while here on earth.”⁴ Individuals fasting was common among the early Jews for personal reasons, as seen by the provision made that a vow made by a woman “to afflict the soul” may under certain conditions be canceled by the husband.⁵ More frequent, however, were the occasional fasts instituted for the whole community, especially when the nation believed itself to be under divine displeasure,⁶ where it is coupled with the pouring out of water before the Lord;⁷ or when a great calamity befell the land,⁸ as when plagues raged or when drought set in; and sometimes also when an important act was about to be carried out by the officials of the land.⁹ It may also be seen with what rigor an official fast was observed,¹⁰ while at the same time it remained a common fast-day among the Jews.¹¹

By the time Jesus came it had become a symbol of religious devotion and a mark of one who was righteously superior to others. In the Aramaic Version of Matthew, verse 16 is rendered as follows: “And when you fast you should not be sad like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their expression so that they may be seen by men that they are fasting.” Jewish tradition sources tell us that while fasting, the Jews neglected to wash their faces, they put ashes on their heads, and used charcoal to discolor their faces and make them look black. This is told in story form:¹² “And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.¹³ Ashhur is Caleb’s other name; and why did they call him Ashhur? Because his face became blackened through many fasts.¹⁴ And we are also told that: “He who emaciates [blackens] his face for the sake of the study of the Torah in this world,¹⁵ the Holy One, blessed be He, will make his luster shine in the next world.”¹⁶ It goes without saying that for some, fasting was a way to please God, but for others it was a way to impress fellow believers.

In Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders for their arrogance when fasting, it may be that our Lord recalled the words of Isaiah, “They say, ‘We fast to show honor to You O LORD. Why don’t You see us? We starve our bodies to show honor to You. Why don’t You notice us?’ But God says, ‘You do things to please yourselves on those special days of fasting. And you punish your servants, not your own bodies. You are starving, but not for food. You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven! Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. Do you think that is what the Lord wants?’”¹⁷ We could say, they were doing the right thing for all the wrong reasons. So many Christians today do the same with worship, prayer and self-denial. When God looks in the heart and sees the real reason we do such things, if He is not impressed with our honesty and humility, then nothing other people may think will count one iota in God’s eyes. That’s why Jesus wanted His disciples to know the truth, so that when they did fast it was pleasing to their Father in heaven.

Early church apologist Chrysostom address what he saw in his day on how believers were responding to what Jesus said here about fasting. He writes: “Here it would be well to sigh out loud, and to wail bitterly: for not only do we imitate the hypocrites, but we have even surpassed them. For I know, yes I know many, not merely fasting and making a display of it, but neglecting to fast, and yet wearing the garments of them that fast, and cloaking themselves with an excuse worse than their sin. For ‘I do this,’ they say, ‘that I may not offend the many.’ What are you saying? There is a law of God which commands these things be done, and you talk about offending someone by doing them? What can be worse than such folly? Will you not stop becoming worse than the very hypocrites, and making your hypocrisy double? And when you consider how many times this evil is committed, will you not be embarrassed at the force of the expression in the passage before us? In that Jesus did not say, ‘they act a part,’ merely, but willing also to touch them more deeply, He said, ‘For they disfigure their faces;’ that is, they corrupt, they mar them.”¹⁸ Chrysostom wrote this between AD 350-400, so it must have been like a scourge in the church to him.

In other words, in these instructions by our Lord, He was warning against anyone pretending or acting the part instead of truly being a part of what was expected of them. Since we no longer put on old clothes and fast for days on end, nor refrain from washing ourselves and combing our hair while we are fasting, it might be harder to spot the hypocrite today than back in AD 350. But the signs are still there. For instance, people who carry their Bibles but never read them; people who wear crosses around their necks but have never been there to confess and receive forgiveness for their sins; those who are proud of how much they pray, but in fact are only reciting and repeating words written by others; or those who sing songs of praise and worship inside the sanctuary but do not live and follow the message of the lyrics outside after they leave the church building.

Verse 17: Now Jesus continues by giving His instructions on how those who fast should go about their day in a normal fashion. He says: “So when you fast, wash your face and make yourself look natural.”

Here our Lord follows up His complaint about how the self-righteous Jewish Pharisees fast and pray, with instructions on how God wants us to do it. It is not uncommon to see most couples who are very affectionate toward each other, walk hand-in-hand in public. But there are certain forms of expressions with a kiss or embrace that are kept for private times together. The same here with God. There are things we say and do in public to show our affection and love for Him. But Jesus says that there are occasions when we embrace our God in prayer and show our fondness in fasting that should be kept just between Him and us.

We find an interesting story along this line in the Book of Ruth. Naomi wanted her daughter-in-law to find a good husband, and when Boaz came on the scene she gave these instructions to Ruth, “Boaz is our close relative. You’ve worked with his women servants. Tonight he will be working at the threshing floor. Go wash yourself and get dressed. Put on a nice dress, and go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating his dinner. After he eats, he will lie down to rest. Watch him so that you will know where he lies down. Go there and lift the blanket off his feet. Then lie down there with Boaz. He will tell you what you should do about marriage.”¹⁹ In a spiritual sense, this illustrates how we can keep our special relationship with God close to the heart instead of wearing it like an ornament for others to admire.

There were many times when I walked up to the pulpit after spending as much as 6-9 hours in study and prayer. But I did not drag my feet or drop my shoulders like one who just carried a big load up a hill, just to impress the audience with how hard I prepared for this moment. Rather, I walked up with confidence and a deep urging to deliver the message the Holy Spirit helped me discover. The time I spent searching and researching, praying and petitioning was between me and God. There was no temptation in letting the congregation know how long I labored to prepare for my sermon. What I wanted to impress them with was the power and insight contained in God’s Word. I wanted them to concentrate on the message, not the messenger.

Jesus is saying the same thing here when it comes to how we portray ourselves to others after spending hours and days fasting and praying in order to find and do His will. This, of course, was in direct contradiction to Jewish verbal tradition where it says: “On Yom Kippur it is prohibited to eat and drink, to wash or anoint with oil, or to wear shoes.”²⁰ While they may have done this originally to impress God with their humility and repentance, it had become nothing more than a way to impress fellow Jews with their piety and righteousness. That’s why Jesus had the courage to confront them with their hypocrisy and to warn His disciples not to imitate them.

Verse 18: Now Jesus gives His reasons for telling the disciples to act normal when they fasted. “Then no one will know you are fasting, except your Father, who is with you even in private. He can see what is done in private, and He will reward you.”

As we can see in Jewish writings, the holy days and sacred feasts were often used to openly display one’s fasting in humility, rather than the joy one has in serving such an awesome God.²¹ The whole crux of what our Lord is saying here lies in the difference between living one’s faith on the inside and displaying it on the outside. Too often those who are the loudest and gaudiest with their outward exhibition of holiness, religiosity, and spirituality are often the most shabby on the inside when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit and the virtues that Jesus talks about in this discourse on the mountain side. While on the other hand, those who carry a deep, sincere and genuine love and devotion to God and His Word in their hearts and minds, need no added external grooming because what is on the inside beams outward into the darkness around them. To our Lord Jesus, doing it the right way was a form of laying up treasures in God’s kingdom that would pay dividends in both this world and the next. So the Master then says:

Verse 19: Don’t save treasures for yourselves here on earth. Moths and rust will destroy them. And thieves can break into your house and steal them.

At first glance it may appear as though our Lord has changed subjects and moved onto another theme. But quite the contrary is true. He is adding one more layer of wisdom to what He has already revealed about how His disciples are to conduct themselves as ambassadors of God’s kingdom here on earth. His instructions on being generous to those in need and the believer’s prayer life as they dedicate and consecrate themselves out of love to Him in service, is now shown for what it really accomplishes, and that is our future reward as good and faithful servants. So after telling His disciples what not to do, He now tells them what to do.

Verses 20-21: Instead, store your treasures in heaven, where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your treasure is.

There’s every reason to believe that the scribes and Pharisees thought that Jesus may be quoting from what the Rabbis taught related to a story about safeguarding one’s treasures so that they can be a blessing later. For instance, in Jewish literature we read where Monobaz the King of Adiabene, took all the treasures from his treasury and gave it to the poor during a time of famine. So his brothers sent him a message that read: “Your ancestors stored up treasures and increased the wealth left for them by their ancestors. But you went and gave away all of these treasures, both your own and those of your ancestors!” To this Monobaz replies: “My ancestors stored up treasure for this world, but I, through charitable giving, have stored up treasures in heaven above, as it is stated in Scripture: ‘Faithfulness will spring up from the ground below, and righteousness will look down from the sky.’²²”²³ The same story is told in a later version with this added: King Monobaz said: “My fathers stored something which produces no fruit, but I have stored something which does produce fruit, as it is written, ‘You say of the righteous that it will be well with them, for they will eat of the fruit of their labors.’²⁴ My father gathered treasures of money, but I have gathered treasures of souls, as it is written, ‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who winds souls is wise.²⁵”²⁶ The fact that this king Monobaz lived during the time of Jesus, would make this story even more relevant.

The great theologian Augustine gives his exposition on this part of our Lord’s instructions by saying: “Rightly, therefore, does He who is intent on cleansing our heart, now follow up what He is saying with this principle.” In other words, Jesus had given warnings against outward formalism, but now He moves on to the complete dedication of one’s heart to the Lord. Augustine goes on to say: “If, therefore, the heart be on earth, i.e. if one performs anything with a heart bent on obtaining earthly advantage, how will that heart be clean which wallows on earth? But if it be in heaven, it will be clean, because whatever things are heavenly are clean. For anything becomes polluted when it is mixed with a nature that is inferior, although not polluted of its kind; for gold is polluted even by pure silver, if it be mixed with it: so also our mind becomes polluted by the desire after earthly things, although the earth itself be pure of its kind and order. But we would not understand heaven in this passage as anything corporeal, because everything corporeal is to be reckoned as earth. For he who lays up treasure for himself in heaven ought to despise the whole world. Hence it is in that heaven of which it is said, The heaven of heavens is the Lord’s,²⁷ i.e. in the spiritual firmament: for it is not in that which is to pass away that we ought to fix and place our treasure and our heart, but in that which ever abides; but heaven and earth shall pass away²⁸.”²⁹

Well-known English churchman Robert South in his sermon on this text, Sunday, October 15, 1699 titled: “On the commitment of one’s heart,” made the following remark: “No man ever went to heaven whose heart was not there before.”³⁰ But our hearts should not be so set on heaven that we forget our mission here on earth. God did not redeem us and give us wisdom, strength, and the power of the Holy Spirit in order for us to spend all our time thinking of heaven and do nothing for Him here in the world. But we should keep our eyes on Jesus and our minds on heaven whenever we think of any blessing or reward that may await us when being faithful in carrying out His will down here.