Jesus does not open gently. The phrase translated do not lay up carries the force of a present prohibition, closer to stop laying up. He is not warning the disciples about a temptation they might face someday; He is calling them away from something they are already...
By the time Jesus completes his third repetition of ‘your Father who sees in secret will reward you,’ he has finished the opening argument of Matthew 6. Three disciplines, one pattern, one verdict. The hidden life is not invisible. The Father who dwells in...
Why does fasting matter at all? Jesus assumes it. The disciples practiced it (Matthew 9:14). Jesus himself fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2). But most Christians today either have not fasted seriously or have no clear theology of why they would. The...
Jesus’s instruction in verses 17 and 18 is almost comical in its plainness. Anoint your head. Wash your face. The modern translation is simply: look normal. Do what you do every morning. Take a shower. Get dressed. Go about your day. The contrast he is drawing...
The phrase Jesus uses in Matthew 6:16 is not a soft warning. The verb translated ‘they have received’ is the same commercial term used in ancient receipts to indicate that a bill has been paid in full. There is nothing more coming. The account is settled....
