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....
The older Christian tradition had a category for the appetite Jesus is diagnosing here, though we rarely use it today. Medieval theologians described gluttony not merely as an excessive appetite for food but as any appetite that has lost its proper measure, any desire...
Matthew 6 is a carefully constructed literary unit. Three disciplines, giving, prayer, and fasting, are each addressed in exactly the same pattern: the hypocrite’s corrupt motive, the disciple’s right practice, and a two-sided verdict. By the time Jesus...
