Ep. 223. Matthew 6 | Sermon on the Mount Part 3

EPISODE 223

SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 3: MATTHEW 6:1-18

In the second part of chapter five, Jesus systematically showed how the Pharisees were guilty of sin, even though they thought themselves righteous. In Chapter Six, Jesus will dismantle the so-called righteous deeds of the Pharisees and show that even their "righteous deeds" were sinful. It would do us well to remember that Jesus said in 5:20, "Unless your righteousness is greater than the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

The Pharisees were considered the pinnacle of human righteousness in the Jewish system, or at least they considered themselves the pinnacle of righteousness. What Jesus was doing was dismantling the Jewish perspective of works-based righteousness and replacing it with faith-based righteousness first introduced in the Biblical narrative with Abraham in Genesis 15:6.

If we must draw personal application from chapter six then let it not be that we must give in secret, but rather that we not give, pray, or fast like the Pharisees who only did so to be seen by others. God is concerned with the heart of the offering rather than the offering itself. Of course, we have already discovered that with the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, so we shouldn't be surprised to find it here again.

ADDITIONAL READING: Matthew 3:2, 4:17; 10:7; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Matthew 5:19-20