SO WHEN YOU
GIVE TO THE POOR: Hotan oun poies (2SPAS) eleemosunen (Job
31:16-20;
Psalms 37:21;
112:9;
Proverbs 19:17;
Ecclesiastes 11:2;
Isaiah 58:7,10-12;
Luke 11:41;
12:33;
John 13:29;
Acts 9:36;
10:2,4,31;
11:29;
24:17;
Romans 12:8;
2 Corinthians 9:6-15;
Galatians 2:10;
Ephesians 4:28;
1 Timothy 6:18;
Philemon 1:7;
Hebrews 13:16;
James 2:15,16;
1 Peter 4:11;
1 John 3:17-19)
The cultural context in Jesus' day is
important to understand so that you might better appreciate why our Lord
emphasizes the topic of righteousness and specifically aid to the poor.
In Jesus’ time, the word righteousness was closely linked to the
word alms. And thus one can see why the Jewish rabbis laid such
great stress upon charity and good deeds in general as a means of
attaining righteousness and as a means of pleasing God and of being
rewarded by Him. To this present day if you ask a Jewish person how they
expect to get into the Kingdom of God, many will answer "By doing good
deeds". But their definition of "good deeds" is not the same as God's
definition of "good deeds" and so Jesus immediately strikes at the very
heart and foundation of the beliefs of Judaism. Imagine for a moment
that you were a strictly orthodox Jew or even a member of the party of
the Pharisees and you were among the multitude who heard these piercing
words calculated to produce a reaction in the heart and minds of the
hearers. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost but first He had to
show men that they were lost and spiritually dead in their trespasses
and sins.
When (whenever not "if
ever"!) assumes
citizens of the Kingdom of heaven will give to the poor. Giving to the poor is good but the
question is how do you do this deed? The question is what is your
motivation? Is it to please men or please God?
Give to the poor (1654)
(eleemosune from eleemon = merciful from eleos =
mercy, kindness, compassion) signifies mercy or pity and came to be
applied particularly in giving alms (alms = something such as
money or food given freely to relieve the poor. Our English word "alms"
is from Latin eleemosyna in turn from the Greek word eleemosune). Stated
another way alms represents money given out of mercy for the poor.
Giving was an important part of
ancient Judaism where even those gleaning the fields were told to leave
behind some of the sheaves so that the poor could gather and have food,
Moses recording that...
'Now when you reap the harvest
of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field,
neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 'Nor shall you
glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your
vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am
the LORD your God. (Lev 19:9-10)
The same practice of giving passed
into Christianity. But with every act of giving there is the danger of
mixed motives creeping into something that is so necessary.
Barclay explains that...
To the Jew almsgiving was the
most sacred of all religious duties. How sacred it was may be seen from
the fact that the Jews used the same word—tzedakah—both for
righteousness and almsgiving. To give alms and to be righteous were one
and the same thing. To give alms was to gain merit in the sight of God,
and was even to win atonement and forgiveness for past sins.
“Prayer with fasting is good,
but better than both is almsgiving with righteousness. A little with
righteousness is better than wealth with wrongdoing. It is better to
give alms than to lay up gold. For almsgiving saves from death and
purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life, but
those who commit sin and do wrong are their own worst enemies. (Tobit 12:8)...
There was a rabbinic saying:
“Greater is he who gives alms than he who offers all
sacrifices.”
Almsgiving stood first in the catalogue of good works. It
was then natural and inevitable that the man who desired to be good
should concentrate on almsgiving. The highest teaching of the Rabbis was
exactly the same as the teaching of Jesus. They too forbade ostentatious
almsgiving.
“He who gives alms in secret,” they said, “is greater
than Moses.”
The almsgiving which saves from death is that
“when the
recipient does not know from whom he gets it, and when the giver does
not know to whom he gives it.”
There was a Rabbi who, when he wished to
give alms, dropped money behind him, so that he would not see who picked
it up.
“It were better,” they said, “to give a man nothing, than to
give him something, and to put him to shame.”
There was one
particularly lovely
custom connected with the Temple. In the Temple there was a room called
The Chamber of the Silent. People who wished to make atonement for some
sin placed money there; and poor people from good families who had come
down in the world were secretly helped by these contributions.
(Barclay, W:
The Gospel of Matthew The New Daily
Study Bible Westminster John Knox Press)
(Bolding added)
Dwight
Pentecost adds
that...
The Pharisees had gone far beyond any
legitimate interpretation of (the OT Law). The people had been told:
“Lay up alms in thy storehouse,
it shall deliver thee from affliction.”
“Alms delivers from death and
will purge away all sin.”
“Almsgiving will deliver from
hell and make one perfectly righteous.”
We recognize this as heretical
teaching, for giving alms cannot cleanse a man from sin. But such was
the Jewish concept of almsgiving that they said,
“Giving of alms will make restitution
to God for sins that the giver has committed.”
Now, the Pharisees had concluded that
if a man gave, but gave in secret, he lost all benefit from giving.
There must be an audience before one could gain any benefit from God
through the giving. Thus they concluded they lost gains if there were no
spectators. (Pentecost,
J. D. Design for living: Lessons in Holiness from the Sermon on the
Mount. Kregel Publications)
DO NOT SOUND A
TRUMPET BEFORE YOU, AS THE HYPOCRITES DO IN THE SYNAGOGUES AND IN THE
STREETS: me salpises (2SAAS) emprosthen sou, hosper hoi hupokritai
poiousin (3PPAI) en tais sunagogais kai en tais rumais
(Proverbs
20:6;
Hosea 8:1)
(Mt
6:5;
7:5;
15:7;
16:3;
22:18;
23:13-29;
24:51;
Isaiah 9:17;
10:6;
Mark 7:6;
Luke 6:42;
12:56;
13:15)
(Mt
6:5;
23:6;
Mark 12:39;
Luke 11:43;
20:46)
This is the wrong way to give to the
poor. If you "toot your own horn" (one wonders if this modern expression
is related to Jesus' illustration!) you are a hypocrite or an actor,
manifesting a solemn, pious appearance of godliness when in fact on the
inside you are not at all what you appear to be. You are doing it all
for show and the praise of men.
In the secular world this syndrome is
obvious...buildings named for big donors, etc. What if those donors were
told that their donations would all be treated anonymously?! The answer
doesn't take much imagination does it? Jesus' point is that giving for
the express purpose that others honor us and think good of us and our
extravagant generosity is hypocrisy, whether it is in the secular world
or the church! People man
not sound a trumpet to project
the image of generosity, but they still know how to call attention to
their giving, because the heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick (cf Jer 17:9)
Phil Newton relates that...
In some church settings, the
offering is taken by the members parading to the front and laying their
gifts on the table for all to see. In other settings those that give
their gifts expect to have certain privileges and even control. One
pastor in a southern city refused to violate his convictions of not
performing a marriage of a believer and unbeliever. It just happened
that the one this affected was a wealthy lady that gave hundreds of
thousands of dollars each year to this debt-strapped church. She told
the pastor that if he refused to perform this wedding, then she was
leaving and her hundreds of thousands with her. He showed her the door.
Her entire motive for giving was not out of a desire to honor the Lord
but to control. She has already had her “reward in full.”...There
was a dear little lady, now deceased, that I had known for many years
that followed the progress of our church in its early days. When we came
to the time of building a new building and furnishing it, she sent me a
sizeable gift to purchase a desk, chairs, and office equipment. I was
pretty bowled over by her generosity, especially since she did not even
live in our community. But I still remember her note: “This is our
little secret.” She wanted no recognition or applause or plaque
commemorating her generosity. She just found great joy in being able to
give as unto the Lord for the work of ministry. Her left hand did not
know what her right hand was doing.
(Sermon)
EBC writes that...
The reference to trumpet
announcements is difficult. Many commentators still say this refers to
"the practice of blowing trumpets at the time of collecting alms in the
Temple for the relief of some signal need" (Hill, Matthew,
following Bonnard); but no Jewish sources confirm this, and the idea
seems to stem only from early Christian expositors who assumed its
correctness. Likewise there is no evidence (contra Calvin) that the
almsgivers themselves really blew trumpets on their way to the
temple....public fasts were proclaimed by the sounding of trumpets. At
such times prayers for rain were recited in the streets (cf. v. 5), and
it was widely thought that alms-giving insured the efficacy of the fasts
and prayers (e.g., b Sanhedrin 35a; P. Tannith 2:6; Leviticus R 34:14).
But these occasions afforded golden opportunities for ostentation.
(Gaebelein,
F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament.
Zondervan Publishing
Leo Tolstoy said
that...
Hypocrisy in anything whatever may
deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake
of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it
may be disguised.
Hypocrite (5273)
(hupokrites from from hupó = under, indicating secrecy +
krino = to judge) describes one who acts pretentiously, a
counterfeit, a man who assumes and speaks or acts under a feigned
character.
Hypocrite as discussed more below had its origins in Greek
theater, in which it described a character who wore a mask. In the New
Testament a hypocrite normally refers to an unregenerate person who is
self-deceived. Unless prompted by the right motives, religious
activities, including doing good deeds to others, are of no real
spiritual value and receive no commendation from God. It does matter
greatly why we do what we do. The hypocrite has a duplicitous life –
often without realizing it – giving appearance of one motive when in
reality a hidden motive drives him. The most difficult type of hypocrisy
to spot is not in someone else but is in ourselves! We can often spot
ill motives in someone else but quickly make excuses for similar motives
in our own heart!
The
hypocrite
is the man or woman who puts on a mask and pretends to be what he or she
is not in the innermost person. The parallel thought is what others see
what's on the outside. We call this reputation. God sees what's
really present on the inside. We call this character. God is
interested in our character, not our reputation.
Who do you seek to please in your
various religious activities?
Are "playing the part" like an actor/actress or are you seeking to
please only your Father Who art in heaven?
When (not if but when) you give, pray and fast, don't be an play actor
hiding behind your mask of religious activity trying to convince people
you are someone you devoted to God and pious, when you really are not.
By way of application it would be wise to apply this warning by our Lord
to all our "religious activities". Be honest and ask yourself "Why am I
doing what I am doing at church?"
Wuest adds
that this Greek word
"is made up of hupo “under,”
and krinō “to judge” and referred originally to “one who judged
from under the cover of a mask,” thus, assuming an identity and a
character which he was not. This person was the actor on the Greek
stage, one who took the part of another. The Pharisees were religious
actors, so to speak, in that they pretended to be on the outside, what
they were not on the inside...Our word hypocrite comes from this
Greek word. It usually referred to the act of concealing wrong feelings
or character under the pretence of better ones."
In another note
Wuest explains that
"The Greek word for “hypocrite”
was used of an actor on the Greek stage, one who played the part of
another. The word means literally, “to judge under,” and was used of
someone giving off his judgment from behind a screen or mask.... The
true identity of the person is covered up. It refers to acts of
impersonation or deception. It was used of an actor on the Greek stage.
Taken over into the New Testament, it referred to a person we call a
hypocrite, one who assumes the mannerisms, speech, and character of
someone else, thus hiding his true identity. Christianity requires that
believers should be open and above-board. They should be themselves.
Their lives should be like an open book, easily read." (Wuest's word
studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans)
William Barclay
writes that
Hupokrites (hypocrite) is a
word with a curious history. It is the noun from the verb hupokrinesthai
which means to answer; a hupokrites begins by being an answerer.
Then it it goes on to mean one who answers in a set dialogue or a set
conversation, that is to say an actor, the man who takes part in
the question and answer of the stage... It then came to mean an actor in
the worse sense of the term, a pretender, one who acts a part,
one who wears a mask to cover his true feelings, one who puts on an
external show while inwardly his thoughts and feelings are very
different....it comes to mean a hypocrite, a man who all the time
is acting a part and concealing his real motives...one whose whole life
is a piece of acting without any sincerity behind it at all. Anyone to
whom religion is a legal thing, anyone to whom religion means carrying
out certain external rules and regulations, anyone to whom religion is
entirely connected with the observation of a certain ritual and the
keeping of a certain number of taboos is in the end bound to be, in this
sense, a hypocrite. The reason is this—he believes that he is a
good man if he carries out the correct acts and practices, no matter
what his heart and his thoughts are like. To take the case of the
legalistic Jew in the time of Jesus, he might hate his fellow man with
all his heart, he might be full of envy and jealousy and concealed
bitterness and pride; that did not matter so long as he carried out the
correct handwashings and observed the correct laws about cleanness and
uncleanness. Legalism takes account of a man’s outward actions; but it
takes no account at all of his inward feelings. He may well be
meticulously serving God in outward things, and bluntly disobeying God
in inward things—and that is hypocrisy....There is no greater religious
peril than that of identifying religion with outward observance. There
is no commoner religious mistake than to identify goodness with certain
so-called religious acts. Church-going, bible-reading, careful financial
giving, even time-tabled prayer do not make a man a good man. The
fundamental question is, how is a man’s heart towards God and towards
his fellow-men? And if in his heart there are enmity, bitterness,
grudges, pride, not all the outward religious observances in the world
will make him anything other than a hypocrite... The hypocrite
is the man whose alleged Christian profession is for his own profit and
prestige and not for the service and glory of Christ." (Barclay,
W: The Daily study Bible series: The Letters of James and Peter)
SO THAT THEY
MAY BE HONORED BY MEN: hopos doxasthosin (3PAPS) hupo ton anthropon (1 Samuel
15:30;
John 5:41,44;
7:18;
1 Thessalonians 2:6)
(Mt
6:5,16;
5:18)
Honored (honored)
(doxazo from dóxa = glory) means to render or esteem
glorious. The consequential meaning from the opinion which one forms is
to recognize, honor, praise, invest with dignity. To give anyone esteem
or honor by putting him into an honorable position.
H A Ironside said that...
Nothing is more
objectionable than advertised
charity. It is extremely humiliating to the one who receives, and
hurtful to the soul of him who gives.
TRULY I SAY TO
YOU, THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD IN FULL: amen lego (1SPAI) humin apechousin
(3PPAI) ton misthon auton
(Mt
6:5,16;
5:18)
Truly (Amen) - Jesus is
calling for their strict attention to not miss this conclusion.
Spurgeon commenting on their
receipt of full reward adds that...
they will have no more; there
is, in their case, no laying up of any store of good works before God.
Whatever they may have done, they have taken full credit for it in the
praise of men.
Have...in full (received...in
full) (568)
(apecho from apó = from + écho = have) means to
receive in full what is due, to be paid in full or to receive in full.
Apecho was a technical term in the Greek culture used to describe
commercial transactions. The idea is to receive a sum in full and give a
receipt for it.
Barclay explains that
apecho
in the Greek...was the technical
business and commercial word for receiving payment in full. It was the
word which was used on receipted accounts. For instance, one man signs a
receipt given to another man: “I have received (apecho) from you the
rent of the olive press which you have on hire.” A tax collector
gives a receipt, saying, “I have received (apecho) from you the tax
which is due.” A man sells a slave and gives a receipt, saying, “I
have received (apecho) the whole price due to me.”(Barclay, W:
The Gospel of Matthew The New Daily
Study Bible Westminster John Knox Press)
Reward (3408)
(misthos) means pay for service as defined above.
Jesus' point is the honor of men, be
it verbal praise, laudatory looks, etc, these are the only reward they
will ever receive.
You better savor the applause and take all the "curtain calls" you can
because that is all you will receive for your giving before men.
It is possible to be the most generous Christian in the church, in
amount and proportion of giving, and yet have no reward except what the
immediate praise from men. This truth should cause us all to be very
sober minded regarding our giving, praying and fasting.
