1712 | Matthew 6:24
24 “ No one can serve two mas ters . Ei ther you will hate the one and love the other , or you will be de voted to the one and de spise the other . You can not serve both God and money . w
Do Not Worry
6:25-33pp — Lk 12:22-31
25 “ There fore I tell you , do not worry x about your life , what you will eat or drink ; or about your body , what you will wear . Is not life more than food , and the body more than clothes ? 26 Look at the birds of the air ; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns , and yet your heav enly Fa ther feeds them . y Are you not much more valu able than they ? z 27 Can any one of you by wor ry ing add a sin gle hour to your life a ? a
28 “ And why do you worry about clothes ? See how the flow ers of the field grow . They do not la bor or spin . 29 Yet I tell you that not even Sol o mon in all his splen dor b was dressed like one of these . 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field , which is here to day and to mor row is thrown into the fire , will he not much more clothe you — you of lit tle faith ? c 31 So do not worry , say ing , ‘ What shall we eat ?’ or ‘ What shall we drink ?’ or ‘ What shall we wear ?’ 32 For the pa gans run af ter all these things , and your heav enly Fa ther knows that you need them . d 33 But seek first his king dom and his righ teous ness , and all these things will be given to you as well . e 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow , for tomorrow will worry about it self . Each day has enough trou ble of its own .
6:24 w Lk 16:13
6:25 x ver 27 , 28 , 31 , 34 ; Lk 10:41 ; 12:11 , 22 ; Php 4:6 ; 1Pe 5:7
6:26 y Job 38:41 ; Ps 147:9 z Mt 10:29‐31
6:27 a Ps 39:5 6:29 b 1Ki 10:4‐7
6:30 c Mt 8:26 ; 14:31 ; 16:8
6:32 d ver 8
6:33 e Mt 19:29 ; Mk 10:29‐30
7:1 f Lk 6:37 ; Ro 14:4 , 10 , 13 ; 1Co 4:5 ; Jas 4:11 , 12
7:2 g Mk 4:24 ; Lk 6:38
7:7 h Mt 21:22 ; Mk 11:24 ; Jn 14:13 , 14 ; 15:7 , 16 ; 16:23 , 24 ; Jas 1:5-8 ; 4:2 , 3 ; 1Jn 3:22 ; 5:14 , 15
7:8 i Pr 8:17 ; Jer 29:12 , 13
Judging Others
7:3-5pp — Lk 6:41,42
7 “ Do not judge , or you too will be judged . f 2 For in the same way you judge oth ers , you
will be judged , and with the mea sure you use , it will be mea sured to you . g
3 “ Why do you look at the speck of saw dust in your brother ’ s eye and pay no at ten tion to the plank in your own eye ? 4 How can you say to your brother , ‘ Let me take the speck out of your eye ,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye ? 5 You hypocrite , first take the plank out of your own eye , and then you will see clearly to re move the speck from your brother ’ s eye .
6 “ Do not give dogs what is sa cred ; do not throw your pearls to pigs . If you do , they may tram ple them un der their feet , and turn and tear you to pieces .
Ask , Seek , Knock
7:7-11pp — Lk 11:9-13
7 “ Ask and it will be given to you ; h seek and you will find ; knock and the door will be opened to you . 8 For ev ery one who asks re ceives ; the one who seeks finds ; i and to the one who knocks , the door will be opened .
9 “ Which of you , if your son asks for bread , will give him a stone ? 10 Or if he asks for a fish , will give him a snake ? 11 If you , then , though you are evil , know how to give good gifts to
a 27 Or single cubit to your height
6:24 A slave , owned entirely by one master , cannot serve two masters , and both God and money are masters that make all-consuming demands . money . Greek mamōna (“ mammon ”) refers to material possessions that have become an idol . 6:25 do not worry . Means not that we should not think about or plan ahead but that we are not to be anxious . 6:26 – 27 God provides food and drink for birds , so he will surely provide them for his people . Of course , birds often work hard to find their food , so this is scarcely a call to laziness . 6:28 – 32 Even wild flowers and grass are beautifully dressed , so God will surely clothe his people much more wonderfully . Unbelievers worry about the basics of life such as food , drink , and clothing . 6:33 – 34 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness . By definition includes sharing one ’ s surplus with fellow Christians who lack the basic necessities of life or the ability to acquire them . When God ’ s people worldwide do this , “ all these things ” ( food , drink , clothing ) will be given to them as well . This is not a promise that faithful believers will never starve to death , but there need never be any poor among them ( Deut 15:4 ). Only the disobedience of God ’ s people makes it inevitable that at least a few poor believers remain ( Deut 15:11 ). Moreover , each day has too many unavoidable worries of its own for us to indulge in worries about the future as well .
7:1 – 12 Verses 1 – 6 are tied together by the theme of judging others , while vv . 7 – 11 have to do with petitioning God . Verse 12 summarizes both themes as well as the entire section . 7:1 judge . Greek krinō can mean to condemn or judge overly harshly ; that is what it means here in v . 1 because , following the lex talionis ( see note on 5:38 ), God will judge accordingly . Jesus condemns censoriousness and judgmentalism ( v . 1 ), but judgment in the sense of analysis or discernment is always necessary , once one has examined oneself first ( vv . 2 – 6 ). Verses 5 – 6 make it clear that Jesus ’ followers must analyze situations and correct people when they err ( cf . vv . 15 – 20 ; John 7:24 ).
7:5 Once one has dealt with an area in which they have sinned greatly , they can and must offer sincere help for others struggling in that area . 7:6 Do not give dogs what is sacred ; do not throw your pearls to pigs . Probably refers to the prolonged offering of the gospel and its holy truths and practices to those who spitefully mock and reject it , especially given that dogs were wild scavengers in Israel and pigs were the most unclean of animals . 7:7 Ask . . . seek . . . knock . The commands are all in the present tense in Greek , suggesting continuous or frequent action . Jesus expects his audience to remember “ your will be done ” in his model prayer ( 6:10 ). These verses are not quite the “ blank check ” they may first seem to be . 7:9 – 10 stone . . . snake . Small , hand-size loaves of bread often resembled stones in shape and color , and some eel-shaped fish could look like snakes . Normally , parents do not intentionally deceive their children in these potentially harmful ways . 7:11 though you are evil . Refers simply to the