6:1
After giving us 6 “you have heard” instructions, Jesus now gives us three things not to do. They all relate to doing things for show as opposed to doing them for God. It is a warning against religious hypocrisy.
This should not surprise us since the Lord said: “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart”. 1 Samuel 16:7
The first teaching is general: do not do your righteous acts to be seen by people and to be acclaimed by them. If, instead, you do them to be seen, your Heavenly Father will not reward you for them.
There were three things the Jews did to show their piety: giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. Jesus addressed all three of these.
Giving for Recognition
6:2-4
Next, Jesus gives a concrete example of hypocrisy. The picture Jesus gives for an illustration is a person, probably a Pharisee, having someone blow a trumpet to get everyone’s attention so they will notice his large gift and praise him for it.
We do not have any historical writings documenting this practice. It is just hyperbole, to remind people of the grand gestures people with money do at times to draw attention to their giving. Hyperbole is extreme, intentional exaggeration for emphasis, humor, or dramatic effect.
The common folks likely thought of Pharisees’ love for recognition and found the image funny. John wrote: “they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God”. (John 12:43)
Today, we still have ways of being seen. Announcements appear in bulletins and magazines. Or, we name buildings after people. We build statues or design stained glass windows with their picture in them.
Nonetheless, if you give to get attention for yourself, and you get that attention, you have received the only reward you will get. However, if you give privately he will reward you.
Our aim should be to please our Father and to give mercy to others.
Praying
6:5-8
Similarly, Jesus tells us not to pray for show. That makes you a hypocrite. Jesus said some stand in public places to say their prayers. They do this to be seen, not to lead others into prayer.
An example of this is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood apart from others and prayed a prayer that was basically a brag.
Instead, you should go to a private place and pray in secret. Then it is just between you and God. And he will reward you for it.
This does not mean you cannot pray in public, in front of people, but it does mean you should not do it for personal recognition or aggrandizement.
The next instruction is do not pray by stringing together a bunch of empty phrases you have heard from someone else, trying to sound eloquent. Evidently, some pagans did this thinking a large collection of words would make their god hear them.
We have an example of this in 1 Kings 18. Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal. They shouted, cried aloud, and cut themselves for hours, but Baal did not answer.
Elijah, on the other hand, prayed a simple prayer and the Lord answered dramatically, sending fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifice.
Christians do not need to do this because their Heavenly Father actually knows already what they need. We ask because God tells us to, because we want to communicate with him, and because expressing our needs in faith builds trust in God.
Fasting
5:16-18
The third area Jesus addresses is fasting. When we fast, we are not to make ourselves look like suffering saints so everyone will know we are fasting.
We do not know exactly what the Pharisees did to look gloomy (ESV, NASB) or somber (NIV). Our equivalent, however, would be to look like we were sick or grieving intensely. When we are sick, women might not put on makeup and men might not shave. Our hair might be messy.
Jesus said don’t do that. Instead, get dressed and groomed like you always do. Keep your fasting between you and God. Then he will reward you for it.
We see from these three topics that Jesus made a contrast between the piety of the Pharisees and that of Christians. The Pharisees wanted to be seen and praised for their acts. Christians do these things private and are blessed for it by our heavenly Father.
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