Verse by Verse

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

This account also appears in Luke 7:1-10 in which we learn that the centurion made his appeal first through Jewish elders and then through friends. The Jews were willing to appeal on his behalf because the centurion had befriended them and built a synagogue for them in Capernaum.

servant (v.6) — the word sometimes is used to refer to an adult servant, but it usually is used for a child.

Though only a subordinate officer subject to his superiors, he had authority over his soldiers; and, if he had only to issue his commands and they were executed, might not Jesus, whom he recognized as the Lord of all principalities and powers, do the like and much more? There was no need for Him to approach the sufferer: let Him but speak the word. — Pentecost, page 191.

from east and west (v.11) — Psalm 107:3; Malachi 1:11, referring to the Gentile nations that will be blessed through Israel during the Millennial Kingdom

sit down (v.11) = recline to eat

I was a little confused by the phrase “sons of the kingdom” (v.12). I figured it had to refer to unbelieving Jews, but I wanted to be sure. I sent the following e-mail to Pastor Ricky Kurth of the Berean Bible Society:

Pastor Kurth,

I’m taking you up on your generous offer to answer my questions. I’ve made it to Matthew 8 with no large issues, but I do have a question about verses 11 and 12: “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I assume the “many from the east and west” will be the Gentile nations that are blessed through Israel during the Millennial Kingdom, based on Psalm 107 and Malachi 1. Am I right? All the commentaries I’m using say it’s a reference to the church today, but since this age wasn’t revealed until it was revealed to Paul, that doesn’t make sense to me.

But what about the “sons of the kingdom.” My first thought was that they were unbelieving Israel, but there won’t be unbelieving Israel then, will there? And even if there are some Jews who don’t believe during the Millennium, it doesn’t say “some,” it just says “the sons of the kingdom.”

Thanks for your help.

He sent this response:

1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

These miracles (Matthew 8-9) of Jesus, so far from being violations of the law, were restorations of men to the life, according to law. Leprosy is unlawful; cleansing is lawful. Fever is due to violation of the law; and this Man by a touch restored to law. The King came to restore a lost order. — Morgan, page 83.

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What He did is seen in the Old Testament in connection with the Kingdom. In Isaiah 35 we have a description of the Kingdom as the King is to set it up. He came, and that He is the King and His Kingdom at hand, is proven by Him in doing the signs enumerated in the 35th chapter of Isaiah. — Gaebelein, page 167

leper (v.2) — If Israel had been right with God, there would not have been lepers among them (Exodus 15:26).

Leprosy is a slowly progressing and intractable disease. This disease in an especial manner rendered its victims unclean; even contact with a leper defiled whoever touched him, so while the cure of other diseases is called healing, that of leprosy is called cleansing.

It should be observed here that the attitude of the Law toward the person, garment or house suspected of leprosy is that if the disease be really present they are to be declared unclean and there is no means provided for cure, and in the case of the garment or house, they are to be destroyed. If, on the other hand, the disease be proved to be absent, this freedom from the disease has to be declared by a ceremonial purification. This is in reality not the ritual for cleansing the leper, for the Torah provides none such, but the ritual for declaring him ceremonially free from the suspicion of having the disease. This gives a peculiar and added force to the words, “The lepers are cleansed,” as a testimony to our Lord’s divine mission. 

As the leper passed by, his clothes rent, his hair disheveled, and the lower part of his face and his upper lip covered, it was as one going to death who reads his own burial-service, while the mournful words, “Unclean! Unclean!” which he uttered, proclaimed that his was both living and moral death. 

Contrary to what Jewish tradition allowed, a leper boldly approached Jesus and petitioned Him for help. We can now in some measure appreciate the contrast between Jesus and His contemporaries in His bearing towards the leper. Or, conversely, we can judge by the healing of this leper of the impression which the Savior had made upon the people. He would have fled from a rabbi; he came in lowliest attitude of entreaty to Jesus …

There was no Old Testament precedent for it: not in the case of Moses, nor even in that of Elisha, and there was no Jewish expectancy of it. But to have heard Him teach, to have seen or known Him as healing all manner of disease, must have carried to the heart the conviction of His absolute power. 

Jewish tradition demanded that one abstain from any contact with a leper, but Christ actually touched the leper. The hand of Jesus was not polluted by touching the leper’s body, but the leper’s whole body was cleansed by the touch of that holy hand. It was even thus that He touched our sinful human nature, and yet remained without spot of sin. — Pentecost, pages 148-150.

Lord (v.2) = Master — the first time in Matthew He was directly addressed so

touched him (v.3) — Lepers were not to be touched (Leviticus 13)

tell no one (v.4) — The Mosaic law required one who had leprosy, or was suspected of having it, to undergo an elaborate ritual of cleansing in order to be accepted in society. If this man tarried in Galilee to be a witness to Christ without undergoing the proper ritual of cleansing, he would have been deemed unclean and therefore his witness would have been nullified. — Pentecost, page 151

the gift that Moses commanded (v.4) — Leviticus 14, the entirety of which concerns dealing with lepers

testimony to them (v.4) — There was an additional reason why Christ sent the cleansed man to the priest. The man was to be a testimony to them (Luke 5:14). When the man went to the priest and claimed to be a cleansed leper, the priest would have to investigate whether the man had been a leper and then determine his present condition. The priest would make inquiry as to the means by which the man had been cleansed. This would give the cleansed man an occasion to present to the priest the evidence that the One who claimed to be Messiah had power to cleanse lepers … The evidence would then be presented to the Sanhedrin for its investigation and final declaration. Thus Christ was bringing evidence to those in high authority in the religious realm. — Pentecost, page 151

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If one looks for these miracles in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, and traces our Lord’s movement in them, he will be astonished to find that they are put in these Gospels in an entirely different setting. The Holy Spirit as the writer of the first Gospel has taken certain events in the life of our Lord and grouped them together in such a way that they not only show us how the King proved Himself King and how He was rejected, but to show in the grouping of these miracles the purposes of God, and bring out some very rich yet simple dispensational teachings. The Gospel of Matthew as the Jewish Gospel is the proper place for it. — Gaebelein, page 169.

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,

29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

beat (v.25) = to fall upon (with violence)

beat (v.27) = to stumble against (strike lightly)

not as the scribes (v.29) — who were known for referring to tradition and what other teachers had said.

The Scribes (Sopherim) date as a distinct body from the period of Ezra. The name is derived from sepher, or “book,” and means “scripturalists” — those who explained and copied the Law … Their functions were to copy, read, amend, explain and protect the Law. It was in the latter capacity that they invented the “fences,” which, under the title of dibheri sopherim, “words of the Scribes,” formed the nucleus of the “tradition of the elders” (Matthew 15:2; Galatians 1:14), or oral law, any transgression of which is declared by the Mishna to be more heinous than a transgression of the words of the Bible … Secondhandness, the slavish dependence on precedent and authority, is the most remarkable characteristic of rabbinical teaching. It very rarely rises above the level of a commentary at once timid and fantastic. — Pentecost, page 189.

“Hears … and does” (v.24) is clearly law in this case because the Lord had been referring to the law all through the sermon and it was still very much in effect (see Stam’s quote below). For us today, the “do” is faith alone (Romans 1:5) because, as Paul has since revealed, the law was given to prove to us that we couldn’t gain righteousness by the law.

But there is an application for us today. The Word of God — rightly applied in context — is the only solid foundation that will hold fast. Not the teaching of theologians or traditions that have been passed on in the church. We should listen to those who teach the Word, but then we should do as the Bereans who were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so (Acts 17:11). Paul returns to this theme in 1 Thessalonians 5:21: Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

The Lord in this sermon was telling His disciples that the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law was false, as demonstrated by their lifestyle. And in spite of their passionate dedication to their version of the law, God’s standard was even higher and more unattainable. So, those who heard what the Lord said and obeyed it had a solid foundation, while those who listened to the Scribes and Pharisees would fall.

Under the Law perfect obedience to God was required (Exodus 19:5-6; Galatians 3:10). To the lawyer who sought to tempt Christ by asking Him, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” our Lord countered by asking. “What is written in the law?” And when the lawyer quoted to Him the gist of the Ten Commandments the Lord answered simply, “This do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:25-28).

And indeed, when our Lord proclaimed the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, He demanded obedience to the Law in the light of His righteous interpretation of it. Technically, under the Law, if a man did not actually commit physical adultery, the law could not touch him, but our Lord, in His Sermon, showed that before God the lustful look is adultery committed in the heart (Matthew 5:27-28).

During the Kingdom reign of Christ, perfect obedience to God will be spontaneous as the Holy Spirit takes full control of His people. As we have seen from Ezekiel 36:27, God will put His Spirit within them and “cause” them to walk in His statutes and they “shall keep” His judgments and “do” them. Pentecost witnessed a blessed foretaste of this as “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4).

In “this present evil age,” however, we stand between the requirement to keep the Law for acceptance with God, and the future day when God will supernaturally cause His people to keep the Law … Grace and faith are the characteristic features of the present dispensation. Not only is salvation declared to be “by grace, through faith,” but the Spirit also operates in the believer “by grace, through faith.” What He provides by grace we may appropriate by faith. He dwells within each believer (1 Corinthians 6:19) to provide needed guidance and strength to withstand temptation, and we may avail ourselves of His help in time of need. — Stam, pages 115-117.

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’

23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The connection with the previous verses (vs. 13-14) is probably a warning against false prophets who lead people to the wide gate and broad path that leads to destruction.

Let us notice first of all that this warning has a special significance for the closing of the age, that is, the ending of this dispensation, the seven years of tribulation and sorrow in the earth. We only need to turn to the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24) in which our Lord answers the question of His disciples concerning the consummation of the age. When they asked about this ending of the age they surely meant nothing else but the Jewish age, for of a Christian age they knew nothing. In the answer our Lord gives, describing the events which fall into the seventieth week of Daniel, He says: “And many false prophets shall arise.” These false prophets will make their appearance during the great tribulation, no doubt under the leadership of the false prophet, the Beast, so prominent in the book of Revelation. — Gaebelein, page 157.

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He is not warning us against a man who does not exactly express truth in the terms with which we are familiar; but He is warning us against the wolf in sheep’s clothing; the teacher who affects the speech of orthodoxy, but lives a false life; not the man who holds a false doctrine, but the false prophet. His prophecy may be perfectly accurate, his preaching may be absolutely orthodox, but the man is false. That is the man who will lead farthest from the truth.

We cannot make any appeal against such repetition as this, in which our Lord by affirmation, negation, question, and by renewed affirmation, stating the case from every standpoint, asserted this great truth; that the test of the prophet is the prophet’s life. — Morgan, pages 78, 19

bad (vs. 17-18) = rotten, useless

that day (v.22) — That this has no reference to the Church is evident. The Church meets the Lord in the air, and every believer has in Christ’s day to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. But at that judgment seat no mere professors of Christ’s name will appear, and no “Depart from Me,” will be heard from the lips of the Lord, the Head of the Body. Nor does this word here in Matthew refer us to the great white throne. When our Lord says “in that day,” He means the day when the kingdom of the heavens is come by His return to the earth. Then many will be found but empty professors, who in spite of their works and using His name were none of His. — Gaebelein, page 163.

practice lawlessness (v.23) = continue to work iniquity

Many suppose that gifts of prophecy, casting out of demons and the “many wonderful works” referred to here are signs of spirituality, when in fact the carnal Corinthians wrought all these miracles and our Lord here, in the Sermon on the Mount, indicates that He will say to many who wrought these signs (when they were in order): “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Dispensationally, it is significant that the miraculous signs which so mightily bore witness to the royal claims of Christ, are not even mentioned in the so-called prison epistles of Paul, those written after his imprisonment in Rome. Furthermore, even in Paul’s earlier epistles there is much evidence that these signs were being “done away” (1 Corinthians 13:8; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10). — Stam, page 106.

I wish one of my commentaries had dug a little deeper into this passage, but I think Gaebelein and Stam demonstrate clearly that the Lord was referring to the kingdom — as does the context, since that was the subject of the entire message. There will be false prophets in the Tribulation, and any Jews (the Church having been raptured by this point) led astray by them will not enter into the kingdom (v.14)

I think Morgan has a point when he says the evidence of a false prophet lies in his actions, although I think he should have taken it further and looked to the end results, the fruit. Perhaps the fruit of a false prophet is that people look to Him instead of to Christ. A prophet may look good and sound good, but if the end result doesn’t bring people to faith in Christ, he is a false prophet.

Those who do the will of the Father will enter the kingdom. The Father’s will is that the Jews trust Christ.

Attempts to make this fit us today run into problems. Take Ironside’s explanation, for example:

Mere lip profession is of no avail if the heart and life are not subject to the Word of God. We are not saved by our works, but good works are the test of reality … There may be much of outward show and apparently successful service coupled with a Christless profession. In the day of manifestation, nothing will avail but a personal faith in Him whom we profess to own as Lord. — Ironside, pages 81-82.

Just a few sentences apart, he says that “good works are the test of reality” but that “apparently successful service” doesn’t avail. Which is it? Are good works the proof of faith or not?

For us, no. We are saved by grace through faith apart from works. For the Jews of the kingdom, yes, works are evidence of faith because, when they trust Christ, the law will be written on their hearts.

(Please don’t twist what I’ve said to mean that we aren’t supposed to  produce fruit and live in obedience to God. Of course we are. Our obedience is to have faith in Christ. Our fruit is our response to who we then become in Christ and is produced through the Spirit who lives within us.)

12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.

14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

therefore (v.12) — referring back to giving good gifts in verses 9-11

This is the law and the prophets (v.12) — this is the focus of the Old Testament. As with most of the sermon, verse 12 is explaining God’s standards of righteousness, which nobody can keep.

Hillel, Socrates, Aristotle and Confucius all said similar things before Christ said this (v.12), but their statements were negative and passive where Christ’s is positive and active.

The golden rule is a wonderful standard to live by — far above anything ever attained by this world, yet it does not rise to the heights of grace. Rather “this is the law and the prophets.”

We, the members of the Body of Christ are told to “be kind to one another,” forgiving others — not as others have forgiven us, but “as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven [us]” (Ephesians 4:32).

Further the Law provided no power to carry out the golden rule, but we are told again and again to fulfill the precepts of grace “according to the power of God that worketh in us” (Ephesians 1:18-19; 3:20; 2 Timothy 1:7-8). — Stam, page 103.

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The gate (door) and the way is Christ Himself. “I am the door of the sheep; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10). “I am the way … no man cometh unto the Father but by Me” (John 14). And why then is the gate narrow? Not because certain conditions and hard terms are to be fulfilled, but because man does not want to give up his own righteousness and clinging still to his miserable, filthy rags, he refuses God’s way and God’s door of salvation, which is Christ and Christ alone. — Gaebelein, pages 156-157.

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

These verses seem like a continuation of the thought in Matthew 6:25-34 — don’t worry about material things, ask God and He will provide. But Matthew 7:1-6, regarding not judging but being discerning, comes in between. Some of the commentaries say that the Lord was telling His disciples here that He will given them the wisdom to know when to judge.

The commentaries all bring James and Paul back to this passage and try to make Jesus’ words mean what they meant when those writers taught about prayer, but there’s no way the Lord’s hearers at this time could have known that further, future revelation.

This passage fits naturally with such passages as Matthew 18:19 and 21:22, both related to the Messianic Kingdom. We today had better thank God that we do not receive everything we ask God for, even in faith, for the apostle Paul, in Romans 8:26 declares that “we know not what we should pray for as we ought,” and we know that he himself “besought the Lord thrice” that he might be delivered from his “thorn in the flesh,” only to have the Lord assure him: “My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

But this same apostle assures us that though we may not receive all we ask for in faith, God is working all out for our good (Romans 8:28) and that He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20). Thus the divine instruction: “Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep [guard, defend] your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). — Stam, pages 106-107.

I think Stam has a very good point, because God certainly did NOT give Paul what he asked for, and Philippians 4 certainly does NOT say that He will. To get around this, Christians have come up with the formula that God answers prayer with “yes,” “no” or “wait,” but that’s not Scriptural. That’s just an explanation to get around the fact that God doesn’t currently answer prayer the way Matthew 7 says He will. But He did with His disciples when He sent them out to minister without provisions, and He will in the Millennial Kingdom.

1 Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

judge (v.1) — referring to motives (Romans 14:3-13; 1 Corinthians 4:5). We are to discern and judge sinful outward actions

The strict meaning of the word “judge” is to distinguish, to decide; and the variety of applications possible to such a word is evidenced by the fact of the variety of ways in which it is translated in our New Testament. In the KJV it is translated in all these ways: avenge, condemn, decree, esteem, go to law, ordain, sentence to, think, conclude, damn, determine, judge, sue at the law, call in question. There is no value in that grouping save as it reveals the fact that the simplest thought in the word is that of distinguishing decision. Sometimes the decision may be adverse, sometimes it may express itself as a decree determined upon, sometimes it may express itself as a sentence to be carried out. All these varieties are seen in the translations made use of. The simplest thought is that of distinguishing, coming to a decision. Sometimes it runs out into action, sometimes it conditions a passive position. Therefore its particular sense must always be determined by the context. Here, evidently, the Lord did not use the word “judge’ in the sense of forbidding us to discriminate, to distinguish, to decide. There can be no doubt whatever that He used it of coming to adverse conclusion in the sense of condemnatory censoriousness. “Judge not,” condemn not, come to no final decision, do not usurp the throne of judgment or pass a sentence, or find a final verdict.” — Morgan, page 72.

Verse 2 is saying that those who judge will be judged by the same standards they use to judge others.

speck (v.3) = small chip of wood, piece of sawdust, mote

plank (v.3) — some commentaries state that this is from a word that means “splinter,” not a huge board of lumber. But either way, it’s referring to something larger and more incapacitating than a mote

hypocrite (v.5) = actor, one who wears a mask

He did not say, “Then shalt thou see clearly the mote,” but, “Then shalt thou see clearly to cast it out.” The man with the beam is the man who is looking for the mote, and beholding it. Notice the question, “Why beholdest thou the mote?” You criticize it, you attack it, but you cannot move it. Get the beam out of your own eye, get the passion for criticism removed, get the … endeavor to find the mote destroyed; and then you will see clearly, not the mote, but how to remove it. The power for removing the mote to which you object lies, not in the acuteness of your vision, but in the passionate love which makes you desire to remove it. And so with the beam of censoriousness and criticism gone, you will be able to take the mote out of your brother’s eye. — Morgan, page 73.

Verse 6 is saying that, while we should not judge quickly or with hypocrisy, we should use discernment and not get close to those who reject the truth.

The issue here, as I see it, is setting up your own standards of righteousness, especially as relating to motives, as the Pharisees did, and then judging others by those standards. The Lord isn’t saying that we shouldn’t judge based on truth.

The Lord Himself in John 7:24, said “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

Surely our Lord indicated by these words that His hearers should judge — fairly and rightly, though hypocrites (as in Matthew 7:1-5) should take care not to judge at all. Thus God calls upon His people, not merely to judge others, but to be such as are qualified, morally and spiritually, to judge in matters where truth and error, and right and wrong conduct, are concerned. — Stam, page 114.

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing

26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

therefore (v.25) — referring back to “you cannot serve God and mammon” in v.24.

stature (v.27) = age, length of life — so the phrase “add one cubit unto his stature” is an idiomatic term for lengthening one’s life

toil (v.28) — the man’s work of growing flax

spin (v.28) — the woman’s work of weaving flax

oven (v.30) — in that culture, grass was used for fuel

Toward superabundance, as we have seen [in vs. 19-24], they are to be without covetousness. We will now consider their attitude towards necessary things, which is, that they are to be without care. — Morgan, page 67.

All of my commentaries (except Stam, below) attempted to apply these verses to Christians today. They universally ignore the simple fact that the Lord does not always supply the necessities to Christians today. Believers suffer, get sick, starve, and die at the same rate that non-believers do.

Some commentaries tried to twist what the Lord said to mean that we should work to provide ourselves with the necessities, but we shouldn’t worry about them.

Not one of them mentioned the fact that the Lord, in verse 32, contrasts His listeners with the Gentiles. And yes, at that point in time, to be a Gentile was to be a non-believer, but the Lord’s use of the term also demonstrates that this passage doesn’t apply to us today.

So to whom does it apply? To believing Jews of that day (and during the Tribulation — Matthew 24:15-18). It was only a short time later, when the Lord sent His apostles out to witness about the kingdom that He told them: Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food (Matthew 10:9-10). For that group of people, at that point in time, the Lord miraculously provided all their needs.  Keep in mind that in Acts, Paul had to collect money from the Gentile churches to feed the starving, believing Jews in Jerusalem. The Lord wasn’t providing their material needs any more because the kingdom had been postponed.

Today we find ourselves in a situation where it would be dangerous and wrong to follow our Lords’ instructions to refrain from laying up store for the future. Rather we must now again heed the Scripture which says: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise … [She] provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest (Proverbs 6:6-8).

That this last should be our mode of life during “this present evil age,” is clear from the Spirit-inspired words of the apostle Paul, who wrote to the Thessalonians: For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

And it was on the authority of the glorified Lord that the apostle wrote to Timothy: But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8). — Stam, pages 75-76.

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.

23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

lay (vs.19 and 20) — a form of the same word as that translated “treasures” (vs.19 and 20) — “treasure not treasures”

treasures (vs.19-20) — There is a peculiar quality in the Greek word which is not suggested by our word “treasure.” Very literally the idea is to place something horizontally. There are other Greek words which mean to place something perpendicularly.  What was meant by placing horizontally? To place in a passive condition, as the word which indicates to place something perpendicularly means putting it in an active relationship. This word means to lay something aside horizontally — that is, to store something up, to keep it; not to place something perpendicularly, ready for activity and work, but to hoard it. — Morgan, page 64.

good (v.22) = single, unified — sees everything true — focused on things of heaven

bad (v.23) = out of order — focused on things of earth

mammon (v.24) = riches, treasure

The Jewish philosophy toward money was expressed in their statement, “Whom the Lord loveth, He maketh rich.” In Deuteronomy 28 God promised that He would bless the people materially if they walked in obedience to the word of God, and He also promised to discipline them by reducing them to want and poverty if they disobeyed. The Jews thought riches were a sure sign of God’s pleasure and blessing. In Christ’s day their highest goal in life was to accumulate material wealth. But Christ taught that material goals may be lost to thieves, moths, or rust. Thus what is material is temporary, not permanent. On the other hand, one may store up in heaven treasure that is eternal and permanent. In accumulating treasure there is the danger that one will love what is accumulated. It follows that what is loved will enslave the person. — Pentecost, page 184.

 What Pentecost doesn’t mention, but should, is that the promises made in Deuteronomy 28 were made to the entire nation, not individuals, and that they apply to the period of the law. Christ, in this sermon, however, was speaking of the period of the kingdom and preparing His disciples for the way they should live in preparation for it. Of course, during the kingdom itself, the nation will be blessed because their focus will be on Christ because the law will be written on their hearts.

We must not lose sight here of its Jewish application. When our Lord sent forth His disciples in the tenth chapter to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom He gave them instructions how they should go about, depending in all things upon their Father in heaven. The disciples thus sent forth with the preaching of the Kingdom Gospel are the types of another Jewish remnant which is to preach once more in a future day the same Gospel, “The Kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.” — Gaebelein, pages 144-145.

True, but the basic principle applies under the reign of grace.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-3)

 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness (1 Timothy 6:9-11).

Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place;and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

When you fast (v.16) — a reference both to fasting prescribed under the Mosaic law in connection with the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29) and the voluntary fast of that day. The Pharisees added two fast days, on Monday and Thursday of each week, as a case of public display and piety. The true purpose of fasting was intended, however, for deep contrition and spiritual communion. Fasting was especially emphasized as an effective means of dealing with temptation (cf. Isaiah 58:6). The Pharisees regarded the practice of fasting as meritorious and appeared in the synagogues negligently attired. Their sad disfigurement of face and the wearing of mourning garb gave them an opportunity to exhibit their superior ascetic sanctity before the people.  — King James Bible Commentary, page 1185

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The Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday; and since it happened opportunely that these were the days when the synagogue met, it was given them to display themselves to the assembled worshipers in their guise of woe. Their fasting was not merely abstinence from meat and drink. They did not wash or anoint themselves, they went barefoot, and they sprinkled ashes on their heads, “making their faces unsightly that they might be a sight to men in their fasting.” — Pentecost, page 184.

anoint your head and wash your face (v.17) — look as you usually do when you go out

Not surprisingly, my commentaries have little to say about verses 14 and 15 because they so clearly don’t fit in with our concept of forgiveness under grace and they don’t wish to make this distinction. There is a passing mention that the forgiveness here is not the forgiveness connected with salvation, but refers to the comfort God gives those who are penitent. Of course, that distinction wasn’t made by the Lord in this sermon because His audience was still under law, and His words meant just what they said. Once again, as through this entire sermon, He was explaining God’s standards for any who tried to attain a right standing with God through works — with the  end purpose of demonstrating that it couldn’t be done.

The fasting the Lord refers to here was fasting under the Old Testament law. During the Transition Period, fasting was voluntary (1 Corinthians 7:5). Paul never referred to it in his epistles written after the end of the Transition Period.