Matthew 6 Sermon on the Mount Part 4

Prayer: With expectant hearts and minds, we seek your truth, O God. In this study, help us to be attentive as we listen, careful as we speak, and awake to your wisdom. Open our hearts to your Scripture and give us the courage to change in light of what we read. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

With your group, take turns reading the introduction and text and answering the questions in each section.

Introduction

Earlier in chapter 6, Jesus taught how to give, pray, and fast in simplicity, motivated by a desire to please God rather than to impress others. In this section, Jesus calls us to extend this purity to our material lives. Just as positive spiritual practices (especially public ones) can easily become corrupted by self-focus, so too can our view and pursuit of material things—both our own and our neighbors’.

Within this section of the sermon, Jesus calls us to action:

• Work toward eternal treasure (vv. 19-22),
• Decide what will drive your life (v. 24),
• Do not let worry about material things overtake you (vv. 25-34), and
• Judge with the measure you would want to be judged (7:1-6)

Sandwiched between the directives above is a teaching that emphasizes who we should be in relationship to money and things:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
(vv. 22–23)¹

First, Jesus is using the pervasive Middle Eastern metaphor of “the evil eye” (or diseased, divided eye) which represents a heart full of greed, envy, and stinginess. A “healthy eye” (good, whole eye), refers to someone with a spirit of generosity which flowed from single-minded devotion to God.² Secondly, at this time people thought the actual organ of the eye sent out light to help one see versus taking light in. Reading the verses with this background leads to a subtle but significant shift in meaning—it is our heart, reflected in our attitudes, that results in righteous or sinful actions, not the other way around.

In other words, at the center of verses about actions we should take, Jesus is teaching that our actions about money are evidence of the condition of the heart rather than the cause of it.  Most importantly, there is an implication that God must renew our heart and mind to empower us to relate to money issues the way he does.

Ultimately, Jesus is presenting an action plan for freeing ourselves from the seduction of things.  So much of our time, reason, energy, and passion is spent trying to make money to live and to have more. Our teacher wants righteousness to extend to our jobs, our trust in God for our basic needs, and our prideful tendency to judge others based on what they have or do not have. He knows this can consume us unless we partner with a God who lovingly longs to change us from the inside, out.

Section 1

Matthew 6:19–24
6:19     “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6:22     “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
6:24     “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The point: Focus your mental and physical energy on what God values over accumulating money and things.

Question: Who are the two masters, and what is the result of trying to love them equally?

Section 2

Matthew 6:25–34
6:25     “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? 6:26 Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? 6:27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. 6:29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 6:30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? 6:31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 6:32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.

The point: Worry about our physical wants and needs can consume our thoughts and easily overshadow truly important, eternal things.

Question: What does Jesus tell us that God will provide for us?

Section 3

Matthew 7:1–6
7:1       “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 7:3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.

The point: Our own lack of self-reflection and repentance skews the way we evaluate others and our effectiveness in helping them.

Question: What kind of judgment does Jesus warn against?

Read through the text again below.³

Matthew 6:19–7:6
6:19     “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6:22     “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 6:23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
6:24     “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
6:25     “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? 6:26 Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you more valuable than they are? 6:27 And which of you by worrying can add even one hour to his life? 6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers of the field grow; they do not work or spin. 6:29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these! 6:30 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won’t he clothe you even more, you people of little faith? 6:31 So then, don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 6:32 For the unconverted pursue these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 6:34 So then, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
7:1       “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 7:2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 7:3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 7:5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.

Discussion and application questions

1. What we treasure is often what we think about the most. What are some things you over-prioritize?
2. Why do we worry even though we know that it will not change the outcome or solve the problem?
3. What are the specific people or situations in which you are most tempted to judge with contempt?
4. Share about someone you know who demonstrates selfless generosity.
5. Have you ever been confronted by a Christian about your sin? How did it go?

Conclusion

Challenge: Jesus lovingly warns us about how entangling a preoccupation with wealth can be. Take time to examine to what degree a hunger for things or a fear of lack has a hold over your thoughts, actions, and emotions. Ask God to help you yearn for the things that are eternally important.

Blessing: As you grow in treasuring what God treasures, may you overflow in generous, gracious giving to others.

1. Scripture and/or notes quoted by permission. Quotations are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.  All rights reserved.[↩]
2. Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, 5 vols., vol. 1, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).[↩]
3. We find that rereading the text is very helpful—please don’t skip this part of the study![↩]