Text for the Week: The Hypocrite’s Horn

Scripture: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

 “Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

² “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you that’s the only reward they’ll get. ³ But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ⁴ so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you that’s the only reward they’ll get. ⁶ But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They distort their faces so people will know they are fasting. I assure you that they have their reward. ¹⁷ When you fast brush your hair and wash your face. ¹⁸ Then you won’t look like you are fasting to people, but only to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Questions

1. What did it mean in Jesus’ culture to be a hypocrite and why would he use that term, does Jesus think these people are attempting to deceive others or themselves?
2. What does Jesus mean by not allowing “your left hand know what your right hand is doing” does this mean no one can know our giving?
3. Why does Jesus comment on where people are praying?

Background

Related Scriptures: Deuteronomy 15, Daniel 6, Mark 2:18-22, Acts 3

There is no indication that anyone blew literal trumpets to announce their giving and Jesus is probably just using the phrase metaphorically the same way we do.

The language of reward that Jesus uses is not about quid pro quo but has to do with acknowledgement and recognition. His point is that if you do things to be recognized by others then that is the only reward you have but if you do things for the right reasons God will recognize/reward you.

Jews in Jesus’ day had three set times of prayer morning, 3:00pm, and evening these times of prayer revolved around the Shema (Deut. 6:4-8) and other benedictions. It seems that some would plan to be in very conspicuous locations during the 3:00pm call to prayer so they could gain the most visibility.

In the Old Testament fasting was observed as a special practice one would use in times of stress. However, by the time of Jesus fasting was a regular part of contemporary Judaism, it was understood to be a regular part of spiritual devotion that one practiced without special need. Jesus’ comments here seem directed toward the practice of regular fasts and not those called for special circumstances.

Jesus does not react against being seen doing pious acts in this passage, he reacts against doing those pious acts to be seen. He does not expect complete secrecy from believers but a lack of concern for whether or not their actions are known.

Reflection

We all understand that prayer, fasting, and giving are three of the most common ways people demonstrate their religious devotion and thus their righteousness. It should then not be surprising that Jesus focuses on these three disciplines as he elaborates on his directive that his followers’ righteousness should exceed that of the pharisees. In the previous paragraphs Jesus had demonstrated how we are to think about others and live in relation to them as a form of righteousness, here he specifically addresses how we put our thoughts into practice. Jesus’ uses some hyperbole (there is no evidence anyone literally blew a trumpet to announce their giving) and he does not specifically implicate the Pharisees but he does seem to be contrasting his ideas of righteousness with theirs.

Jesus highlights the motivations for one’s religious activities as the fundamental measure of how righteous those activities are. This is why he begins this section telling his followers to pay close attention to their religious deeds. It is not that we must keep all of our pious actions concealed, he is not saying that we cannot pray publicly nor that we must prohibit people from knowing our generosity. Jesus is less concerned with whether or not our actions are seen than he is with why we are doing what we are doing. He does not criticize people for giving but for drawing public attention to the gift. He does not criticize people for praying in public or having set times of prayer, he criticizes them for intentionally coordinating their schedule to be in visibility places praying so that people will see them pray. He does not criticize people for fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, he criticizes them for looking intentionally disheveled. Jesus is not concerned with the religious devotion that Jews around him were preforming, he seemingly approves of it, rather he is concerned with the reasons they are doing these works.

Jesus rightly refers to these people as hypocrites, a term borrowed from the theatre a hypocrite was an actor who dressed in a costume and mask. Jesus is saying that people who virtue signaling with these acts of devotion are nothing more than actors playing a part and though the crowd may love the performance and cheer that praise is their only reward. Such is the righteousness he warns his followers against in 5:20, a righteousness that plays to the crowd first and God second. I am sure if you asked the pharisees why they chose to pray in public places at the 3:00pm call to prayer they would respond, “to be leaders and set an example for the community.” But Jesus does not seem concerned with even that answer, he does not seem to call us to lead others in spiritual disciplines but to walk together building one another up in such endeavors. Or at least we should understand the time and place, and interrupting a busy marketplace with prayers or intentionally remaining disheveled on fast days are not, for Jesus, signs of leadership but of neediness.

Instead, we are to practice our spirituality for God’s rewards. It can be tempting to see Jesus’ words as simply exchanging one prize for another, but that is not what he is doing. Rather, he is using this language to increase the distance between the hypocrites whose reward is the cheering crowds who enjoy the performance and his disciples. Because if we have kept our minds on being righteous—being in right relationship with God—then our reward is that right relationship with God. Jesus is not talking about a reward of a good life or a place in heaven, the reward is that the audience that you wanted to notice you (God) will notice you for the reasons you want to be noticed (love). Jesus’ point is that the person committed to maintaining a right relationship with God may pray in public, may be known for fasting and generosity but that person will be unconcerned by any accompanying acclaim because their focus is God. We are called to focus on right relationship, greater than the pharisees, because then we will not be concerned with where or how often we practice religion but why we do the things we do.