Matthew 6:7-13 Righteousness Properly Displayed, part 2
Introduction:
Matthew Chapter 6:1-34 – Righteousness Properly Displayed Part 2 – 6:7-13
Matthew 5:20-5:48 differentiated between the righteousness that God demands vs. the righteousness that the Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers taught, practiced, and enforced. Jesus teaches the people the true understanding of the Law as “One having authority (7:29).”
When Jesus was giving the proper understanding of the Law, He was explaining the Law in contrast to the Pharisees. Now that the people have some understanding, Jesus will caution them about how they live their life. This is why I entitled Matthew 6:1-34 “Righteousness Properly Displayed.”
One can also see the progression from 5:20 and 6:1 – “For I say to you all that if your righteousness would not surpass more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will absolutely not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Then, “But, you all beware not to do your righteousness before men, to be noticed by them. If not, then you will not have reward with your Father, the One in the heavens.”
Hebrew Mindset:
As we have seen, we need to be careful about Matthew having direct application to the church. During the time of Matthew, the administration was Israel, and the economy was the Law. During our time, the administration is the church, and the economy is grace.
The economy is not how one obtains eternal life. The economy is the basis for which blessings and curses are distributed. During the economy of grace, the basis for blessing is believing, and believing only; otherwise, it is not grace. During the economy of grace, curses are not applied to believers. However, there are natural consequences of sin and disbelief in the life of the believer.
In the economy of Law, God evaluates believers based on how they follow the Law, and blessings and curses are applied both to the individual and a nation based upon following the rules set by God.
The entire book of Matthew is written within the economy of Law and pertaining to the economy of Law. The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven was the culmination of the Hebrew Scriptures with the covenant given to Israel as a nation. They were to keep the covenant and follow the Law to enjoy the benefits of being the Nation of God.
Other nations and Gentile people also have the responsibility of being God-fearers and yielding to Israel as the Nation that God has chosen. How they behave in conjunction with how they treat Israel will be weighed to see if they will be blessed or fall under judgment.
Matthew is not written to Gentiles, although they will be addressed in the book. The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to the people as Jews and to the nation as Israel to avoid judgment and wrath and enjoy entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven when it is established on earth.
Within the economy of Law, there were three acts of piety, three basic acts of righteousness: giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting.
In this section, we have covered the mindset of giving to the poor, and we have begun to study the mindset of prayer. As a review, we should look at 5-6 before proceeding to 7-13.
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Matthew Chapter 6:1-34 – Righteousness Properly Displayed Part 2 – 6:7-13
Matthew 6:5-8 – Proper Attitude in Prayer
Review Matthew 6:5-6*
Very similar to giving to the poor, pretenders do not pray with proper motivation. In the three examples, Jesus teaches to perform these pious acts with respect to the Father rather than with an attitude of approval from men.
In Pharisaical Judaism, the preferred place of prayer is in the synagogue. It is often suggested that the Jews of Jesus’ day had regular prayer times. Many times, it is noted that Jews would stop and pray on the street corner and in the middle of the synagogue. Often prayer was a spectacle. The motivation of the one praying is not always known, but Jesus gives an insight into the attitude of prayer and instructs them to stop making prayer a spectacle.
If the entire society prays, it is easy to pray as a sign that you, too, are pious. One of the main reasons that some have resisted public and corporate prayer is because of this injunction by Christ. The issue, however, is not the practice but the motivation in which they are done.
The solution for the Jews was to not pray in the public square, not displaying pious activity, but to do it before God.
Matthew 6:7-8
In early first-century Jerusalem, the city had many Gentiles, and Herod's Temple was a true spectacle. Some say that on a human scale it was greater than Solomon’s Temple. The Gentiles were allowed to approach the Temple and the Romans permitted the Jews to enforce the boundary with death as the punishment for violation.
Pagans would regularly come to the temple and stay in the Court of the Gentiles and pray or proselytize. Jews and pagans would regularly square off in the public square and debate. Therefore, the Jews were very familiar with the prayer practices of the Gentiles.
One of the main pagan practices was to pray long and pray loud; a prayer that was repeated and prayed by many in one place with a significant volume was thought to bend the ear of the gods, and there was a greater chance that their demands would be met.
What is this? This is an appeal to logic and treating the gods as we understand human nature. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Many proverbs echo this idea from the Japanese, “The stake that sticks up gets hammered down" or Spanish, “He who does not cry does not get breastfed."
When it comes to the basic attitude of an appeal or supplication to a deity, the most common thought is to pray loud and pray often with both repetition and frequency.
Hindu: “Prayers are central to the practice of Hinduism. They are used in both ritual and spiritual practices.” “Hindu prayers go by many names such as mantras, samans, riks, bhajans, kirtans, prarthanas, slokas, strotras, suprabhatams, anjali, ashtakams, and smaranams. They are used for invocation, supplication, appeasement, propitiation, submission, expiation, and purification.” “In
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Matthew Chapter 6:1-34 – Righteousness Properly Displayed Part 2 – 6:7-13
Hinduism prayers are used to invoke gods or various supernatural powers for the welfare of particular individuals or the entire community. The Vedic hymns are some of the most powerful prayers ever known to the mankind.”
Islam: “Salah is the second pillar of Islam. It refers to the compulsory daily prayers. Salah is offered five times a day individually or in congregation. We offer Salah to remember Allah and bring us closer to Him.” “Stand upright facing the direction of Al-Ka'bah. raise your hands to your ears and say: "Allahu Akbar.” Then recite, then recite, then recite”
Catholics: Most know of the Our Father and the Hail Mary, but there are over 30 prayers that are learned and recited. There is also Hail Joseph, Litany of Mary, the Act of Contrition and so on.
Greek Mythology: In ancient Greece, they had many prayers they would recite to Zeus, Diana, Hades, and many more.
Babylonian Paganism: Prayers to Ishtar, Nanna Lord of the Moon, Bel Lord of Wisdom
Because the Jews were surrounded by these Gentiles, it is human nature that some would take on some of the customs and traits they witnessed. This is the natural manner of the human condition to think that if we ask a person repeatedly, giving offerings, attention, and honor that the one who is greater will eventually give in to the request.
How do we know that this is a problem? In verse 8, Jesus gives an injunction. A negative particle with an imperative verb “stop being like them.” The word for “being like them” is “ὁμοιόω homoioō.” This means to assimilate, to resemble, to be made like. Therefore, this can be translated as “stop resembling them” and the injunction is to stop using meaningless repetition.
Some within Christendom believe the stress is on “meaningless.” The term “use meaningless repetition” is a single word, the verb “βατταλογέω battalogeō” – to speak many words without thinking. Jesus then explains further, “because they suppose that they will be heard (heeded) in their many words (πολυλογία polylogia).”
What is the problem? Their prayers are rooted in tradition, without meaning, and repeated following the pagan/earthly thought pattern of the human, futile, fleshly mind and are not rooted in the thoughts of God. None of the prayers that I could find has short repetitions but are lengthy prayers that were repeated throughout the day, or at least once a day.
The prayers of pagans were lengthy, meaningless, and repetitive. Jesus is saying prayer should meaningful, concise, and not recited. Yet people have taken the verse 9-13 and made that to be a meaningless and repetitive prayer.
Why did Jesus desire the Jews to have concise and thoughtful prayers? Because your Father already knows what you need before you ask Him.
Let’s look at a few verses in the Hebrew Text (1 Kings 18:25-29, 36-38; Ecclesiastes 5:2).
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Matthew Chapter 6:1-34 – Righteousness Properly Displayed Part 2 – 6:7-13
Matthew 6:9-13– Proper Prayer
What is the purpose of Jesus’ lesson on prayer? He was preparing the people to be ready for the Kingdom of Heaven and for the time of Jacob’s trouble, the wrath of God before the time of refreshing and the restoration of the Israeli Kingdom.
Observations:
1. The prayer was not given to be repeated but rather to teach them how to pray. Jesus does not say “pray this,” He says, “pray in this way.” “οὕτω(ς) hoytō(s)” – manner, fashion, like this. Jesus just told them not to use meaningless repetition, it does not fit that Jesus would give them something to repeat.
2. God’s interests are emphasized before personal concerns.
a. Jesus teaches them that recognition of and alignment with God’s desires always precede the
needs of the petitioner.
b. The petition is about needs in light of the Kingdom. For the Jews to survive the day of wrath,
God will need to provide food and safety for them.
c. Zechariah 13:7-9; Jeremiah 30:5-7, 23-24; Daniel 12:1, 9-12; Matthew 24:15-21; Revelation
12:6, 13-17
d. The prayers, “give us food,” “forgive us,” and “deliver us” are in light of the great and terrible
day of the Lord, and consequently with the Kingdom of the Heavens being established.
3. The Kingdom has not come, but the prayer is a desire for the Kingdom to come.
4. All of the requests are in the Aorist Imperative. The Imperative to God is an expressed desire for His
will to be reality and the Aorist Imperative is a petition with extreme urgency.
The concept of prayer in light of God’s wrath and redemption is predicated in the Hebrew Scripture as well.
Daniel 9:1-19
During the time of Jacob’s Trouble, the remnant of Israel was to pray in this manner to align themselves with the will and plan of God so that they would survive the wrath of God and fully rely upon the Father.
Timeless Truth:
Obviously, as believers in Jesus, we are supposed to pray, pray effectively, and pray with understanding.
We are not to pray like the pagans with poor human fleshly thoughts; we are to pray with understanding, seeking to align with the word of God, making requests that are in accordance with His will.
But we are not to pray this prayer and we are not to model our prayer after Matthew 6:9-13. It is not for us, but we can learn from it.
The main lesson is that God’s interests are emphasized before personal concerns.
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