Motley Crew Matthew Bible Study

Pray Hard and Holding on the the Ride!

September 16, 2009

 

The Questions

Read Matthew 6:16-18

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

1. How did the hypocrites disfigure their faces?

2. What is ironic about Jesus telling them to wash their face and put oil on their head?

3. So is fasting a good thing?

4. One more thing – what is fasting and why do it?

Read Matthew 6:19-24

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 "No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.

5. Where might people hide their earthly treasures?

6. How do verses 22-24 apply to someone who simply had bad eyesight?

7. Have you ever tried to serve both God and mammon [earthly wealth and treasures]?

Read Matthew 6:25-34

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. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life [a]?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Footnotes:

a. Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to his height

 

8. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his or her life?

9. So why do you worry about clothes?

10. Are you not more valuable than the birds of the air?

11. So what is Jesus trying to say about worry?

12. What do you think about verse 34?

 

 

Motley Crew Matthew Bible Study

Pray Hard and Holding on the the Ride!

September 16, 2009

 

Suggested Answers

 

Read Matthew 6:16-18

16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

1. How did the hypocrites disfigure their faces?

They put ashes on their head so everyone would know they were fasting.

...for they disfigure their faces … [by neglecting] to wash their faces, and make them clean, as at other times; and not only so, but put ashes upon their heads, and other methods they used ... that they might look as if they became so through fasting: and such persons were in great esteem, and thought to be very religious. John Gill's Exposition of the Bible.

Fasting, like prayer, was reduced to a system; twice a week in ordinary Pharisaic practice: Thursday and Monday (ascent and descent of Moses on Sinai). Nicoll, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 123. Thus in Luke 18:12: “I fast twice a week ...”. (from “The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector”).

Fasting typically accompanied grief and also of penitence (Neh 1:4-7; 9:1-2; Zech 7:5; Sirach 31:26; Judith 4:9-13). IVP (Inter Varsity Press) NIV New Testament Commentaries.

2. What is ironic about Jesus telling them to wash their face and put oil on their head?

These were signs of a joyous occasion [Ruth 3:3] But most of all it shows that Jesus came to turn our human way of thinking back to God. Jesus said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Jesus said, “Whosoever loses His life for My sake will save it.” In fact, there is a sermon brewing for this weekend on that very promise … See you then!

“Anoint thine head, and wash thy face;” was directly contrary to the Jewish canons, which forbid these things, with others, on fast days: "On the day of atonement, ... a man is forbidden eating and drinking, ... and washing and anointing, and putting on of shoes, and the use of the bed." John Gill's Exposition of the Bible.

Christ is emphasizing that we should perform the usual daily ablutions for comfort and cleanliness, so avoiding parade of fasting by neglect of them. Nicoll, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 123

3. So is fasting a good thing?

Yes. Jesus Himself fasted and prayed (see Matthew 4:2 in the wilderness).

In addition, fasting seems to be a requirement similar to prayer and giving, as Jesus says “"When you fast....”

Religious fasting is a duty required of the disciples of Christ, but it is not so much a duty itself, as a means to dispose us for other duties. Fasting is the humbling of the soul, Psalm 35:13.... Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

4. One more thing – what is fasting and why do it?

Fasting includes a period of not easting food and/or taking drink. It originated as a Jewish custom to accompany prayer when expressing deep sorrow for sin (Jonah 3:5: The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.), and when asking God to turn away penalties. I encourage people to fast and pray, especially when something life changing is on the horizon or on other special days. I do not recommend fasting for those with health concerns who need a regular intake of food to keep their system functioning properly.

Daniel 10:2-3. “At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.”

 

Read Matthew 6:19-24

19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 "No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.

5. Where might people hide their earthly treasures?

In actuality there are no places to hide them from God but most of us try to hide them by keeping our treasures for ourselves. Kind of like the pastor and the farmer who had 2 pigs [or a box of “Ding-Dongs”].

People hide their treasures under beds, in safety deposit boxes, IRAs, Swiss accounts, in gun safes, and elsewhere And according to commentator John Gill, in some Eastern societies, wealth was measured by expensive and elaborate clothing, so they would also hide their treasures in closets (before publicly parading them in order to earn the praise of others). “Costly garments were one prominent sort of treasure in the east. Rust: not just rust but a generic term for the whole class of agents that eat or consume valuables.” Nicoll, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 123.

However, God does not want us to hide our earthly treasures, but to share them:

Romans 12:6-8. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

“...no sort of worldly riches and treasure is safe, and to be depended on; and therefore it is a great folly and vanity to lay it up, and trust in it.” John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. Similarly in Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown.

James 5:2. “Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.”

6. How do verses 22-24 apply to someone who simply had bad eyesight? [“22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”]

Obviously, Jesus isn't talking about physical eyesight – it is more about what our eyes are seeing.

Concerning “the light within you”:

The eye is the lamp of the body: when it is healthy we see to do our daily work, when diseased we are in darkness. So with the eye of the soul, the heart, seat of desire: when it is free from covetousness, not anxious to hoard, all goes well with our spiritual functions – we choose and act wisely. When sordid passions possess it, there is darkness within, deeper than that which affects the blind man. We mistake the relative value of things, choose the worse, neglect the better, or flatter ourselves that we can have both. Nicoll, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 124.

See also Luke 11: 34-36.

7. Have you ever tried to serve both God and mammon [earthly wealth and treasures]?

Do a little soul searching.

A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world. When two masters oppose each other, no man can serve both. He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God; he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

 

Read Matthew 6:25-34

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. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life [a]?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Footnote:

a. Matthew 6:27 Or single cubit to his height

8. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his or her life?

The answer is clearly no one. The truth is we now know what Jesus certainly knew then that worry would actually take years away from your life not add to them.

And if God feeds and provides for inferior creatures, such as are very mean and contemptible, how much more will he not provide for you? John Gill's Exposition of the Bible.

Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in them. There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

9. So why do you worry about clothes?

Each man will have to talk this over with his wife individually. I will be available for counseling.

Also, the police may take notice.

10. Are you not more valuable than the birds of the air?

Jesus appears to be saying that in God's eyes the answer is yes!

11. So what is Jesus trying to say about worry?

Don't do it. See Him first.

We can be as unfaithful to God through unnecessary worrying as we can as through covetousness because worry divides and distracts the mind. What is depreciated here is not work for bread and clothing, but worry. Nicoll, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. 1, p. 125.

12. What do you think about verse 34? [“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”]

Pray hard and hold on for the ride!

There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life. This often ensnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich. But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary.

Proverbs 27:1. Do not boast about tomorrow,
       for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

John 16:33. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

For further reading: