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These
Jewish leaders were displaying their righteousness “in front” of
others in order to be seen. In order to be recognized as saints - as
a godly men.
Practicing your Sin. Jesus gives us several
examples of their “godly” behavior. His first one is about
the giving of alms.
When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. (NASB) Matt. 6:2-4 Alms involved the giving of money to the poor and needy.
There were three types of alms. The first type was money given to the “public
dish” or to beggars. These alms were collected daily and distributed.
Apparently, they were collected in the streets door-to-door. The second
type of alms was the “Public Poor Box” which was given to
the poor of the city. They were collected in the synagogue on the Sabbath
and distributed the next Sabbath eve. The third alms were the unharvested
corners of the grain fields, the sheaves left in the fields, the remaining
gleanings and the poor’s tenth.
The religious leaders believed that giving alms gained a
person righteousness. One Jewish leader said, “This money goes
for alms . . . that I may obtain the world to come.” The Hebrew
word corresponding to the Greek word for alms means “righteousness.” In
fact, the leaders had translated Ps 17:15 as follows:
As for me, I shall behold Thy face because of alms. The correct translation is,
As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness. (NASB) Ps. 17:15 The religious leaders believed their good deeds of alms
gave them righteousness. What a tragedy! They were seeking heaven with
God and seeking glory with men at the same time. Jesus says, “Don’t
be like them!” They wanted to be noticed by men when did their
righteousness. They would have a trumpet sound when they gave alms so
that others would know they were practicing “righteousness.”
Conclusion. Jesus warns us to not let our
left hand know what our right hand is doing. At first, that seems like
a strange statement. It would seem the left hand will always know what
the right hand is doing. But that is exactly Jesus’ point. If we
are not very careful, our “righteousness” will show and our
left hand will know.
How are you doing, beloved? Does your left hand know? Or,
is your right hand eagerly displaying your good deeds? Does everyone
know you are the president of the Women’s Ministry or the deacon
who does everything?
Jesus said these leaders were hypocrites. This comes from
a Greek word that literally means “to be an actor.” What
a picture! They were showing their “righteousness” to the
crowd, and Jesus calls them actors - hypocrites. They were not really
righteous. When we sense a desire to display our righteousness to others,
Jesus would want us to hide it. If we display it, we are just actors
- hypocrites.
God wants your pursuit of righteousness to be a heart that
hungers to be like Him. Then out of the overflow of your pursuit to be
like Him, others will catch a glimpse of Jesus in you. Jesus wants us
to be careful that our praise gives God the glory for the work He does
in our life. Then, “your Father who sees in
secret will repay you . . ." |
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| Sermon on the Mount | |||||
