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NASB | Matthew 6:1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 6:1 "Be [very] careful not to do your good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven. |
Bible Question: In the teaching of chapter six of Matthew, Christ discusses three activities: Alms giving, fasting, and prayer. It seems to me that Alms giving is focusing on others, fasting is focusing (not in a bad way) on one's self, and prayer is focusing on God. Was there any other particular reason that Christ might have chosen these three activites? Are they intended to be of equal importance in some way? Please let me know if you have any insights into these questions on this particular passage. Thank you! |
Bible Answer: Doc, Your conclusion about prayer, fasting and almsgiving relating to God, self and others is exactly the same at the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is the constant teachinhg of the Church from the earliest Church Fathers and derived from Scripture, especially Matt 6"1-18. They are also found together in Tobit 12:8: "Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness." You may find these footnotes on Matt 6 from the NAB of interest. "1 [1-18] The sermon continues with a warning against doing good in order to be seen and gives three examples, almsgiving (Matthew 6:2-4), prayer (Matthew 6:5-15), and fasting (Matthew 6:16-18). In each, the conduct of the hypocrites (Matthew 6:2 ) is contrasted with that demanded of the disciples. The sayings about reward found here and elsewhere (Matthew 5:12 , 46; 10:41-42) show that this is a genuine element of Christian moral exhortation. Possibly to underline the difference between the Christian idea of reward and that of the hypocrites, the evangelist uses two different Greek verbs to express the rewarding of the disciples and that of the hypocrites; in the latter case it is the verb apecho, a commercial term for giving a receipt for what has been paid in full (Matthew 6:2, 16 ). 2 [2] The hypocrites: the scribes and Pharisees, see Matthew 23:13 , 23 , 27 , 29 . The designation reflects an attitude resulting not only from the controversies at the time of Jesus' ministry but from the opposition between Pharisaic Judaism and the church of Matthew. They have received their reward: they desire praise and have received what they were looking for. 12 [16] The only fast prescribed in the Mosaic law was that of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:31but the practice of regular fasting was common in later Judaism; cf Didache Matthew 9:1." http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew6.htm Emmaus |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Matt 6:1 | Author | ||
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Hank | ||
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Searcher56 | ||
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Pats684 | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Emmaus | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Jkinner29 | ||
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Oldman7 | ||
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hunger and thirst |