And when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, downcast in countenance; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may appear fasting to men verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Fasting is the third act of righteousness the Lord examines in this chapter. Like giving and praying, it can aim at two very different audiences. The question He presses is not whether His disciples fast, but whose eyes they fast for.
Commentators note a deliberate order in Matthew 6. Each act faces a different direction, and fasting turns inward.
In verses 1 to 4 we have seen righteousness toward men (including giving); in verses 5 to 15 prayer toward God; now in verses 16 to 18 the subject is fasting. This one faces self. It is personal self-denial, for true self-denial is personal through and through, not for display at all… It might be done so that a person can give his own time and energy to some particular service for the Lord. If so, why should I want anyone else to know it besides the Lord?
Why does prayer stand in the middle?
Prayer holds the middle place between giving to the poor and fasting. It is the godly and holy basis that guards the other two, binding them up with faith against mere outward form.
Going without food is the body agreeing with what the soul already feels.
I believe there is a real value in fasting that few of us know much about. Suppose that on special occasions calling for personal prayer, someone joined fasting to that prayer. I have no doubt he would feel the blessing of it. Fasting expresses a humbling of spirit… In fasting the body shows its sympathy with what the spirit is passing through. It is a way of expressing our desire to be low before God, in the attitude of humiliation.
Behind the act lies a verdict on self.
In fasting the Lord touches that inward putting to death which expresses the realization of what man is in the sight of God… Fasting treats the body's earthly desires as if they did not exist. It does not minister to self — an unnatural condition which implies a fallen nature. You can do nothing with it but leave it out.
Their gloomy look was not something sorrow forced on them. They arranged it for an audience.
The hypocrites put on a sad face to look as godly as possible, and to make people see how earnest they are. But as we have already seen in verses 2 and 5, our God and Father gives us no reward when we seek it through a mere show of godliness and recognition from men.
Israel's history shows how far the abuse can go.
In fact, in Israel, where the outward religion of the Pharisees marked the nation, people turned fasting into its very opposite. They made it accredit self instead of discrediting self. It brought self forward instead of setting it aside… The Lord puts an end to this. He makes fasting a thing to be done before the Father and not before men — before the eyes of Him who sees in secret.
The Lord does not say the hypocrites get nothing. He says they get what they aimed at, and the account is then closed.
Three times over the Lord says of the mere formalist, "They have received their reward." Their reward is the approval and praise of their fellows. This they have. It is all in the present, and there is nothing more to come. The one who gives or prays or fasts unknown to men but known to God will be rewarded openly in the day to come.
The verse begins "when you fast," not "if" — yet He lays down no rule about it.
The Lord does not so much command fasting as bring it, like prayer, under the Christian principle of having to do with our Father in secret. It falls under the individual life of faith. Yet He does sanction and approve of it when practised in that way… He also hints at its value for spiritual power. Godly men have always felt, and must feel, how fitting it is for humbling the soul before God, when public or private need called for humiliation.
The prophets applied the same test long before.
Fasting is not merely external. Isaiah asks, "Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?" If fasting is just a matter of food, posture and dress, it is pure hypocrisy. Sadly, there is a great deal of this.
- Self. Giving faces others, prayer faces God, fasting faces self. It is self-denial, and self-denial is private by nature.
- Secret. The Lord neither commands nor forbids it. He moves it out of public view, under the eye of the Father who sees in secret.
- Sincere. The body joins what the spirit already feels. Strip that away and only food, posture and clothing are left — and that is hypocrisy.
- Self-display. The Pharisees turned the one act meant to discredit self into a display of it — the very opposite of its purpose.
- Settled. Applause is a real reward, paid in full now, with nothing left owing. Hidden fasting waits for a reward given openly in the day to come.
But *thou*, [when] fasting, anoint thy head and wash thy face,
Fasting had become a public performance. An unwashed, downcast look told everyone what was going on. Against that, the Lord tells the one who fasts to keep to the ordinary routine of grooming. So what did anointing and washing mean, and why hide an act of self-denial?
This instruction closes a set of three. Giving to the poor, prayer and fasting all come under the same heading that opens the chapter.
We still have to weigh our Lord's words on fasting. They are the third part of His teaching on "righteousness" (not "alms") in the first verse of the chapter. Prayer holds the middle place between giving and fasting. It is the godly and holy ground that guards the other two, tying them to faith and keeping them from empty form.
Oil on the head was not a religious rite here. It belonged to normal daily care, and dropping it was how people signalled grief.
The word for anointing the body after washing is commonly used for the eastern practice of anointing the body, or parts of it, for comfort, appearance, friendliness, healing, or burial. For everyday grooming compare Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Chronicles 28:15; Matthew 6:17. Skipping it was a sign of mourning: 2 Samuel 14:2; Daniel 10:3.
So the command comes to this: look like any other day.
Behind the plain appearance something real is going on. Fasting deals with self, not just with food.
Fasting means setting self aside. Not only the self tied to the evil within, but the claims of nature itself are set aside, so that we may have to do with God. It recognises that there are spiritual matters in hand of deeper importance than even the body's rightful claims… He is "anointed" and "washed." His heart is right and his life is right. He does not look "gloomy," because the joy of Heaven fills his heart here on earth, and the Father who sees in secret rewards him.
Commentators link it with special times of prayer, and with the body sharing what the spirit feels:
If someone joined fasting to prayer on the special occasions that call for particular personal prayer, I have no doubt the blessing of it would be felt. Fasting is one of those things in which the body shares in what the spirit is going through. It is a way of expressing our desire to be low before God, in an attitude of humbling ourselves.
An act meant to lower self can raise it instead. That is what had happened in Israel.
In fact, in Israel, where the outward religion of the Pharisees marked the nation, fasting was twisted into its very opposite. It was used to commend self instead of discrediting self. It pushed self forward instead of setting self aside… He puts an end to this by making fasting something done before the Father and not before people: before the eyes of Him who sees in secret.
Sincere people are not exempt, which is why the instruction is so specific:
But the flesh can take advantage even of what is meant to put the body down. So the Lord tells us to take steps not to appear to others to be fasting, rather than allow any display. A true Christian would shrink from putting on a false appearance. Still, the devil would trick him into it, unless he watches himself closely before God.
Notice what the verse does not say. It regulates the manner of fasting, not whether you must fast.
As already mentioned, the Lord Jesus neither gives a commandment to fast, nor does He forbid it here. He leaves fasting as a personal exercise of the heart but gives the warning not to do it in a hypocritical manner (as with giving alms and praying).
If it is done at all, the manner should match the freedom:
At least, it should not make me miserable looking, as though it was a burden to miss a meal! If fasting is willingly done, it should certainly be cheerfully done. If done honestly for the Father's glory, the Father will reward it.
Hiding it from people does not hide it from God. He does not say when or how He will reward.
The Lord Jesus does not mention when and how the Father will reward, but we know that God rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).
- Third: Giving, prayer and fasting form one set under "righteousness." Prayer stands in the middle and guards the other two from becoming empty form.
- Ordinary: Anointing the head and washing the face were everyday grooming. Skipping them was how people showed mourning. Fasting should leave no visible trace.
- Self: Fasting sets aside even the body's rightful claims, so the soul can have to do with God. Yet the same act can be twisted to promote self instead.
- Free: The Lord neither commands fasting nor forbids it here. He leaves it a personal exercise and only rules out doing it for an audience.
- Secret: The Father sees what people cannot. He rewards, but He does not say when or how.
so that thou mayest not appear fasting unto men, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret shall render [it] to thee.
Fasting is the last of three examples the Lord gives of practising righteousness. Giving and prayer came first, and all three end the same way — with a Father who sees what no one else can. The question the verse forces is simple: when nobody can tell that you are fasting, what is left of it?
The instruction sounds strange. Someone going without food must wash and groom so that nothing shows. One writer explains what fasting does for the spirit, and why the Lord guards it from display.
I believe there is a real value in fasting that few of us know much about. If someone joined fasting to prayer on the occasions that call for special personal prayer, I have no doubt he would feel the blessing of it. There is humbling of spirit expressed in it... Fasting is one of those things where the body shows its sympathy with what the spirit is going through. It is a way of expressing our desire to be low before God, in an attitude of humiliation. But the flesh can take advantage even of what is meant to keep the body in check. So the Lord tells us to take steps not to appear to others to be fasting, rather than to allow any display.
The danger is that the very act meant to lower self becomes the thing that lifts it. That reversal had already happened in Israel.
In Israel, fasting was abused to its very opposite. It was made to accredit self, instead of discrediting it. It brought it into prominence, instead of setting it aside... He puts an end to this by making it a thing to be before the Father and not before men: before the eyes of Him who sees in secret. As to the practice of it, He does not really decide anything... That the true life is one that is to be lived before God is the main point upon which He is here insisting.
There is a positive side too. Real fasting is not a technique; it grows out of prayer.
There is a deep moral connection between true prayer and fasting, as all spiritual minds have felt. Its blessedness is this: a Christian may be so taken up with God and His things that he forgets the needs of the body for the time. And even when those needs press on him, he may be so filled with God that he can deny the natural in the power of what is spiritual. Such a state, it is needless to say, is far from the eyes of other people.
The Lord ends all three examples with this same line — after giving, after prayer, and here. One writer notes that He speaks to each person one by one.
"Your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (4, 6, 18). What encouragement! and at the same time, what a wholesome reminder!... He said "your Father" to each person one by one, not to a crowd, pointing to the tie of birth formed between each true disciple and God. Each can say, "He is my Father." And if he is alone on earth for any reason, with no one here to turn to, that eye is still looking down on him — the eye of his Father who sees in secret.
Some translations end the verse with the word "openly." One writer holds that the promise stands complete without it.
So it is not a question of open reward, in verses 1 and 18 (leave out "openly") — "Your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you" is enough. "I know your works."
When does that reward come? Another writer leaves the timing with God.
The Lord Jesus does not mention when and how the Father will reward, but we know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
What you build where no one watches is what holds up where everyone does.
The real source of strength in faith lies in the hidden relationship with our God and Father. Someone once said: "We cannot confess the Lord publicly if we have not been in secret communion with Him on our knees."
- Hidden. Wash and groom so the fast does not show. The aim is that no one sees it but the Father.
- Humbled. Fasting lets the body share the spirit's desire to be low before God. It collapses the moment it props up self instead of setting self aside.
- Beheld. The Father's eye is on each disciple, one by one. It rests on him even when no one else is there.
- Rewarded. The Father's reward is certain, but the Lord does not say when or how it will come.
- Real. How often to fast is left open. What is settled is that the true life is lived before God — and hidden time with Him is where public strength comes from.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust spoils, and where thieves dig through and steal;
Jesus is teaching His disciples on the mountain, and He turns to what they do with money and possessions. Two questions follow at once: what is forbidden, and does it touch savings and providing for a family?
These words are not general advice to the world. One writer points back to who was listening, and to what earth and heaven are each like:
Matthew 6:19 is surely addressed to the disciples of Christ (see Matthew 5:1). And how much we need to pay attention to such instruction. You will notice that our blessed Lord is setting out here the moral characteristics of earth and heaven. There is no such thing as moth, or rust, or thief in heaven. On earth there is.
The warning does not condemn every blessing. It draws a line between blessing God gives and blessing a person chases:
The warning of the Lord Jesus — first of all directed to His disciples — does not refer to the blessing of God we may desire. It refers to something completely different: the greedy striving after wealth and earthly security. We read about this already in Proverbs 23:4-5: "Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven."
The destroyers Jesus names are small and ordinary:
Earthly wealth and earthly treasures are passing and therefore very insecure. This is what the Lord Jesus sets before His disciples here. The moth, a small, insignificant creature, can ruin the most costly materials in a very short time. Rust can destroy the things that seem most durable and most valuable, and thieves can steal it all at once. In the last century, war, flight and inflation taught many people — including children of God — that their apparent earthly securities could vanish like vapour.
The Lord warns that your heart follows your treasure. That closes off a common excuse:
Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy! If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, your heart will be there too. Many hold a fond notion that directly contradicts Christ: that the struggle for riches can swallow up a whole life while the heart is not in it but true to Him. What can be more false and deceiving! It is not for lack of solemn warning that a Christian can stray like this. What we are set on and live for from day to day proves our character and our state.
Death lies on everything here. That makes one kind of treasure sure and the other not:
Here our Lord contrasts the heavenly with the earthly, the spiritual with the natural, the things of time with those of eternity. His estimate of these is perfect, and He would have us governed by it. The heart follows what it prizes most, and if that is the things of earth, how great the loss! In this world, where death lies on everything, people set up many artificial arrangements to give security. But what is heavenly and eternal needs no insurance societies — eternal things are the sure things.
What you hold is your Master's, not your own. But there is a way to make it truly yours:
As to things here, you have your Master's goods. If you hoard them up here, you surely lose them hereafter, and turn them into accusers. On the other hand, you have gracious permission to transfer them really to your own account, by laying them up where your treasure is — "in heaven."
This does not cancel ordinary duty. One writer draws a line between honest provision and hoarding:
We believe the Christian is bound to provide for his family, day by day — bound to educate his children and put them in the way of earning an honest living. The New Testament commands all this so plainly that no one can question it. But these sacred duties leave the question of hoarding and speculation untouched. We do not believe in these at all. We believe that hoarding covers the soul with rust, and speculation fills the heart and mind with care and anxiety.
- Where it's said — Jesus speaks to His disciples, not to the world as general advice.
- Where the fault lies — not in wealth God gives, but in the greedy striving after wealth and earthly security.
- Where it fails — moth, rust and thieves do their work on earth. Heaven has none of them.
- Where your heart goes — the heart follows what it prizes, so what you live for day by day proves your real state.
- Where to send it — hoard your Master's goods here and you lose them, and they accuse you. Lay them up above and they go to your own account.
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust spoils, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal;
The Sermon on the Mount turns to a simple question: where do you keep what you value? Jesus points to a bank no thief can reach. Two questions follow. What is a treasure in heaven, and how does anyone put something there?
One writer marks the exact wording. On earth, loss is not just a possibility.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust [not merely can, but do] destroy and where thieves [not merely can, but do] break in and steal." You will notice that our blessed Lord is setting out in this passage the moral characteristics of earth and heaven. There is no such thing as moth, or rust, or thief in heaven. On earth there is.
The picture sharpens once you know the insect. The moth goes for the clothes nobody is using.
This is the clothes-moth, whose destructive damage is well known. In the East people kept garments in large quantities, as property and as gifts. Naaman the Syrian, for example, brought "changes of garments" as a present to Elisha, and Gehazi obtained two of them. Moths do not attack the clothing that is worn; they lay their eggs in what is laid up, and there the young find their food. From this the lesson is drawn to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt or destroy.
Jesus gives a command, so there must be a way to obey it. One writer points to His words to a rich young man, and to Paul's charge to rich believers.
But how is it possible to lay up such treasures in heaven? In Matthew 19:21 the Lord Jesus says to the rich young man: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Paul writes something similar to Timothy: "As for the rich in this present age, charge them... to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life" (1 Tim. 6:17-19). These passages contain a simple, unmistakable teaching. Take someone who wants to follow the Lord. He does not treat what he owns on earth as "treasure." He uses it according to God's will and for His honour in doing good. In this way he is gaining other and better treasures. He does not become poorer but richer in the eyes of God!
There is also a question of ownership. What a believer holds on earth belongs to his Master.
As to things here, you have your Master's goods. If you hoard them up here, you will certainly lose them later, and turn them into accusers. On the other hand, you are graciously permitted to transfer them, really and truly, to your own account. You do it by laying them up where your treasure is — "in heaven."
Verse 21 states a fact, not an ideal, and that closes off a common excuse.
Let us note carefully that the Lord says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." He does not say "ought to be," but "will." We cannot escape by telling ourselves that our hearts are not attached to what we are busy piling up. Why then accumulate it? We would say of a man heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish that he was mad. Yet to him the worthless pile is valuable. The proof is that he keeps piling it up. Who would not change worthless paper into good security? This we are privileged to do, while treasure in heaven will keep the heart there, and draw the feet on to where the heart is.
Where is this treasure kept? One writer connects it with Christ Himself, and with where He now is.
The believer's eyes are to be far above the world's level. His true treasure is not material. It is of eternal value, and nothing can corrupt it or steal it. Today we know that treasure is closely bound up with Christ Himself, raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly places. Is our heart not there too? As we value the things that are eternal, and live and act in view of this, we shall be laying up treasure in heaven.
Commentators differ over how much of this section was aimed at Israel and how much at the church. One reading holds both together.
Here we have the remedy for it all: a word which, if it could be spoken to a Jewish remnant in view of millennial blessing, is so fully and clearly our own as Christians that the natural thing is to take it as if it had no other application. Yet those who are to inherit the earth, in the day all this looks forward to, will have great need to lay up their treasures in heaven, in the care of Him who is coming to give reward to His saints.
- Storehouse. On earth, moth, rust and thieves are not risks. They are facts. Heaven has none of the three.
- Stored. The moth feeds on the garment nobody wears, so the very act of hoarding is what invites the loss.
- Sent. Treasure moves upward when you give it away. What you use for God and for the poor moves from your Master's account to your own.
- Set. The heart does not stay behind. Jesus says it will follow the treasure. So no one can hoard on earth and still claim to love heaven.
- Secured. The treasure is bound up with Christ Himself, raised and seated above. Value what is eternal and live for it, and you are laying up treasure in heaven.
for where thy treasure is, there will be also thy heart.
The Lord has just set two storehouses side by side: one that moth, rust and thieves can reach, and one they cannot. Here He gives the reason the choice matters — your heart goes wherever your treasure goes.
The wording is worth pressing. The Lord is not telling us where our hearts should be. He is telling us where they will be.
Notice what the Lord says: "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." He does not say "ought to be." He says "will." We cannot escape by assuring ourselves that our hearts are not tied to what we are busy piling up. Why, then, pile it up? We would say of a man heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish that he was insane. But to him the worthless heap is valuable — and you can tell that for sure, because he keeps adding to it.
Many keep two accounts. They spend their lives chasing money and still claim their hearts belong elsewhere. This verse closes that door.
Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy. If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, there also will be your heart. Many cling to a fond idea that directly contradicts Christ: that a man can pour his life into the struggle for riches while his heart is not there at all but true to Him. Nothing could be more false or more misleading. It is not for lack of solemn warning that a Christian can go astray like this. What we are set on and live for from day to day proves our character and our state.
If the heart lands on its treasure, what is worth being one? The answer here is a Person, not a possession.
The believer's eyes are to be far above the world's level. His true treasure is not material but of eternal value, and nothing can corrupt it or steal it. Today we know that this treasure is bound up with Christ Himself, raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly places. Is not our heart there too? As we value the things that are eternal, and live and act in view of this, we shall be laying up treasure in heaven.
"Treasure in heaven" is not a vague hope. Other passages tie it to what a person does with what he owns.
But how is it possible to lay up such treasures in heaven? In Matthew 19:21 the Lord Jesus says to the rich young man, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Paul writes something similar to Timothy. He is to charge the rich in this world to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share. In this way they store up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19). These passages teach one simple, unmistakable thing. Anyone who wants to follow the Lord, and does not treat his earthly possessions as his "treasure" but uses them as God wills and for His honour in doing good, is gaining other and better treasures. He does not become poorer. He becomes richer in God's eyes.
Since the heart follows the treasure, the way to change the heart is not to strain at it directly.
We should never judge the prayers of others harshly. Still, people sometimes pray that our affections may be set on things above, and this is not possible. It is "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." A husband does not pray that he may love his wife when he already loves her. What we should desire is different. We want the grace and beauty and excellence of Christ to have such power over our souls that our hearts are drawn out to Him, in the place where He is.
Elsewhere the Lord follows these same words at once with a call to be ready for His coming. The order is not accidental.
It is always true that where our treasure is, our hearts will be also… Then, as a result of that statement, the Lord says, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning." I will say at once that if your treasure is on earth you will not be dressed for action, and your lamp will not be burning. It is impossible. You must have your treasure in heaven if you are to be found waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Diagnosis — the Lord says the heart will be where the treasure is, not that it ought to be. What you pile up shows what you value.
- Deception — this verse denies that a life spent chasing riches can keep its heart true to Christ.
- Treasure — the believer's treasure is not material but bound up with Christ risen and seated in heaven.
- Deposit — you store treasure above by using what you own for God's honour and for the poor. The giver grows richer in God's eyes.
- Direction — you cannot command your affections into place. A heart drawn by Christ above is the one found dressed for action, lamp burning, waiting for Him.