What does it mean that they have their reward in Matthew 6:5?

It is very evident on the surface that when the Lord says of the "hypocrites" that "they have their reward," He means that they attain the object they have in view in their religious display before the eyes of men, that they, in a word, succeed in acquiring the praise of others. The following note will explain this very exactly: "'Have' is compounded with a preposition, which gives it the force of having all they have to expect, they have the whole of it already. … It is expressed in English by laying the stress on 'have.' Perhaps one might say 'have got' in the same sense." This is very solemn, because it teaches that if we are tempted to seek the admiration, the honour, or the praise of men, we may be allowed to gain it; but in that case we have nothing more to expect, inasmuch as we cannot then have God's favour and blessing. What the Lord is indeed here enforcing is that, whether in giving alms, in praying, or in fasting, it must all be done in secret before the eye of God, for, if not, none of these things will be of any avail before Him. And to encourage His disciples to this He says, "And thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee."* We need to remind ourselves of this instruction, for what is more frequently seen than the publication of the names of the donors of alms, or even private prayers presented before the eyes of others? How beautiful the words which the Lord uses of prayer! "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door" (shut out all else, even the nearest and the dearest), "pray to thy Father who is in secret" (for it is in secret that He is to be found and that His presence is to be realized); "and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee." Yea, if His eye alone, His favour alone, be sought, the end desired will be most assuredly realized. It will be readily perceived that all this applies to individual and private prayer; and yet even where two or three are gathered together in the Lord's name to pray, it is necessary to remember that we must address alone the ear of God, that we must pray to Him, and not to those who are present.

If tradition rules us, we may easily get into just the position in which the Jews were found in regard to their alms-givings, their prayers and their fastings. To them it had all become a matter of outward observance, as meeting the eyes and ears of men. If we, on the other hand, lift our thoughts to the Father in heaven, who has an intimate concern as to us, all must become real and vital, and be done for His ear and eye. Three times over the Lord says of the mere formalist, "They have their reward." Their reward is the approbation and praise of their fellows. This they have; it is all in the present, and there is nothing more to come. He, who gives or prays or fasts unknown to men but known to God, will be rewarded openly in the day to come.

But one might say, "If someone does good to others the results will remain, even if everybody sees it!" This nobody can deny, but it is not in question here at all. The Lord Jesus speaks of men who pretend to do something for God, but in reality look for recognition and glory from men (as their reward) for their alms. So the Lord Jesus says if they are admired for it by men they do have their reward. They shall not receive any reward from God. God does not primarily honour the results-even if they are most blessed-but the motives of our actions. He desires so much our love for Him (and for our needy fellow-men) to be the motive for our deeds.

The Jews had fallen into the prevalent and perilous snare of performing their acts of divine service for the sight and approbation of their fellows. They were attracted by the instant recompense which is "awarded to a man by his friends and neighbours for deeds of a religious nature" done under their notice. For men readily and unstintedly avow their appreciation of acts of almsgiving to which their attention is directed by a flourish of trumpets, of prayers performed at the street-corners in public view, and of tithes of goods voluntarily extended in scope to include even the lesser herbs of the garden. The synagogue and the street alike observe and generously appraise such deeds. And the Pharisee of every age seeks with much pains to obtain this praise of man rather than the praise of God. Mostly he is successful in his pursuit, and secures the adulation of his fellows, according to the words of the Psalmist, "Men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself" (Ps. 49:18). Herein, as the Lord said, the Pharisee receives his reward, i.e. the glory that comes from men, but misses that glory which comes from above, which the Father who sees in secret will bestow upon those who serve Him in spirit and in truth.

And finally we come to the eighth and last of this blessed list of subjects for meditation: "If (there be) any praise, on these-(things) meditate". I doubt not our first thought should be with regard to the praise of God: "Whose praise is not of men, but of God". When we get the praise of men, then we have our reward. (Matt. 6:1-6). The Greek word used for "reward" is apecho, and expresses the same meaning as our words: "Paid in Full". When the hypocrites did their alms, they sounded a trumpet before them, that they might have glory of men: and thus their reward was "Paid in Full". (Deissmann). We do not want this sort of praise.

Now the Greek word employed by the Holy Spirit in this passage, and rendered in our common version by "receive," means: to carry off for my own use, something which has become mine, either by promise, present, reward, or under any other lawful title. This is the original meaning of the word in Greek. Then, in a general sense, it is used for to receive, or to obtain something. Thus, the word evidently conveys to us the idea of one, who receives praise and reward or suffers loss, as the case may be, for the way in which he has accomplished his work.

So it is with the prayer here enjoined. "And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they should appear to men. Verily I say to you, They do get their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father that is in secret, and thy Father that seeth in secret will repay to thee. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as those of the nations; for they think they shall be heard through their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like them; for your Father knoweth of what things ye have need before ye beg of him. … For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father also will forgive you [yours]; but if ye forgive not men their offences, neither will your Father forgive your offences" (5-15).

It is possible to make a great religious profession with the object of gaining the applause of men. Of such the Lord can say, "They have their reward" (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16); but it is not Christ's reward, and it is a reward without Christ, for, says the Lord, "My reward is with Me." To enjoy Christ's reward we must wait Christ's return. What an encouragement to quietly continue in the Lord's service, in obscurity, it may be, and unknown by men, and possibly little appreciated by the people of God. Nevertheless, all is under the eye of the Lord. He knows, He will not forget, and when He comes every little act for Him, every little sacrifice for Him, every cup of cold water given for His Name's sake, will have its bright reward; but it will be "with Him."

But there is someone who knows my secret doings and the attitude of my heart. "Thy Father, which seeth in secret, Himself shall reward thee (KJV: openly)." As in chapter 5:16 and 45 the Lord Jesus places His disciples in their new relationship to God as their Father. Though they could not yet understand the full depth of its significance, He told them that Jehovah of the Old Testament had now become their loving, good, but also just Father, who takes notice of every deed and thought of His sons with fatherly interest. He will also reward every one in a day to come.

In a threefold way could they practice this — viz., in alms-giving (2-4), in prayer (5-15), and in fasting (16-18); but in whichever of these ways they practised righteousness, remembering from whom was their reward, they were to do it to Him who seeth in secret. This the Lord impressed on them. Their Father's eye was on them. Their Father was well acquainted with that which they were doing; He would not forget it. "Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee" (4, 6, 18). What encouragement! and at the same time, what a wholesome reminder! There is something, too, very gracious in the Lord's teaching here. "Thy Father," He said, not "your Father," referring thereby to the birth-tie formed between each true disciple and God. Each can say, "He is my Father;" and, if finding himself alone on earth from whatever cause, with none to turn to here, there is always that eye looking down on him, the eye of his Father who seeth in secret. The eye of his Father. One sees in Ps. 139 what an uneasy feeling the saint experiences under the sense of God's eye being on him, till he gets hold of God's thoughts (14-18). The eye of my Father being on me should produce no such uneasiness; rather the contrary, assured that neither locality nor darkness can hinder that eye resting on me. On Peter at midnight, sleeping between two soldiers in prison, and on Paul at night in the storm, when for many days neither sun nor stars had appeared, that eye looked down. The lights in heaven could be obscured by clouds or thickness; but nothing comes between our Father's eye and the object it would rest on, for He seeth in secret: a word of comfort, yet a word of warning also; for is there not a danger of forgetting before whom we are, and who beholds us?