“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
vss 1-18 - "Christ discusses three pharisaic practices of piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting." (Ryrie)
that your giving may be in secret - "Jewish tradition said that there was in the Temple a 'chamber of secrets' into which the devout used to put their gifts in secret so that the poor could receive support therefrom in secret." (Ryrie)
"Christ had previously pronounced blessing on the merciful (Matt 5:7). The giving of alms was designed to be a display of mercy. The need represented an opportunity; it made it possible for the giver to demonstrate the love of God by meeting the need. The Pharisees had perverted the showing of mercy by using it to demonstrate their piety. They tried to impress men with their liberality. This was so prevalent that beggars sought to station themselves at the approaches to the temple so that they might receive alms from the Pharisees as they entered. 'Almsgiving was part of the service in the synagogue, and there we may believe that our Lord gave what He could out of His slender means. There is a veiled irony in the declaration 'They have received their reward,' and this added to its impressive severity. 'They receive their pay then and there, and they receive it in full ... God owes them nothing. They were not giving, but buying. They wanted the praise of men, they paid for it, and they have got it. The transaction is ended and they can claim nothing more. But their loss is not the less, because they do not know what they have lost.'" (Pentecost)
sound no trumpet before you - "'When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee.' This is a picture of the popular method of the hour in which Jesus lived. It is an actual piece of portraiture. Some Pharisee, intending to distribute gifts, would come to a conspicuous place in the city, and blow a small silver trumpet, at which there would gather round him the maimed, the halt, the blind. Then, with a great show of generosity, he would scatter gifts upon them." (Morgan)
Pray then like this - "The Lord's Prayer is a model for our prayers [in a very loose way only!]. It begins with adoration of God (v 9), acknowledges subjection to His will (v 10), asks petitions of Him (vv 11-13a), and ends with an ascription of praise (v 13b, though this may have been added later)." (Ryrie)
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - "It was nothing less than the millennial kingdom the angels heralded (Lk 2:14) and this is what the disciples were told to pray for." (Stam)
bread - "All necessary food." (Ryrie)
Give us this day our daily bread - "This was most appropriate for them to pray. The promise of twelve thrones was made in answer to Peter's statement, 'Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee.' This was true. They had given up even their daily employment to follow the Lord Jesus, and He had told them: 'Take no thought [do not plan] for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye hall put on ... consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls' (Lk 12:22,24). This was all in line with the kingdom program, and it explains why the disciples were told pray 'give us this day our daily bread,' with the assurance that this would be provided. Certainly a great change had taken place, when, some years later, Paul took up a collection from among the Gentile believers for 'the poor saints at Jerusalem!' (Rom 15:26), but that was after Israel had rejected Christ and His kingdom." (Stam)
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors - "Salvation by grace through faith alone had not yet been manifested. These were the standards of the kingdom to be established on earth, and the subjects of this kingdom were given no hope of receiving forgiveness if they did not forgive others." (Stam)
trespasses - "These are obligations incurred; i.e., sins of omission and commission. Forgiveness means 'cancellation of these debts or obligations.'" (Ryrie)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - "The fact is that the English word 'temptation' had a broader meaning when our Bibles were translated, than we give it today. It meant trial or testing, and the prayer 'Lead us not into temptation,' evidently refers to the great tribulation, 'the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth' (Rev 3:10). This throws light upon the last part of the phrase, which our translators have rendered 'deliver us from evil, even though the Received Text contains the definite article. It should read, 'Deliver us from the evil,' perhaps referring to 'the evil one.' Let us not forget that in Rev 12:12, we read concerning the great tribulation, that 'the devil I come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time,' i.e., before he is judged and Christ reigns." (Stam)
"Notice that the only point the Lord emphasizes in the prayer is the necessity for forgiving one another. Forgiveness with the Father depends on forgiveness among the members of the family of God. This is the forgiveness that affects fellowship within the family of God, not the forgiveness that leads to salvation." (Ryrie) [I disagree with what he says about forgiveness and fellowship with God if he is applying it to us, the Body of Christ. Our forgiveness does not depend upon our relation to each other.]
"This perfect model of prayer was given by our Lord to His disciples to be used by them individually and previously to the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was then all on Jewish ground; they were Jewish believers and as such they received this model prayer and used it in the transition state. There came a day when our Lord said another word to these very disciples who had come to Him with the request, 'Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.' It was in the upper room where He spoke all the precious words concerning the Comforter, all that which was so new, altogether new, that which would take them upon a new ground. He said, 'Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full ... In that day ye shall ask in My name' (Jn 17:24-27) ... When the Church is taken from the earth a believing Jewish remnant will give the witness and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom once more, they will undoubtedly use this prayer during the great tribulation through which they will pass, the tribulation in which the evil one is in the earth and famine and many temptations will about. Then can they truthfully ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread—lead us not into temptations—deliver us from the evil one,' which is the personal Antichrist. 'They kingdom come.' This prayer will be answered, deliverance will come for them from heaven in the coming of the King. (We pass over the petition, 'And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.' This is a legal, an Old Testament petition. Our forgiveness does not depend upon our relation to each other.)" (Gaebelein)
"A comparison of the 'Lord's Prayer' with the Epistles of Paul will reveal how much more we have in Christ than His disciples on earth had under 'the gospel of the kingdom.' The very phrase 'Our Father which art in heaven,' suggests distance. They were to pray on earth to their Father in heaven. We do not deny that this is so physically with us too, but we do insist that we are given a position of which they knew nothing, for we are seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God Himself, and have 'access by faith into this grace wherein we stand (Rom 5:2). No such position is recognized in the 'Lord's prayer.' Furthermore, whereas they had a claim on God as His covenant children, we may rejoice that we are the children of God in Christ—a much closer relationship. The apostle Paul says, 'for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.' (Eph 5:30)." (Stam)
disfigure their faces - "Pharisees wanted everyone to know they were fasting, so they did not wash or trim their hair and sometimes put ashes on their heads." (Ryrie)
"The practice of Fasting also was very congenial to the Pharisees. They fasted every Monday and Thursday; and since it happened opportunity that these were the days when the Synagogue met, it was given them to display themselves to the assembled worshipped in their guise of woe. Their fasting was not merely abstinence from meat and drink. They did not wash or anoint themselves, they went barefoot, and they sprinkled ashes on their heads, 'making their faces unsightly that they might be a sight to men in their fasting.' And thus, to win the praise of sanctity, they displayed themselves in a mask of fictitious woe to the gaze of an admiring world." (Smith)
vss 1-18 - "Christ discusses three pharisaic practices of piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting." (Ryrie)
that your giving may be in secret - "Jewish tradition said that there was in the Temple a 'chamber of secrets' into which the devout used to put their gifts in secret so that the poor could receive support therefrom in secret." (Ryrie)
"Christ had previously pronounced blessing on the merciful (Matt 5:7). The giving of alms was designed to be a display of mercy. The need represented an opportunity; it made it possible for the giver to demonstrate the love of God by meeting the need. The Pharisees had perverted the showing of mercy by using it to demonstrate their piety. They tried to impress men with their liberality. This was so prevalent that beggars sought to station themselves at the approaches to the temple so that they might receive alms from the Pharisees as they entered. 'Almsgiving was part of the service in the synagogue, and there we may believe that our Lord gave what He could out of His slender means. There is a veiled irony in the declaration 'They have received their reward,' and this added to its impressive severity. 'They receive their pay then and there, and they receive it in full ... God owes them nothing. They were not giving, but buying. They wanted the praise of men, they paid for it, and they have got it. The transaction is ended and they can claim nothing more. But their loss is not the less, because they do not know what they have lost.'" (Pentecost)
sound no trumpet before you - "'When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee.' This is a picture of the popular method of the hour in which Jesus lived. It is an actual piece of portraiture. Some Pharisee, intending to distribute gifts, would come to a conspicuous place in the city, and blow a small silver trumpet, at which there would gather round him the maimed, the halt, the blind. Then, with a great show of generosity, he would scatter gifts upon them." (Morgan)
Pray then like this - "The Lord's Prayer is a model for our prayers [in a very loose way only!]. It begins with adoration of God (v 9), acknowledges subjection to His will (v 10), asks petitions of Him (vv 11-13a), and ends with an ascription of praise (v 13b, though this may have been added later)." (Ryrie)
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven - "It was nothing less than the millennial kingdom the angels heralded (Lk 2:14) and this is what the disciples were told to pray for." (Stam)
bread - "All necessary food." (Ryrie)
Give us this day our daily bread - "This was most appropriate for them to pray. The promise of twelve thrones was made in answer to Peter's statement, 'Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee.' This was true. They had given up even their daily employment to follow the Lord Jesus, and He had told them: 'Take no thought [do not plan] for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye hall put on ... consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls' (Lk 12:22,24). This was all in line with the kingdom program, and it explains why the disciples were told pray 'give us this day our daily bread,' with the assurance that this would be provided. Certainly a great change had taken place, when, some years later, Paul took up a collection from among the Gentile believers for 'the poor saints at Jerusalem!' (Rom 15:26), but that was after Israel had rejected Christ and His kingdom." (Stam)
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors - "Salvation by grace through faith alone had not yet been manifested. These were the standards of the kingdom to be established on earth, and the subjects of this kingdom were given no hope of receiving forgiveness if they did not forgive others." (Stam)
trespasses - "These are obligations incurred; i.e., sins of omission and commission. Forgiveness means 'cancellation of these debts or obligations.'" (Ryrie)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - "The fact is that the English word 'temptation' had a broader meaning when our Bibles were translated, than we give it today. It meant trial or testing, and the prayer 'Lead us not into temptation,' evidently refers to the great tribulation, 'the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth' (Rev 3:10). This throws light upon the last part of the phrase, which our translators have rendered 'deliver us from evil, even though the Received Text contains the definite article. It should read, 'Deliver us from the evil,' perhaps referring to 'the evil one.' Let us not forget that in Rev 12:12, we read concerning the great tribulation, that 'the devil I come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time,' i.e., before he is judged and Christ reigns." (Stam)
"Notice that the only point the Lord emphasizes in the prayer is the necessity for forgiving one another. Forgiveness with the Father depends on forgiveness among the members of the family of God. This is the forgiveness that affects fellowship within the family of God, not the forgiveness that leads to salvation." (Ryrie) [I disagree with what he says about forgiveness and fellowship with God if he is applying it to us, the Body of Christ. Our forgiveness does not depend upon our relation to each other.]
"This perfect model of prayer was given by our Lord to His disciples to be used by them individually and previously to the gift of the Holy Spirit. It was then all on Jewish ground; they were Jewish believers and as such they received this model prayer and used it in the transition state. There came a day when our Lord said another word to these very disciples who had come to Him with the request, 'Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.' It was in the upper room where He spoke all the precious words concerning the Comforter, all that which was so new, altogether new, that which would take them upon a new ground. He said, 'Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full ... In that day ye shall ask in My name' (Jn 17:24-27) ... When the Church is taken from the earth a believing Jewish remnant will give the witness and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom once more, they will undoubtedly use this prayer during the great tribulation through which they will pass, the tribulation in which the evil one is in the earth and famine and many temptations will about. Then can they truthfully ask, 'Give us this day our daily bread—lead us not into temptations—deliver us from the evil one,' which is the personal Antichrist. 'They kingdom come.' This prayer will be answered, deliverance will come for them from heaven in the coming of the King. (We pass over the petition, 'And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.' This is a legal, an Old Testament petition. Our forgiveness does not depend upon our relation to each other.)" (Gaebelein)
"A comparison of the 'Lord's Prayer' with the Epistles of Paul will reveal how much more we have in Christ than His disciples on earth had under 'the gospel of the kingdom.' The very phrase 'Our Father which art in heaven,' suggests distance. They were to pray on earth to their Father in heaven. We do not deny that this is so physically with us too, but we do insist that we are given a position of which they knew nothing, for we are seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God Himself, and have 'access by faith into this grace wherein we stand (Rom 5:2). No such position is recognized in the 'Lord's prayer.' Furthermore, whereas they had a claim on God as His covenant children, we may rejoice that we are the children of God in Christ—a much closer relationship. The apostle Paul says, 'for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.' (Eph 5:30)." (Stam)
disfigure their faces - "Pharisees wanted everyone to know they were fasting, so they did not wash or trim their hair and sometimes put ashes on their heads." (Ryrie)
"The practice of Fasting also was very congenial to the Pharisees. They fasted every Monday and Thursday; and since it happened opportunity that these were the days when the Synagogue met, it was given them to display themselves to the assembled worshipped in their guise of woe. Their fasting was not merely abstinence from meat and drink. They did not wash or anoint themselves, they went barefoot, and they sprinkled ashes on their heads, 'making their faces unsightly that they might be a sight to men in their fasting.' And thus, to win the praise of sanctity, they displayed themselves in a mask of fictitious woe to the gaze of an admiring world." (Smith)
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