By the time Jesus arrived, the approach of most of the Jewish religious leadership in dealing with the law had become very literal. They had lost the spirit of what God had tried to teach them through His law, so they began doing the right things — things God had commanded them to do — but for the wrong reasons.

Jesus wanted to bring people back to doing good for others for the right reasons, which were because they loved God and loved their neighbors. That is why he taught that acts of charity such as giving to the needy, as well as religious acts such as fasting, needed to be done in such a way that only God knew what the believer was doing: “Watch out! Don';t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don';t do as the hypocrites do — blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get” (Matthew 5:1–2).

He taught essentially the same lesson about prayer and fasting, telling his followers that their prayers should be offered to God in private, not out in the open for everyone to see (Matthew 6:5–6). Furthermore, when they prayed they weren';t to just “babble on and on as people of other religions do” (Matthew 6:7), but instead they were to pray according to his words recorded in Matthew 6:9–14, or what is known as the Lord';s Prayer (see Chapter 4).

Jesus taught that those who did the things he calls all of us to do — giving, praying, fasting — using the guidelines he gives will receive their reward from God in heaven. However, those who do them with the wrong motivation will receive their reward here on earth.

Study Questions

How should Jesus';s command/encouragement to do our giving and other acts of charity in private affect how we do those things today?

What did Jesus intend when he taught his followers to pray “like this” then spoke what has come to be known as the Lord';s Prayer?