Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 6:1

"Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." — Matthew 6:1 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: Christ, having now fulfilled the Law regarding its commandments, begins to fulfill it regarding its promises, so that we may obey God's commandments for a heavenly reward, not for the earthly one the Law offered.¹

All earthly things can be reduced to two main categories: human glory and an abundance of earthly goods, both of which seem to be promised in the Law. Regarding the first, it is spoken in Deuteronomy: The Lord shall make thee higher than all the nations who dwell on the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:1). And in the same place, it adds concerning earthly wealth, The Lord shall make thee abound in all good things. Therefore, the Lord now forbids believers to focus on these two things: glory and wealth.

St. John Chrysostom: Yet, it should be known that the desire for fame is closely related to virtue.²

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For when anything truly glorious is done, that is when ostentation finds its most ready occasion; so the Lord first excludes any intention of seeking glory, as He knows that this is the most dangerous of all fleshly vices to humanity. The servants of the Devil are tormented by all kinds of vices, but it is the desire for empty glory that torments the servants of the Lord more than the servants of the Devil.

St. Augustine of Hippo: No one feels how great the strength of the love for human glory is, except for the one who has declared war against it. For while it is easy for anyone not to desire praise when it is denied, it is difficult not to be pleased with it when it is offered.³

St. John Chrysostom: Observe how He has begun, as it were, by describing some beast that is hard to discern and ready to steal upon anyone who is not greatly on guard against it; it enters secretly and imperceptibly carries off everything within.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: And therefore, He commands this to be avoided more carefully: Take heed that you do not your righteousness before men. It is our heart we must watch, for we have to guard against an invisible serpent that secretly enters and seduces. If the heart into which the enemy has succeeded in entering is pure, the righteous person soon feels that he is prompted by a foreign spirit.

But if his heart were full of wickedness, he does not readily perceive the Devil's suggestion. Therefore, He first taught us, Be not angry, and Lust not, because the one who is under the yoke of these evils cannot pay attention to his own heart.

But how can we avoid doing our alms before others? For if a poor person comes before us in the presence of anyone, how can we give him alms in secret? If we lead him aside, it will be obvious that we are going to give him something. Observe, then, that He did not say simply, Do not before men, but added, to be seen of them. Therefore, the one who does righteousness not from this motive is not to be condemned, even if he does it before the eyes of men. For whoever does anything for God's sake sees nothing in his heart but God, for whose sake he does it, just as a workman always has his employer before his eyes.

St. Gregory the Great: If, then, we seek fame for our giving, we make even our public deeds hidden in His sight. For if in this we seek our own glory, then they are already cast out of His sight, even if there are many people by whom they are still unknown. It belongs only to the thoroughly perfect to allow their deeds to be seen and to receive praise for doing them in such a way that they are not lifted up with any secret exultation; whereas the weak, because they cannot attain this perfect contempt for their own fame, must necessarily hide the good deeds they do.⁴

St. Augustine of Hippo: In saying only, That you be seen of men, without any addition, He seems to have forbidden us from making that the goal of our actions. For the Apostle who declared, If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10), says in another place, I please all men in all things (1 Corinthians 10:33). He did this not so that he might please men, but God, to whose love he desires to turn the hearts of men by pleasing them. This is just as we would not think someone spoke absurdly who said, "In this effort of mine to find a ship, it is not the ship I seek, but my country."⁵

He says this—that you be seen of men—because there are some who do their righteousness before men in such a way that they themselves are not seen, but that the works themselves may be seen, and their Father who is in heaven may be glorified. For they do not consider it their own righteousness, but His, in whose faith they live.⁶

His addition, Otherwise you shall not have your reward before your Father who is in heaven, signifies nothing more than that we ought to take heed not to seek the praise of men as a reward for our works.⁷

Pseudo-Chrysostom: What will you receive from God, when you have given God nothing? What is done for God's sake is given to God and received by Him, but what is done for the sake of men is cast to the winds. What wisdom is it to bestow our goods only to reap empty words, and to have despised the reward of God? No, you deceive the very person whose good opinion you seek, for he thinks you do it for God's sake; otherwise, he would rather reproach than commend you.

Yet we must consider that a person has done his work for the sake of men only when his whole will and intention are governed by the thought of them. But if an idle thought of seeking to be seen by others arises in someone's heart but is resisted by his discerning spirit, he is not to be condemned for man-pleasing on that account. For the thought that came to him was a passion of the flesh; what he chose was the judgment of his soul.

1. non occ.
2. Hom. xix
3. Prosper. Lib. Sentent. 318
4. Mor., viii, 48
5. Serm. in Mont., ii, 1
6. Serm. 54. 2
7. Serm. in Mont.