Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Jesus, having told his disciples of the superior righteousness expected of them, now warns them of the danger of hypocrisy. “Your righteousness” recurs here (cf. comment on 5:20), though the focus has changed from “righteousness” in a purely positive sense to “righteousness” in a formal, external sense.

Jesus is primarily concerned with the motives behind righteous living. To attempt to live according to the righteousness explained in vv.21–48 out of an eagerness for human applause is to prostitute that righteousness. For this there will be no reward from the heavenly Father. There is no contradiction with 5:14–16, where disciples are told to let their light shine before men so that they may see their good deeds; there the motive is for others to praise the heavenly Father. To trade the goal of pleasing the Father for the trivial and idolatrous goal of pleasing people will never do.

This verse introduces the three chief acts of Jewish piety (cf. vv.2–18)— almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. In each act the logical structure is the same: (1) a warning not to do the act to be praised by human beings, (2) a guarantee that those who ignore this warning will get what they want but no more, (3) instruction on how to perform the act of piety secretly, and (4) the assurance that the Father who sees in secret will reward openly.