Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 6:24

"No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." — Matthew 6:24 (ASV)

More basic than the choice between two treasures and two visions is the choice between two masters: God or Money. Both are portrayed, not as employers, but as slave-owners. Slavery involves ownership by one person and requires full-time service; a person cannot serve two slave-owners. Either God is served with a single-eyed devotion, or he is not served at all.