NOTES for Mat 6:5-6

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ decisively rejects every display of "spirituality for show." In fact, this is precisely what He rebukes the Pharisees for, and this desire to put one's spiritual life on display turns out to be the most characteristic symptom of Pharisaism. The Lord tells His disciples that anything, even the most serious things, such as prayer and almsgiving, loses its meaning if it is done not for God's sake. Reading these words, we can pay attention to our own heart: we must resist Pharisaism first of all in ourselves.

The Lord contrasts Pharisaic ostentatious piety with prayer witnessed by God alone. Praying in secret, communing with God not for show, we find God Himself in an incredible nearness no one could ever have imagined. To be alone with God is an astonishing gift of the New Covenant and an astonishing calling of Christians. When we read Christ's words about almsgiving, about love for neighbors, about service to people, it is important to remember this call to pray to the Father who is in secret. The Lord calls precisely this communion with God alone the rock on which the entire life of a Christian is founded.

In addition, it must be noted that later Byzantine versions of the Gospel add an extra word: "He will reward you openly." In the ancient manuscripts this word is absent. This means that the reward most likely does not consist in visible prosperity, the very thing the Pharisees considered obligatory. It is remarkable and very important that Christ does not say at all what God's answer consists of. For love, this does not matter. The meaning of the answer in love is contained in the answer itself.