Commentary - Matthew 6:19-24

Bird's-eye view

In this section of His great sermon, the Lord Jesus brings us to the intensely practical subject of our material possessions. This is not a theoretical discourse for monastics; it is a direct command for every believer living in the real world. The central point is not that God's people are forbidden from having things, but rather that things are forbidden from having God's people. Christ contrasts two kinds of treasures, two kinds of vision, and two kinds of masters. The choice presented is absolute and binary. You cannot hedge your bets. You will either invest in a bank that is doomed to fail or in one that is eternally secure. You will either see the world through an eye of generosity or an eye of miserliness. And ultimately, you will either serve God or you will serve your stuff. There is no third way, no middle ground, no syncretistic compromise.

This passage is a direct assault on the idolatry of materialism, which is a constant temptation for the people of God in every age. Jesus exposes the foolishness of earthly investments, not because they are inherently wicked, but because they are profoundly insecure. He then connects our financial portfolio directly to the state of our heart, and the state of our heart to the way we see everything. The logic is inescapable: what you value determines where your heart is, and where your heart is determines how you see. A heart set on heaven sees clearly. A heart set on earth is blind. The passage culminates in the stark declaration that you cannot serve two masters. Mammon, or wealth, is personified as a rival god, a demanding slave master. Every man has a master. The only question is which one.

Outline

Context In Matthew

This passage, Matthew 6:19-24, sits squarely in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. Having just instructed His disciples on the nature of true, hidden piety before the Father, as opposed to the hypocritical piety of the Pharisees, Jesus now turns to another area where hypocrisy and worldliness run rampant: our relationship to money and possessions. The flow is natural. If our righteousness is to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, it must touch our wallets. A secret life of prayer and fasting is inconsistent with a public life of anxious hoarding and materialist idolatry. This section serves as the foundation for the subsequent teaching on anxiety (Matt. 6:25-34). The reason we are not to be anxious about food and clothing is precisely because we have a heavenly Father who knows our needs, and our hearts are set on a heavenly treasure, under the lordship of a heavenly Master.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Jesus begins with a negative command, a prohibition. "Do not store up." The verb here implies a continual action of accumulating, hoarding, and stacking up. This is not a command against having possessions, or against wise planning, like the ant in Proverbs. It is a command against making the accumulation of earthly goods the driving purpose of your life. He is forbidding a certain kind of investment strategy. And He gives us three solid reasons why this strategy is for fools. First, moths. In a world where wealth was often held in fine garments, this was a real and present danger. Your finest robe, your status symbol, could be ruined by a tiny insect. Second, rust. The word can mean more broadly "corrosion" or "decay." It speaks to the inherent principle of entropy in this fallen world. Your metal goods, your tools, your coins, they all break down. Everything you own is in a state of decay. Third, thieves. Your security systems are not foolproof. Locks can be picked, walls can be breached. Earthly wealth is fundamentally insecure. It is subject to the second law of thermodynamics and the sinful hearts of other men.

v. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

Now the positive command. The alternative to the doomed earthly bank is the utterly secure heavenly bank. Notice that Jesus does not say "stop storing up treasure altogether." He assumes we are creatures who will, by nature, invest our lives and energies somewhere. We are all building a treasury. The choice is not whether to invest, but where. The command is to make heavenly deposits. How does one do this? By acts of righteousness done for the glory of God, by generosity to the poor, by investing in the proclamation of the gospel, by every cup of cold water given in Jesus' name. These are the things that have eternal value. The security of this bank is absolute. It is beyond the reach of moths, decay, and criminals. The heavenly vault is impregnable. This is the only sure investment in the entire cosmos.

v. 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

This is the hinge of the entire passage. It is a spiritual diagnostic tool of profound simplicity and power. Do you want to know where your heart is? Look at your bank statements. Look at your investment portfolio. Look at what you value, protect, and think about. Your heart, that is, the seat of your affections, your will, your core identity, inevitably follows your treasure. It does not work the other way around. You cannot simply decide to have a heavenly heart while maintaining an earthly treasury. If you invest in this world, your heart will become worldly. Your affections will be tied to the Dow Jones, the housing market, and the security of your possessions. If you invest in the kingdom of God, your heart will be drawn heavenward. Your affections will be set on things above, where Christ is. This verse reveals that our financial decisions are not merely financial; they are acts of worship and indicators of our ultimate allegiance.

v. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

Jesus now shifts to a powerful metaphor, a Hebrew idiom that His hearers would have understood. The "eye" represents one's spiritual perception, particularly as it relates to generosity. A "clear" or "good" eye (the Greek can mean single, simple, or generous) is the eye of a person who is not double-minded about wealth. It is the eye of generosity. When your eye is good, when you have a generous disposition toward God and others with your resources, it is like opening the blinds in a dark room. Light floods in. Your whole "body," your entire being, your life, is filled with the light of God's truth and presence. A generous spirit leads to spiritual clarity. You see things as they are. You are not stumbling around in the dark, confused about what truly matters.

v. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The contrast is stark. A "bad" eye is the eye of a miser. It is the stingy, grasping, covetous heart that sees everything in terms of personal gain. This is the man who cannot part with his money, who hoards his treasure on earth. The result of this bad eye is that the whole body is plunged into darkness. A stingy spirit leads to profound spiritual blindness. You cannot see God, you cannot see your neighbor's need, you cannot see eternal realities. You are stumbling through life, thinking you are wise, but you are a fool. And then Jesus adds a terrifying conclusion. If the very thing that is supposed to be your source of light, your eye, your perception, is itself darkness, then the condition is catastrophic. "How great is the darkness!" This is not just being in a dark room; this is being blind in a dark room. It is a self-imposed, profound spiritual delusion. The man who thinks his miserliness is "prudence" is a man whose light is darkness.

v. 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Here Jesus brings the argument to its inescapable conclusion. He personifies wealth as "Mammon," a rival master, a false god. The word "serve" here is douleuo, which means to be a slave. You cannot be a slave to two different owners. Their demands will inevitably conflict. A choice must be made. Notice the strong language: hate and love, devoted and despise. There is no neutrality in this war. Attempting to serve both is a fool's errand that will result in loving one and hating the other. And make no mistake, Mammon is a jealous god. It demands total allegiance. It promises security, significance, and power, all the things that only God can truly provide. So the final declaration is absolute: "You cannot serve God and wealth." You can serve God with your wealth. You can use your wealth for the glory of God. But you cannot serve God and wealth as two co-equal masters. One will always have the ultimate claim on your heart. One will be God, and the other will be an idol. The choice is yours. Choose this day whom you will serve.