Breaking the Word

"(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. (Mt 6:1-6,16-18)

Jesus is talking about performing righteous deeds. Here he talks about three of them: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Jews believed that doing the righteous deeds were sufficient enough to be a good person or a righteous person. Jesus moved behind this to the intention of the doer.  Good deeds should have the right intentions as well.  If the intentions are selfish and for self glory then whatever be the deed, it will not be considered as righteous.

Righteous deed should have only one source and should have only one end: God. Righteous deeds should be done for the glory of God and the reward for the same should be from God. Like the intention of a righteous deed so also the source of the righteous deed and goal of it. Primacy of God and the ultimate goal is God, are the two essential principles that should guide the people who want to be righteous.

Any action that is done for the eye of the people or any action that is done for the glory of the self, or any action that is done for the visibility of the others is not a righteous action.  Every righteous action should be avoided with the following: knowledge (right hand should not know what the left hand is doing), visibility (it should be performed in secret – in the inner room where door is shut), open (Father who sees what is hidden). Any action that is for knowledge, visibility and open, is for performance and applause. 

They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brought one to him and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.' They were utterly amazed at him.  (Mk 12:13-17)

The Pharisees and the others always wanted to trap Jesus. They question him about Sabbath rules, about authority; ask for signs and so on. They were constantly putting to question and always with the intention of ensnaring him. This was because Jesus was different from the others and different from other leaders who were coming up to redeem the people. There was always something which they could not understand about him.

Even the opponents gave a very positive note about Jesus and his dealings. They considered him as a man of truthfulness. He was not a man to be carried away by opinions and views of the people. He was not a man of compromise. He was also not a man to be carried away by people in posts and positions. Jesus was a man who would not be influenced by people of authority and views and opinions of people. For him truth was everything.

One of the truths that he preached in this context is that people should not be confused about religion and society. Rather they should not confuse religion with society. Both are important and in fact they are two sides of the same coin. When one is overstressed at the expense of the other then he becomes either fundamentalist or communalist; depends on which one he stresses.