April 2, 2023 – Palm Sunday
Matthew 6:19-24
“Eyes on the Prize”
Service Overview: Jesus was one who kept his eyes on the prize; his triumphal entry is demonstrative of this. And like Jesus, we too are challenged to keep our eyes on the prize, keeping our priorities fixed on Jesus and his kingdom.
Memory Verse for the Week:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- “Rust” (brosis) refers not only to the corrosion of metals but to the destruction effected by rats, mildew, and the like. Older commentaries often picture a farm being devoured by mice and other vermin. (D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, 177)
- 6:23 In Jewish literature, an “evil” eye (NIV bad) was a jealous or greedy one (compare Deut 15:9; Prov 23:6; 28:22; Sirach 14:8-10; 34:13; Tobit 4:7, 16; m. ‘Abot 2:9, 11). (IVP New Testament Commentaries, Matthew, 140)
- Lay up (thē saurizō ) and treasures (thē sauros) come from the same basic Greek term, which is also the source of our English thesaurus, a treasury of words. A literal translation of this phrase would therefore be, “do not treasure up treasures for yourselves.” (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-28, 470)
- The words “treasures in heaven” go back to Jewish literature (M Peah 1:1; T Levi 13:5; Pss Sol 9:9). Here it refers to whatever is of good and eternal significance that comes out of what is done on earth. Doing righteous deeds, suffering for Christ’s sake, forgiving one another-all these have the promise of “reward” (see on 5:12; cf. 5:30, 46; 6:6, 15; 2 Cor 4:17). Other deeds of kindness also store up treasure in heaven (Matt 10:42; 25:40), including willingness to share (1 Tim 6:13-19). (D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, 177)
- 6:19. Ancient teachers like Hillel, a famous Jewish teacher, generally acknowledged the corruptibility of earthly treasure. Because thieves could dig through walls and steal a strongbox in one’s home, well-to-do people usually tried one of several other methods to safeguard their wealth: investing money with moneychangers, depositing it in a temple for safekeeping (even most robbers balked at “robbing gods”), or burying it in the ground or in caves, where, however, moth (for expensive apparel) or rust (for coins, cf. Sirach 29:10-11; but the term here in Matthew may involve decay by creatures, e.g., worms) could destroy its value in time. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 77)
Why is Jesus so concerned with what people value? Because Jesus knows…
1… any things we can acquire will expire.
(vv. 19-20 | Proverbs 23:4-5; Mark 4:19; Luke 12:15; 1 Timothy 6:6-8; James 5:2-3)
When Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, it’s not just because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions… Realizing its value is temporary should radically affect our investment strategy… According to Jesus, storing up earthly treasures isn’t simply wrong. It’s just plain stupid. (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, 13)
2… what we seek to possess is prone to possess us.
(v. 21 | Ex. 20:17; Prov. 23:4; Mat. 19:24; Mark 7:21-23; Luke 16:14; 1 Tim. 6:8-10)
The way we look at and use our money is a sure barometer of our spiritual condition. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-28, 476)
If the heart loves material things and puts earthly gain above heavenly investments, then the result can only be a tragic loss. The treasures of earth may be used for God. But if we gather material things for ourselves, we will lose them; and we will lose our hearts with them. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 24)
3… seeing straight means seeing reality.
(vv. 22-23 | Prov. 11:4; Luke 12:15; 16:11; 1 Cor. 2:9; 2 Cor. 5:1; Heb. 11:16; 2 Peter 3:13)
Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. (C.S. Lewis, from a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne, June 17, 1963)
We are accustomed to dividing life into the “spiritual” and the “material”; but Jesus made no such division. In many of His parables, He made it clear that a right attitude toward wealth is a mark of true spirituality (see Luke 12:13ff.; 16:1–31). (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 23)
4… divided devotion is no devotion at all.
(v. 24 | Ps. 119:10; Mark 8:36; Luke 12:33-34; 16:13; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5; James 1:22-27)
We cannot claim Christ as Lord if our allegiance is to anything or anyone else, including ourselves. (MacArthur, 477)
God is our greatest treasure, and our lives will count on earth only when we invest them in His kingdom for eternity. (David Platt, Counter Culture, 41)
A man cannot look up to heaven and look down upon the earth at the same time. (Thomas Brooks, London’s Lamentations, ca.1670)
Conclusion…
What is the way of Jesus in light of a text like this?
A. To hold loose to what you surely will lose.
(Luke 12:15; Acts 2:42-45; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; 6:17-19; Hebrews 13:5; James 5:2-3)
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. (Jim Elliot)
Nothing we own is completely safe from destruction or theft. And even if we keep our possessions perfectly secure during our entire lives, we are certainly separated from them at death. Many millionaires will be heavenly paupers, and many paupers will be heavenly millionaires. (MacArthur, 473)
God doesn’t look at just what we give. He also looks at what we keep. (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, 63)
B. To invest in what can never be lost.
(Prov. 22:1; 22:9; Luke 6:38; 12:33; Acts 20:35; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10)
The basic principle of the biblical teaching of rewards is that the way we live today will determine the rewards we will receive tomorrow. (J. Hampton Keathley, Faithfulness, http://bible.org/seriespage/mark-14-faithfulness)
I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity. (John Wesley)
If our aim in life is to get material gain, it will mean darkness within. But if our outlook is to serve and glorify God, there will be light within. If what should be light is really darkness, then we are being controlled by darkness, and outlook determines outcome. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 24)
God increases our yield so that by giving we can prove our yield is not our god. (John Piper, Desiring God, 169)
C. To truly make Jesus king.
(Prov. 3:9-10; Mat. 6:24, 33; John 12:12-19; 2 Cor. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5)
The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it. (D.A. Carson, Matthew, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 328)
God has to take our eyes off our kingdom before He can build His. (J.D. Greear, Gaining by Losing, 41)
God is our greatest treasure, and our lives will count on earth only when we invest them in His kingdom for eternity. (David Platt, Counter Culture, 41)
Jesus now explains that behind the choice between two treasures (where we lay them up) and two visions (where we fix our eyes) there lies the still more basic choice between two masters (whom we are going to serve). (John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 158)
Gospel Connection…
Jesus came to seek and save all who will but put him on the throne of their hearts.
(Luke 19:10; John 3:16; Rom. 3:23; 6:23; James 2:24; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 John 1:9; 4:15)
God does not leave anyone unfairly treated, but his grace is not limited to human deserving. In a kingdom in which the first are last and the last first (19:30; 20:16) there is no room for computing one’s “treasures in heaven” on the basis of earthly effort. (R. T France, The New International Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 274)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- What encouragement does God’s Word give us about what we have to look forward to in the next life? How might this effect the way we view our resources in this life?
- What might “storing treasures in heaven” look like on a practical, every-day level?
- In what ways do we demonstrate that our treasure is in heaven and the kingdom of Jesus instead of the stuff of earth?
- When you leave this world, will you be known as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn’t keep? Or will you be recognized as one who invested in what you couldn’t lose?
Quotes to note…
What the eye is to the body, the intention is to the soul. (Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, 102)
All the fact of your life cannot be encompassed in the one small sphere upon which you live. You belong to the infinite. If you make your fortune on the earth—poor, sorry, silly soul—you have made a fortune, and stored it in a place where you cannot hold it. Make your fortune, but store it where it will greet you in the dawning of the new morning. (G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Matthew, 64)
“The eye is the lamp of the body” (v.22) in the sense that through the eye the body finds its way. The eye lets in light, and so the whole body is illuminated. But bad eyes let in no light, and the body is in darkness (v.23). The “light within you” seems ironic; those with bad eyes, who walk in darkness, think they have light, but this light is in reality darkness. The darkness is all the more terrible for failure to recognize it for what it is (cf. John 9:41). (D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, 178)
A life of resolve comes with a price tag. You will be tested by the lure of the world. But you must turn a deaf ear to the crowd and live instead for the approbation of Christ. There will always be a cross before a crown, sacrifice before success, and reproach before a reward. The call of discipleship will cost you popularity, possessions, and position. But God will use your commitment. The grace of God will be multiplied in you if you cultivate a fixed resolution to live for the glory of God. (Steven Lawson, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards, 75)
Contentment is one of the most distinguishing traits of the godly person, because a godly person has his heart focused on God rather than on possessions or position or power. (Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness, 85)
For me, true contentment on earth means asking less of this life because more is coming in the next. Godly contentment is great gain. Heavenly gain. Because God has created the appetites in your heart, it stands to reason that He must be the consummation of that hunger. Yes, heaven will galvanize your heart if you focus your faith not on a place of glittery mansions, but on a Person, Jesus, who makes heaven a home. (Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home, 126)
Many Christians dread the thought of leaving this world. Why? Because so many have stored up their treasures on earth, not in heaven. Each day brings us closer to death. If your treasures are on earth, that means each day brings you closer to losing your treasures. (Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, 40)
Heaven is not here, it’s There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for. (Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart, 28)