Matthew 6:22-33
From The Explanation of the Gospel of St. Matthew
by Blessed Theophylact, Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria
22-23.
The eye is the lamp of the body: if therefore thine eye be sound, thy
whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole
body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee
be darkness, how great is that darkness. This means, if you fill
your mind with worries over money, you have extinguished the lamp and
darkened your soul. Just as the eye that is sound, or "healthy" brings light to the body, and the eye that is evil,
or "diseased" brings darkness, so also does the state of the mind
affect the soul. If the mind is blinded by these worries, it is cast
into darkness; then the soul becomes dark, and how much more so the body
as well?
24. No man can serve two lords.
What He means is this: no man can serve two lords who command things
that are opposed to each other. Such lords are God and mammon. We make
the devil our lord when we make the belly our god. But by nature and in
truth God is the Lord, and mammon is unrighteousness. For
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold
to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Do you see that it is not possible for a rich man and unrighteous man to serve God? His love of money drives him away from God.
25.
For this reason I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall
put on. For this reason:
for what reason? Because concern over money drives a man away from God.
The soul does not eat, for it is bodiless, but Jesus said this
according to the common use of the word (1)
For it is obvious that the soul does not consent to remain in a body if
the flesh is not fed. Jesus does not forbid us to work, but rather He
forbids us to give ourselves over entirely to our cares and to neglect
God. Hence we must work for our livelihood while not neglecting the
soul. Is not life more than food, and the body more than raiment? This means: He gave us much greater things, life itself, and formed our bodies. Will He not give us food and clothing?
26.
Behold the birds of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not
much more than they? Although He could have given the example of
Elijah and John the Baptist, instead He mentions the birds in order to
shame us, for we are even more witless than these creatures. God feeds
them by having given them the instinctive knowledge for finding food.
27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
This means: Even if you take the utmost care, you can do nothing if God
does not will it. Why then do you drive yourself to exhaustion with
futile worries?
28-29.
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto
you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these. He shames us not only by the birds, which lack reason, but
also by the lilies, that wither. If God adorned the lilies in such a
manner, without any necessity to do so, how much more will He fulfill
our own need for clothing? He shows that though you go to great lengths,
you are not able to be adorned as beautifully as the lilies. Even
Solomon the most wise and splendid, with all his kingdom at his
disposal, could not array himself in such a manner.
30.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye
of little faith? We learn from this that we ought not to be
concerned with beautifying ourselves, for our adornments wither like the
fading flowers. Therefore one who beautifies himself is like grass. But
you, He says, are creatures endowed with reason, whom God fashioned
with both soul and body. Those "of little faith" are all those who
concern themselves with such thoughts. If they had perfect faith in God,
they would not give such anxious thoughts to these things.
31-32.
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things
do the Gentiles seek. He does not forbid us to eat, but to say, What shall we eat? The rich say in the evening, "What shall we eat tomorrow?" Luxury and excess are what He forbids.
32-33.
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you. The kingdom of God is the
enjoyment of all that is good. This comes through righteousness. To him
who seeks after spiritual things God in His generosity adds what is
needed for physical life.
1. Take no thought for your life [psyche] Psyche can also mean "soul": here Blessed Theophylact has both meanings in mind.
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