WHAT DO YOU TREASURE THE MOST? WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT IS MOST PRECIOUS TO YOU?
Matthew 6:19-24
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.”
BACKGROUND
This passage is connected to the previous section where Jesus dealt with hypocrites in the kingdom. Now he focuses on undivided loyalty and clear spiritual vision. He wraps up with serving only one of two masters.
Treasure
We’re going to look at three words that are key in this passage: treasure, eye, and money. Jesus ties these three things together in an intricate way so that they are related to one another.
The Bible uses many Hebrew and Greek words to describe treasure. Suffice it to say, treasure, is the thing that we place of high value, things that are close to our hearts.
King‘s placed the treasure of the kingdom in palaces or in their temples. When an average person treasured certain things they would hide them away in their houses.
Eye
The Bible is rich with mentions and uses of the eyes in both earthly and spiritual matters. We will see some of that in our examination of this passage.
“The eyes show emotional qualities, such as generosity (Prov 22:9) greed (Ps 10:8), arrogance (Isa 2:11; 5:15; 2 Kgs 19:22), envy (1 Sam 18:9; Prov 28:22; Mk 7:22), evil desire (Isa 3:16; 2 Pet 2:14; 1 Jn 2:16). They are used of God in an anthropomorphic sense, showing His omniscience.” (1)
“The eye not only has sight but is proud (Is. 5:15), has pity (Dt. 7:16), sleep (Gn. 31:40), delight (Ezk. 24:16).” (2)
Money
In ancient times the exchange of goods happened through a barter system. But as time went by people began to value precious metals like gold and silver. But even as late as Solomon’s era, taxes and tribute could be collected in cattle, lambs, and international trade in wood and olive oil. During this period bars, bracelets and rings of precious metals were used in exchange. Later, in the ancient near east, after the Jewish exile, coins were struck of these metals to help standardize a system of exchange. Thus, money became very important. This was also true in ancient Israel.
When giving the law to Israel, God set the valuation of their currency. Exodus 30:13, “Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekelaccording to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs).” Also, see Leviticus 27. These were not coin values, but weights.
EXAMINATION
(V.19) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…”
The term used here for “break in” literally means “digger.” In ancient Israel it was somewhat easy for a thief to break into a home and steal. Most homes were made of mud brick. They easily dug through a wall to make a hole to break in. The Greeks referred to a burglar as a “mud-digger.”
At the beginning of this discourse Jesus uses a dual emphasis to make his point. His first two things are treasure on earth and treasure in heaven.
To hide a treasure was to protect its value. In Jewish writings treasure in heaven was associated with keeping the law and doing good deeds. Revealed in our passage is an attitude of treasuring things rather than God or other people. This is the materialist that values what he can see and touch and hold, especially clothes, property, and precious metals.
This is similar to the man of who Jesus says in Luke 12:18-21, “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
What do people treasure as represented in this passage? Money, material possessions, property. All of these things pass away with time, or are left to others after we die. They do us no good in heaven unless invested there.
(V.20) “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TREASURES ON EARTH AND TREASURES IN HEAVEN?
Treasures in heaven would seem to be the things which are immaterial, at least immaterial in this life. What the treasure in heaven is we do not know, however, our greatest treasure is in Christ himself.
What spiritual things can we treasure? Wisdom (Proverbs 7:1), knowledge (Colossians 2:3), godly relationships, people, good deeds, our memories, the word of God, spiritual gifts, our ministries, Jesus (he is the chief affection of our lives), God’s kingdom (Matthew 13:34), heaven itself.
(V.21) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
cf Luke 12:32-33, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.”
Physical possessions are not true treasure. But knowing Christ is true treasure.
I love my iPads. I have four of them. I use them daily for a variety of tasks, mostly ministry related. But like all treasures, they are only tools for something greater. They are tools, not treasure.
God refers to us as his treasure (Exodus 19:5, “You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.”)
Psalm 135:4, “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.”
I Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…”
If we do not treasure Christ above all things then all of our money, possessions, and even relationships are for naught. It’s not that Christ must come first, it’s that he must have supremacy in all things.
(V.22) “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light…”
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW? DOES IT EVER SHOW INAPPROPRIATE THINGS? WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT IT?
Now Jesus presents his second duality. The good eye and the bad eye. We keep what we treasure before us. It’s interesting that the light in this saying is internal. “The lamp of the body.” What we keep on the inside is what motivates us, what directs us.
Notice the transition here. Jesus first talks about what we treasure in our hearts, then he tells us that our eye is the lamp of the body; in other words what’s in our hearts tends to direct our lives.
cf the lust of the eyes in I John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”
What we treasure becomes our light, thus it is really light, or darkness if we treasure our sin. We tend to treasure what we see. But we can’t see God.
HOW DO WE TREASURE GOD IF WE CAN’T SEE HIM?
We must look with spiritual eyes. Peter said, “You love him though you’ve not seen him” (I Peter 1:8).
(V.23) “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
Again Jesus makes reference to the internal light, this time a bad light; self-deception about what are true treasures.
An old saying is, “No muscle of your body can relax if your eye is uncomfortable.” That is true! Think about watching something scary on TV or in the news. We physically react by contorting our face or covering our mouth or eyes or even jumping. The things of darkness should be an offense to us.
Earthly treasure is compared to darkness. Earthly treasure does nothing for us spiritually except when it is put in the employ of spiritual things.
When challenged by the religious leaders about paying Roman taxes, Jesus held up a denarius and famously said, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give to God the things that are God’s.
(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 the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
HAVE YOU EVER HAD TWO JOBS OR TWO BOSSES? DID THEY EVER COME INTO CONFLICT?
IF YOU HAD TWO PARENTS DID THEY EVER TELL YOU CONTRADICTORY THINGS?
Now comes Jesus’ last duality, the two masters, God and money.
The use of the word master implies the control of one thing rather than the other. In biblical times it also implied slavery. You can be controlled by God or by wealth.
I Timothy 3:3 said a pastor should not be “a lover of money.” I Timothy 6:10 states, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
If God is not in control of your life, if he is not your master, if you are not his slave, then there is no hope for eternity.
In 1951 Dr. Bill Bright and his wife Vonette wrote out a contract with God. In it, they pledged to be Christ’s slaves. That simple act of faith eventually lead them to start Campus Crusade for Christ which would lead over 640 million people to faith in Christ.
INTERPRETATION
WHAT IS JESUS’ BIG IDEA IN THIS PASSAGE?
- If your faith is in Christ then your trust must be in Christ as well.
- If you truly treasure Christ then you will hold little treasure in earthly things.
- Your vision is either spiritual or natural. What you spend time looking at reveals what is in your heart.
- You cannot serve Christ with divided loyalties.
What place do you want Christ to occupy in your life? For him to truly be your lord you have to surrender everything you have to him, your wealth, your possessions, your status and reputation, even your relationships. The Bible speaks to all of these things so all of these things must be under Christ’s lordship. He is no Savior without also being Lord.
APPLICATION
- Pray and declare to the Lord that you will trust him with every area of your life.
- Is there anything you treasure in life supremely? Surrender it to Christ and ask him what he would have you do with it.
- Do a spiritual inventory of the things you watch, read, or spend time looking at. What do those things say about what is in your heart? What will you do with them?
- Do you have divided loyalties? If so, it’s time to choose what will take supremacy in your life, Christ or the world?
(1) James, Edgar C. 1975. “Eye.” In The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, edited by Charles F. Pfeiffer, Howard F. Vos, and John Rea. Moody Press.
(2) Banwell, B. O. 1996. “Eye.” In New Bible Dictionary, edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman, 3rd ed., 353. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
