Matthew 6:1–8, Matthew 6:16–18
Having taught from God’s law, Jesus now goes on to address three aspects of basic Jewish piety that were central to Second Temple Judaism. 1 He will explain how kingdom citizens ought to pursue righteous living for the sake of pleasing God and not winning the attention of people. 2 The three chosen acts of piety (alms giving, prayer, and fasting) are representative of all acts of piety. 3
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.