Matthew 6:24-34

2 Chronicles 24:17-25

Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30, 31-32, 33-34

Matthew 6:24-34

Jesus said to his disciples:

“No one can serve two masters.

He will either hate one and love the other,

or be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and mammon.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink,

or about your body, what you will wear.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky;

they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns,

yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes?

Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.

They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor

was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field,

which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow,

will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’

or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’

All these things the pagans seek.

Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.

Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, my heavenly Father, you know what I need even before I ask you. You provide me with earthly food and drink and with heavenly food and drink. You clothe me with the robe of righteousness and shelter me under your wing. Help me to trust in you more fully each day and abandon myself to your loving care.

Encountering the Word of God

1. A Child of God or a Slave of Money: In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his followers the proper attitudes toward religious practices and material goods: Do not store up treasure on earth, but store up treasure in heaven. “Instead of practicing piety in order to gain the praise from other people, which is a kind of earthly treasure, the disciples should do righteous deeds in secret so that they may be rewarded by God alone with heavenly treasure (6:1-18). Similarly, Christ’s followers should not seek to secure their lives with the earthly treasure of material possessions but should seek first the heavenly treasure of the kingdom of God, trusting in the Father to provide all they need (6:19-34)” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 102). We have to choose between being a child of God or a slave of money. We cannot choose both. Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is not characterized by external wealth and the acquisition of material goods. Rather than be consumed with the acquisition of wealth and earthly status, we need to concern ourselves with the righteousness of the Kingdom of God: poverty of spirit, contrition, meekness, desire for holiness, mercy, purity of heart, peace, and acceptance of persecution (see Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year A, 259). Jesus’ disciples are not to be like the pagans, who are anxious about their material needs since they do not know or trust in God the Father.

2. The Fall of King Joash: When we read about King Joash in Second Kings, we are told that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. This was due primarily to the good influence and instruction of Jehoiada the priest (2 Kings 12:2). However, 2 Kings 12:3 also hints that King Joash failed as king. Although he worked to restore the Temple, he failed to do away with the pagan shrines in Judah as the Law of Deuteronomy commanded (Deuteronomy 12:2). Second, he failed because he attempted to prevent an invasion of Hazael, the Aramean king of Damascus (Syria), by paying him off with money from the Temple treasury (2 Kings 12:17-18). He trusted more in earthly wealth to protect him than in the Lord God. In 2 Chronicles 24, we learn about the wicked things Joash did after the death of Jehoiada the priest. There, we are told that the princes of Judah paid homage to the king and convinced him to abandon the Temple and the worship of the Lord God. They convinced him to serve the Asherim, which involved setting up sacred poles or trees in honor of the fertility goddess Asherah. The Law of Moses prohibited these poles or trees from being set up next to the temple altar (Deuteronomy 16:21-22; Leviticus 26:1). Joash permitted them to do this and begin worshiping idolatrous gods. God responded to this by sending prophets to Judah to bring the king, the princes of Judah, and the people to conversion. As well, the Spirit of God inspired Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, to pronounce judgment on the people. The people of Judah and Jerusalem responded, not with conversion, but by conspiring against Zechariah and stoning him to death in the Temple court. Zechariah’s dying words asked God to avenge his death. This came about within the year when a small force of Arameans (Syrians) invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killed the princes of Judah, and sent the spoils to Hazael in Syria. King Joash’s life ended tragically when he was assassinated in 796 B.C. through a plot within the royal palace (2 Kings 12:20-21; 2 Chronicles 24:25-26). Even though King Joash eliminated the pagan worship of Baal throughout Judah at the beginning of his reign, he allowed the worship of the fertility goddess Asherah, the consort of Baal, at the end of his reign. He chose to follow the princes of Judah instead of the Lord God.

3. The Almighty Dollar or the Almighty God: Today’s responsorial psalm applies to King Joash, a descendant of King David. Because Joash forsook the law of God and did not walk according to the ordinances of the Lord, because he violated God’s statutes and did not keep the Lord’s commands, God punished his crime with a rod and his guilt with stripes. At the same time, God is faithful to the covenant he made with his servant David. Despite the infidelity of David’s sons, God will raise up Jesus, “the root and offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16). Jesus is the son of Abraham and the son of David, and is the one who fulfills the covenants made with them both. Jesus’ “birthplace, ministry, resurrection, and enthronement are all depicted in terms drawn from the Davidic covenant. [...] Also in fulfillment of the dynastic promise made to David, Jesus is described throughout Luke as the ‘Son of God,’ and his royal mission is inextricably bound to Jerusalem and the temple; the kingdom he envisions is to embrace all twelve tribes of Israel and all the nations, and it is to be eternal" (Hahn, The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire, 82). Like the First Reading, which warns us against serving false gods, the Gospel today warns us against serving “mammon.” “Mammon is a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic word for wealth and possessions. It is derived from a word that means ‘believe, trust;’ thus it means ‘that in which one places trust’” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 110). Mammon can enslave us and keep us from serving God. In short, serving mammon enslaves us; serving God frees us. We are freed from anxiety because we place our hope in almighty God and not in the “almighty dollar.” 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, your Word contains examples of sinners who foolishly chose the path to death and of saints who wisely chose the path to life. I choose life today and ask that you guide my steps always.

Living the Word of God: We are to entrust our lives to our heavenly Father who knows what we need even before we ask him. Our goal is not to amass wealth here on earth but to collaborate with God in the extension of his kingdom of righteousness, peace, joy, and love. God truly reigns in us when we are obedient to his loving will; and, as a good king and Father, he will give us subjects and his children everything they need (our daily bread; forgiveness from sin; perseverance when tested and tempted; deliverance from evil).