Notes | November 22, 2020

Today’s message: Removing The Mask | Brandon Naramore

This month we are in a message series called JESUS 2020. Stay caught up on this series by following the JESUS 2020 message series playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrEv__Oj59QcRaGq0-1CMJ6ynkTqoOCa3

Matthew 6:1-4 (ESV) 
“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. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 7:25 & 27(NRSV) 
“The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock… The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

Matthew 5:1-2 (ESV) 
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying...

 
Matthew 5 Breakdown

• “Beatitudes” – Redefining Blessing and Privilege
• “Salt and Light” – The Responsibility and Call of the Messiah’s Ecclesia (Church)
• “You have heard it said…” – Reinterpreting and correcting corrupted Torah

Matthew 6:1 (ESV) 
“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.”
 
“Beware” (prosechō) – to be in a state of alert, be concerned about, care for, take care. (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich)

• Matthew 16:6 – “...beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
• Mark 8:15 – “...beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
• Luke 12:1 – “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

“Hypocrite” – a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. (Merriam Webster) 
 
“Hypocrite” – actor, in the sense pretender, dissembler. (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich)

The actor’s job is to present the drama or πρόσωπον assigned to him… by mime and gestures… The art of the actor ἡ ὑποκριτικὴ (τέχνη) is… from the moment he dons the mask his whole conduct on stage should be in keeping with his allotted role. (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

Matthew 6:2 (NRSV) 
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.

“Righteousness” – the quality or characteristic of upright behavior/righteousness.  (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

Three Categories of Righteousness

1. Wholly righteous
2. Wholly ungodly 
3. The penitent 

• “The first have kept the Torah perfectly; the second have more transgressions than merits; the third have an equal balance of observance and violation.” (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

Jewish Faith + Greek Philosophy = The Pharisee 

​“Every fulfilment of the Law: מִצְוָה, carries with it a merit: זָכוּת, which the Israelite earns before God… Alms, works of charity… and other fulfilments of the Law… in the last judgment… The Israelite… will then stand before God… The purpose of the last judgment is to see whether merit or transgression is the greater.” (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

“It should be emphasized particularly that צְדָקָה (Righteousness) implies relationship. A man is righteous when he meets certain claims which another has on him in virtue of relationship…”  (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

Genesis 6:9 (ESV)
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
 
“Even the righteousness of God is primarily His covenantal rule in fellowship with His people.” (Source: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich).

Genesis 15:6 (ESV) 
And (Abram) believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
 
Genesis 17:1-2 (ESV) 
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[a] walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Matthew 6:3-6 (NRSV) 
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.