Matthew 6:19
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…”
Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…”
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
For the last two weeks we have been studying the preceding verses of Matthew 6:33, which make up the context and gives clarity to the meaning of this one verse. We studied verses 19 to 24 which is the first half of the context and verses 25 to 34 is the second half.
What can be easily overlooked is the connection between these two halves of the context. The word that makes the connection is “Therefore” in verse twenty-five. The use and meaning of this word is very important because it looks back, referring to what was previously said, but it also looks forward, giving the reason for what was said by what is going to be said. All of which we have studied the last two weeks.
If you missed what we studied in the teachings of the last two weeks you can watch the past sermons on “Facebook” by searching Hope Chapel Oak Lawn, also the texts of the teachings are posted on Facebook and on our website, www.hopechapel-oaklawn.org in the “Bulletin Message” section.
When Jesus says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness…”, he is putting the focus back on God of those who are storing for themselves “treasures on earth” (verses 19-24). Jesus is also, as was stated last week, putting the focus back on God to the one who is worrying or is anxious about the basic things of their life.
“But” means, however or instead of something else, which Jesus is referring to by what He said in verses 19 to 24. Instead of being occupied, busy, working hard and solely devoted to storing up ourselves “treasures on earth”, He wants us to do the alternative. The word “but” also refers or applies to what He said in verses 25 to 34, “do not worry about your life” referring to, “What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?” Our worry about these things in our lives needs to be exchanged for the alternatives that Jesus give us in verse 33, God’s “kingdom and his righteousness”.
To “seek” is to go about looking for, it involves making an effort, to investigate, desire to have. Seek as you would to search for treasure, seek as to be mentally and emotionally occupied to obtain. What Jesus wants us to “seek” or to give our undivided attention to attain is God’s “kingdom and his righteousness” in our relationship with Him.
“Seek first” means that there can be other things, a second and a third and so on. It is interesting to note that Jesus does not tell what are or can be the second or third things we should seek after. What Jesus is telling us instead of all the previously mentioned things in verses 19 to 33, to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” before anything else. These two are to be our first priority to what we are to be seeking for our lives. When God’s “kingdom and his righteousness are in first priority in our relationship with Him we will more easily know what is the importance of what follows in priority in our lives.
Jesus mentions two things we are to seek, God’s “kingdom and his righteousness, but do we really know what they are and how they apply to our relationship and life with God?
In the New International version of the Bible the term the kingdom of God is used 66 times and is synonymous to the kingdom of heaven which appears in 32 verses, which the word is used only 8 times in Jesus’ sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:1 to 7:28. Both these terms are exclusively found in the New Testament. The topic of the Kingdom of God is to extensive to study in this short article. Hayford’s Bible Handbook gives us a very brief outline of what is the kingdom of God that Jesus tells us to “seek”.
“KINGDOM OF GOD, THE. The whole of Jesus’ own preaching, teaching, and ministry centered in these words: “The kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). He came as the Savior-Lamb to rescue and redeem mankind to know his original estate in the divine order. The dynamic of Christian life and ministry is found in understanding the kingdom of God…” “In a thoroughgoing development constituting 39 brief articles under eight headings, the (1) foundations, (2) terminology, (3) message, (4) character, (5) ministry, (6) conflict, (7) worship, and (8) prophecy of the kingdom are elaborated. Here is a wealth of material to establish a full-orbed perspective on the kingdom of God, the essence of the church’s message and life. This study unfolds the balance that calls us to kingdom life and power in the present, while still anticipating the kingdom’s final fullness and consummation in the future.” Hayford, J. W.
The study that this article is referring to is 14 pages in length, in which upon request can be made available in a PDF format, just contact Hope Chapel by email.
Why would Jesus tell those who were listening to Him to seek “kingdom and his righteousness” which was at this point in His ministry, a topic that He spoke very little about? Was there an understanding of the “kingdom and his righteousness” that those who were listening had, which allowed Jesus not to go into great depth to explain?
In order to best understand what Jesus meant to seek God’s “kingdom and his righteousness”, we first need to know how those who were listening to His teaching at time understood God’s “kingdom and his righteousness”. It can be easy to inject our understanding of the meaning seeking God’s “kingdom and his righteousness” taken from what Jesus afterward and the other Biblical writers teach about these terms. We see this in the study of Hayford’s Bible Handbook that was previously mentioned.
However today for us to understand what Jesus meant to “seek first” God’s “kingdom and his righteousness”, we have the advantage and need to study what Jesus and other Biblical writers teach about these terms after Matthew 6:33.
Jesus in some following chapters of Matthew, primarily in chapter 13, explains what the kingdom of heaven is by saying, “the kingdom is like”, He says this ten times.
Another good example is what the apostle Paul teaches the roman Church in Romans 14:17-18. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
As Jesus stated, we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”, seeking involves studying the Scriptures, prayer and studying other Biblical resources such as concordances and commentaries. By keeping this our first priority, all the other things in life that some peruse to obtain God is faithful and will provide.
Pastor John
