Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Ver. 1. Take heed that ye do not your alms] Your justice, saith the Syriac. For first, we do the poor but right when we relieve them; for they have an interest in our goods, by virtue of the communion of saints, whereupon Solomon, "Withhold not," saith he, "good from the owners thereof," i.e. thy poor brethren. God, the great author and owner of all, hath intrusted the rich (as his stewards, as his almoners) with the wealth of this world. He hath intrusted them, I say, not lent it them (to speak properly, for that which is lent is our own, at least for a time), but put it into their hands only, for this end, that their abundance may be a supply for others' wants, 2 Corinthians 8:9, that their full cups may overflow into others' lesser vessels, &c., which if it be not done, they can bring in no good bills of account. a It is but justice then that we do the poor, and it is but rapine or robbery (saith St Chrysostom) not to relieve them. b Secondly, alms is called justice, to teach that alms should be given of things well gotten. In the reign of King Henry VIII there was one accused (but very unjustly) of heresy for saying that alms should not be given until it did sweat in a man's hand. The Jews called their alms box, Kupha shel tsedacha, the chest of justice (Buxtorf, Syn.); and upon it they wrote this abbreviate, מכיא "A gift in secret pacifieth wrath," Proverbs 21:14. Selymus the Great Turk, as he lay languishing (his incurable disease still increasing), leaning his head in the lap of Pyrrhus the Bassa, whom of all others he most loved, "I see," said he, "O Pyrrhus, I must shortly die without remedy." Whereupon the great Bassa took occasion to discourse with him of many matters; and among others, that it would please him to give order for the well bestowing of the great wealth taken from the Persian merchants in various places of his empire, persuading him to bestow the same upon some notable hospital for relief of the poor. To whom Selymus replied: "Wouldst thou, Pyrrhus, that I should bestow other men's goods, wrongfully taken from them, upon works of charity and devotion, for mine own vainglory and praise? Assuredly I will never do it. Nay, rather, see they be again restored to the right owners;" which was forthwith done accordingly; to the great shame of many Christians, who minding nothing less than restitution, but making ex rapina holocaustum, do out of a world of evil gotten goods cull out some small fragments, to build some poor hospitals or mend some blind way: a slender testimony of their hot charity.
Before men, to be seen of them] As those are that act their part on a stage, and would please the spectators, that they may be applauded. "He that giveth," saith St Paul, "let him do it with simplicity," with ingenuity, accounting it enough that he hath God the witness of his heart, Romans 12:8; not but that men may see our good works, and their praise be sought, modo tibi non quaeras, sed Christo, saith Aretius, so that you seek not yourselves therein, but set up Christ. Let your end be, that the light may be seen, not yourselves seen, Matthew 5:16. A fool hath no delight in understanding, saith Solomon, but that his heart may discover itself, i.e. that he may have the credit of it: but he takes a wrong course. c For honour (as a shadow) followeth them that seek it not, d as the Hittites told Abraham, he was "a prince of God among them;" when himself had said a little before, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you," &c. Genesis 23:4,5 .
Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father, &c.] Ye take up your wages all beforehand. Fruit by the wayside seldom resteth till it be ripe. The cackling hen loseth her eggs, so doth the vainglorious hypocrite his reward. He layeth up his treasure, his wages, in the eyes and ears of men; which is a chest that hath neither lock nor key to keep it.
a Proverbs 3:27. Adeo si quid agimus, nostrum est: si quid habemus, alienum. Beddingf.
b Rapina est pauperibus non impertire. Chrysostom.
c Tantum ut vanam famam captet. Mercer. Duntaxat ad ostentationem. Bain.
d Caesar scripta sua Commentarios inscripsit, non historias. Et hoc ipso laudem veram meruit, quod falsam contempsit. Lipsius.