6:1 The three most prominent religious obligations of Jewish piety were almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The first eighteen verses of chapter 6 deal with these acts of religious devotion. In each case there is a wrong way and a right way. The followers of Jesus are to avoid all ostentatious display and to quietly fulfill the obligations in an unobtrusive manner. In carrying out religious duties they are not to make a public display in order to attract attention to themselves. That approach would deprive them of their heavenly reward.

Some scholars find a contradiction between this charge and the earlier advice (in 5:16) that believers are to let their light shine before others “that they may see your good deeds.” The contexts, however, are distinct. In the earlier case, the temptation was…