(Verse 44.) But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and slander you. Many, considering the weakness of their own abilities and not the power of the saints, think that the commandments of God are impossible and say that it is enough to have virtues and not to hate enemies. However, they command to love more than human nature can endure. Therefore, it should be understood that Christ does not command the impossible, but the perfect: what David did to Saul and Absalom (1 Samuel 24 and 26, and 2 Samuel 18). Stephanus also, the martyr, prayed for those who were stoning him as enemies (Acts 7). And Paul desires to be accursed for his persecutors (Romans 9). Moreover, Jesus both taught and did these things, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).
5:45
(Verse 45) So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. If someone keeps the commandments of God, they become a child of God. Therefore, being a child is not by nature, but by his own choice.
6:1
(Chapter 6, Verse 1) Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. From all these things it is gathered that they are hypocrites who do anything in order to be glorified by men. It seems to me also that he who says to his brother: 'Let me remove the speck from your eye' (Matthew 7:4), does this for the sake of glory, in order to appear righteous himself. Therefore it is said to him by the Lord: 'Hypocrite, first remove the beam from your own eye.' Thus, not virtue but the motive for virtue has reward with God. If you veer slightly off the right path, it doesn't matter whether you go to the right or to the left, because you have lost the true way.
6:3-4
(Vers. 3, 4.) But when you give alms, let not 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 when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. Not God's reward, but their own. For they have been praised by men, for whom they have exercised virtues.
6:6
(Verse 6) But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. This is simply understood, it teaches the listener to flee from vain glory in prayer. But it seems to me that this is more of a command, that we should pray to the Lord with our thoughts confined within our hearts and our lips closed, which we also read Anna did in the Book of Kings; Her lips, it says, were moving (1 Samuel 1:13).
6:7
(Verse 7.) But when praying, do not speak much, as the Gentiles do. For they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. If a Gentile speaks much in prayer, then a Christian should speak little. For God is not the listener of words, but of the heart. (Wisdom 1:6).
6:8
(V. 8.) For your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you will pray like this. In this place, a certain heresy arises, as well as a perverse doctrine of philosophers, who say: If God knows what we pray for, and before we ask, he knows what we need, then we speak in vain to the one who knows. To these it must be briefly answered, we are not storytellers, but askers. For it is one thing to tell the ignorant, another to ask the one who knows. In that, there is evidence; here, there is obedience. There, we faithfully indicate; here, we miserably beseech.
6:9
(Verse 9.) Our Father, who art in heaven. By calling Him Father, let them confess themselves to be His sons.
Hallowed be thy name. Not in you, but in us. For if because of sinners the name of God is blasphemed among the nations (Rom. VIII), on the contrary, because of the righteous it is sanctified.
6:10
(Verse 10) Your kingdom come. This can mean either a general prayer for the kingdom of the whole world, that the devil may stop reigning in the world, or that God may reign in each individual, and sin may not reign in the mortal body of humankind (Rom. VI). At the same time, we must consider that it requires great courage and a pure conscience to ask for the kingdom of God and not fear judgment.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Just as the angels serve thee blamelessly in heaven, so may men serve thee on earth. Let those be ashamed of this opinion who daily lie about there being disturbances in heaven. For what benefit is the likeness of heaven to us, if there is also sin in heaven?
6:11-13
(Vers. 11-13.) Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The word 'supersubstantial,' which we have expressed, is rendered in Greek as 'ἐπιούσιον,' a term that the Septuagint translators frequently translate as 'περιούσιον.' Therefore, we examined the Hebrew, and wherever they translated 'περιούσιον,' we found 'Sgolla,' which Symmachus translated as 'ἐξαίρετον,' meaning exceptional or outstanding, although he did interpret it differently in one particular instance. Therefore, when we ask that God give us extraordinary or exceptional bread, we ask for Him who says: 'I am the living bread that came down from heaven' (John 6:51). In the Gospel called according to the Hebrews, instead of 'supersubstantial bread,' I found the word 'mahar,' which means 'for tomorrow'; so the meaning is: 'Give us our bread for tomorrow,' that is, for the future, today. We can also understand the 'supersubstantial bread' in another way, referring to the bread that is above all substances and exceeds all creatures. Others simply think, according to the words of the Apostle (I Tim. VI, 8): Having food and clothing, with these we are content, that we should only be concerned with providing for the holy present food. Hence, in the following it is commanded: Do not worry about tomorrow.
Amen. The sign of the Lord's Prayer is: which the Eagle interprets faithfully: we, truly, can say.
6:14
(Verse 14.) For if you forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your offenses. This is what is written: 'I said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High; nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.' (Psalm 82:6-7) This is said to those who have deserved to be called gods because of their offenses. Therefore, rightly are they called men to whom offenses are forgiven.