“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-22 (ESV)

Aspiring modern followers of Jesus, whether they count themselves among the rich or the poor, may find themselves severly troubled by this passage. Although the instruction not to lay up earthly treasures for one’s self was given to a specific audience (at least in the story), we have reason to believe (1) that it clearly reflects stable convictions of the first century Jesus and (2) that Jesus, if he were alive and among us today, would instruct us along similar lines.

It is more probable that Jesus would do the latter if this passage does not reflect mere arguments offered in support of the teaching, but rather main reasons for the teaching. After all, it is still the case that moth and rust destroy (although this may be less of a problem in some parts of the world today) and it is still the case that thieves steal. Furthermore, one can still plausibly hold that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.

But what, exactly, is the instruction that Jesus gives in Matthew 6:19-22? Is it an instruction against (1) having valuable possessions on earth, (2) collecting valuable possessions on earth, (3) storing up valuable possessions on earth, (4) storing up valuable possessions on earth for one’s self? or (5) storing up valuable possessions of a particular sort or in a particular quantity on earth for one’s self? Is it aimed against individual actions or against a practice?

One could certainly argue from “where you treasure is, there your heart will be also” as well as other Gospel passages (e.g. Luke 18:18-25), that Jesus was opposed to having many valuable possessions on earth. But the instruction in Matthew 6:19 seems to deal with storing up valuable possessions.

Luke 12:16-20, the Parable of the Rich Fool, can arguably help us better understand Jesus’s instruction. The parable is roughly the story of a rich man who decides to build bigger barns to store up his abudant harvest for his future self. The rich man plans to enjoy himself and live off his supplies for many years to come, but his soul is going to be required (back?) by God that very night, perhaps in divine punishment. After telling the parable, Jesus says, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21 (ESV). From what is said, we can conclude that it is not unlikely that Jesus’s instruction against laying up treasure is aimed at something that involves storing up at least certain kinds valuable things for one’s future self.

Further, it is not unlikely that it is aimed at least at a practice of storing up certain valuable things for one’s future self and the parable provides evidence that even individual actions of this sort would / could meet with Jesus’s disapproval.

It is noteworthy that the man in the story is rich. Is Jesus’s instruction perhaps only for the rich? We might be tempted to think that if we count ourselves among the poor. There are certainly indications in the Gospels that Jesus was critical of the rich in his own time. However, although relatively rich and well-earning people can store up more valuable possessions for themselves than relatively poor and little-earning people, people of the latter sort can nevertheless have a practice of storing up valuable possessions for themselves. Moreover, note that the context of Jesus’s instruction in Matthew is that of speaking to his disciples (see Matthew 5:1-2) and that he does not specifically address the rich before giving this instruction, but rather seems to speak to all his disciples (cf. James 5:1-6).

It is also noteworthy that what the rich man plans to store up is not large amounts of money, but the abudant harvest of his land. Are we to understand that Jesus was opposed to storing up food for one’s future self and was rather in favor of an absolute reliance on the future provision of God? A proponent of such a theory might point to Matthew 6:25-34 (see my reflection on it here) and Matthew 6:11 (“Give us this day our daily bread”). There are certainly indications that Jesus had a great trust in the provision of food by God (see, for example, Matthew 6:31-33 and 14:19) and relativized the importance of human agricultural activities such as sowing and reaping (see Matthew 6:26). In addition to that, asking God for bread on a daily basis admittedly makes sense if one does not have bread from the previous day.

However, Jesus does not condemn agriculture outright in the Gospels nor does he seem to have a big problem (quite the opposite) with fishing, buying food and plucking grain (see Luke 5:1-11; John 21:9-14, 4:8, 6:5 and Matthew 12:1), which would be a bit odd if Jesus were an advocate of absolute dependence on God for food. Of course, although agriculture involves the storing of edible seed, most of what is mentioned here is very much compatible with Jesus being okay with food production, but against the storing up of food for one’s future self. An argument against such a view is that such a position would seem to be in conflict with parts of Scripture. One might point out that in Genesis 41 Joseph stores up food in preparation for the years of famine and that in Exodus 16 YHWH gives manna for two days on the day before the sabbath and the people are supposed to collect it for both that day and for the sabbath itself.

If we look at the story of the rich man, we may notice that he does not merely plan to store up crops, but rather plans to store up a large and unusual quantity of crops. His current barns are too small to contain what he wanted to store and yet they presumambly could contain what he needed for survival and future crop planting. Instead of giving thanks to God for the extraordinary harvest and planning to give away what did not fit in his barns, he plans to build bigger barns. Not only that, he plans to live a more relaxed sort of life (perhaps not unlike that of the rich man in the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, see Luke 16:19-31).

Jesus’s instruction to his audience not to store up earthly treasures for themselves could perhaps be part of a larger ethic in which caring for people who are presently in need is central (although perhaps not absolute, see Matthew 26:6-12). There is evidence for such an ethic throughout the Gospels. Think of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Think of Jesus’s concern for sick people. Think of his instructions to sell possessions and give to the poor. Think of the judgement in Matthew 25. Think of his instruction “Give to the one who begs from you” (Matthew 6:42a ESV). Acts 4:34-35 provides further, if somewhat indirect evidence, that Jesus had such an ethic: “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

It is not hard to see that an instruction against storing up valuable possessions for one’s future self could flow from a principle of caring for those presently in need. But we must tread carefully here, for the instruction is not is explicitly argued with reference to the poor or the needy, but with reference to moths and thieves and rust and the principle that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. That principle (arguably) also stands behind Jesus’s instruction to lay up treasures in heaven, an instruction we might have missed in reading the passage.

We might be tempted not to take that instruction particularly seriously, perhaps not valuing heavenly treasure (arguably acquired through doing the will of God and being rewarded with heavenly treasure because of that) as much as Jesus did. Note that there are multiple indications that Jesus was concerned with heavenly treasure, or at least divine reward, see for instance Matthew 6:1-4 and Luke 6:32-35. Further, if the principle that “where your treasure is, there you heart will be also” is true (a principle that perhaps stands behind Jesus’s comments about it being all but impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God), then perhaps we should take the instruction seriously.