Matthew6chapter 6

Giving to the poor was organised, not casual. The temple treasury held trumpet-shaped collection chests, and synagogues ran a weekly fund and a daily food distribution. A man who wanted his gift noticed had plenty of public places to make it.

Prayer had fixed hours, and pious Jews prayed standing, often in the synagogue or wherever the hour found them — including a street corner. Fasting on the appointed days was marked by unwashed faces and ashes, so a man who wanted credit for it simply had to skip the wash.

The sayings about treasure describe how wealth was actually held. Much of a family's savings sat in fine clothing, which moths ate; the rest in metal, which corroded. Village houses had walls of mud brick, so a thief did not pick a lock — he dug through the wall, which is exactly what the word means.

The last picture is a Galilean field in spring: wild flowers everywhere for a few weeks, then dried and pulled up as fuel for the clay bread oven. That is the point of the comparison — God dresses in glory something that will be burned by Friday.