Matthew 6:33

Commentary on Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 (King James Version): “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

1. Concise Takeaway

Matthew 6:33 teaches that the Christian life is ordered by a single, governing priority: pursuing God’s reign and God’s righteousness above every earthly concern. When this priority is rightly placed, Jesus promises that the Father will provide everything his children truly need.

2. Exegetical Commentary

🌿 The Context of Matthew 6

Matthew 6[i] sits within the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 to 7), where Jesus describes the life of the kingdom. The chapter addresses three major themes:

• True piety
  (Matthew 6:1 to 18): giving, praying, fasting
• True treasure
  (Matthew 6:19 to 24): where the heart rests
• True trust
  (Matthew 6:25 to 34): freedom from anxiety

Matthew 6:33 is the climax of Jesus’ teaching on anxiety. It is the positive command that replaces worry with worship, fear with faith, and self-reliance with God-dependence.

🌿 “Seek ye first”

The verb “seek” is continuous. Jesus is not describing a one-off decision but a lifelong orientation. To “seek first” means to give God’s kingdom absolute priority, not merely high priority. It is the organising principle of the Christian life.

This command stands in contrast to the repeated warnings earlier in the chapter:

• “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…” (Matthew 6:19)
• “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
• “Take no thought for your life…” (Matthew 6:25)

Jesus does not deny the reality of human needs. Instead, he reorders them.

🌿 “The kingdom of God”

In Matthew’s Gospel, the kingdom refers to God’s saving reign breaking into the world through Jesus Christ. It is both present and future.

To seek the kingdom is to:

• Submit to God’s rule
• Desire the spread of the gospel
• Live in obedience to Christ
• Long for the final consummation of God’s reign

🌿 “And his righteousness”

This phrase echoes the earlier beatitude:

• “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness…” (Matthew 5:6)

God’s righteousness is both:

• Imputed
  (received through faith in Jesus Christ)
• Practised
  (expressed in holy living)

To seek God’s righteousness is to desire conformity to God’s character, not merely outward moral behaviour.

🌿 “And all these things shall be added unto you”

“All these things” refers to the necessities of life:

• “What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink…” (Matthew 6:25)
• “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Matthew 6:31)

Jesus does not promise luxury, comfort, or ease. He promises provision. The Father knows what his children need (Matthew 6:32), and he is faithful.

This is not a prosperity gospel. It is a provision gospel grounded in the Father’s care.

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3. Theological Teaching

1. The Priority of God’s Kingdom

Christian theology emphasises that God is sovereign over all things. Matthew 6:33 calls believers to align their lives with this sovereignty. The Christian life is not divided into sacred and secular. All of life is lived under God’s reign.

2. The Nature of True Righteousness

Jesus contrasts outward religiosity (Matthew 6:1 to 18) with inward righteousness. Christian theology affirms that righteousness is:

• Received
  through justification by faith alone
• Expressed
  through sanctification by the Spirit

Seeking God’s righteousness means embracing both.

3. The Fatherhood of God

Jesus repeatedly calls God “your Father” (Matthew 6:1, 4, 6, 8, 14, 18, 26, 32). This is the foundation for freedom from anxiety. The believer’s trust is grounded not in circumstances but in the Father’s character.

4. The Futility of Anxiety

Jesus argues that worry is:

• Unproductive (Matthew 6:27)
• Unbelieving (Matthew 6:30)
• Unnecessary (Matthew 6:32)

Anxiety is displaced not by willpower but by worship.

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4. Meditation Guide

🕊 Step 1: Read the Verse Slowly

Read Matthew 6:33 aloud. Notice the order: kingdom, righteousness, provision.

🕊 Step 2: Reflect on Your Priorities

Ask:

• What do I seek first?
• What occupies my thoughts, energy, and desires?
• Where does anxiety reveal misplaced trust?

🕊 Step 3: Consider God’s Character

Meditate on the Father’s care in Matthew 6:26 to 32. Let the truth of his knowledge and kindness settle your heart.
²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

🕊 Step 4: Pray for Reordered Desires

Pray:

• For a deeper hunger for God’s kingdom
• For a longing for righteousness
• For trust in God’s provision

🕊 Step 5: Commit to a Practical Act of Obedience

Examples:

• Begin the day with Scripture before checking messages
• Give generously as an act of kingdom priority
• Confess a sin that hinders righteousness
• Release a specific worry to God in prayer

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5. Practical Application for Modern Christian Living

✔ 1. Reordering Daily Life

Seeking the kingdom first may mean:

• Prioritising worship on the Lord’s Day
• Structuring your diary around spiritual disciplines
• Making decisions based on faithfulness, not convenience

✔ 2. Resisting Consumerism

In a culture of accumulation, Matthew 6:33 calls believers to simplicity and contentment.

✔ 3. Trusting God in Uncertainty

Whether facing financial pressure, illness, or vocational change, this verse invites believers to trust the Father’s provision.

✔ 4. Pursuing Holiness

Seeking God’s righteousness means:

• Repenting quickly
• Practising forgiveness
• Cultivating integrity
• Living counterculturally

✔ 5. Witnessing to the Kingdom

A life ordered by Matthew 6:33 becomes a quiet testimony to the world that God is real, good, and trustworthy.

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[i] Matthew 6

King James Version

6 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.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.