Verse 24
The choice between two masters is behind the choice between two treasures and the choice between two visions. "Mammon" is the transliteration of the emphatic form of the Aramaic word mamona meaning wealth or property. The root word mn in both Hebrew and Aramaic indicates something in which one places confidence. Here Jesus personified it and set it over against God as a competing object of confidence. Jesus presented God and Mammon as two slave owners, masters.
". . . single ownership and fulltime service are of the essence of slavery." [Note: Tasker, p. 76.]
A person might be able to work for two different employers at the same time. However, God and Mammon are not employers but slave owners. Each demands single-minded devotion. To give either anything less is to provide no true service at all.
"Attempts at divided loyalty betray, not partial commitment to discipleship, but deep-seated commitment to idolatry." [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 179.]
"The principle of materialism is in inevitable conflict with the kingship of God." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., p. 263.]
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