Matthew 10:42
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.
I took a lot of psychology courses in college and one thing I learned is that it is very hard for human beings to have totally pure motives. The behavior we exhibit on a daily basis is motivated by what we can get out of it. The good things, the bad things, are all done because we get some kind of emotional reward or response from those actions. If you have children you have probably experienced your child trying to get your attention. She does something cute or nice and you smile, pat her on the head lovingly and show her affection. She does something bad and you scowl, reprimand her and show your disappointment. What fascinates me most about this is that both the good and bad reactions have equal weight for us emotionally. That child was satisfied with both reactions because she got what she wanted, the attention of her parent.
I feel like that experience is what Jesus is addressing here in Matthew. Every action the Jewish people did was to get a response from God. They followed the law to get favor with God. They broke the law and got punished by God. Either way they got what they wanted, God's attention. Jesus came to change that. He came to make us look at the motives behind our behavior. Are we doing good things so that God will love us more? Or are we doing good for the good of those around us?
