prayer, and fasting. Jesus esteemed all three and assumed that his followers would practice them. His point was that the motive behind religious expression gives it its meaning. Religion as performance designed to impress God, other people, or self is false and futile. The proposition developed in the three illustrations is set forth in verse 1. Practicing your piety is to think of righteousness as outward performance. The fallacy stems from failure to recognize that moral, ethical, or spiritual