Introduction:
It is important to
understanding The Sermon on the Mount that it be set in the
context of the Theology of Matthew, and as a discourse that grows
out of Narrative #1.
The Theology of
Matthew is that Jesus is the Messiah, the King of God's Kingdom,
that he does the works of the Messiah, and that he calls
disciples to follow him and make disciples of all nations.
At the conclusion
of Discourse #1, Jesus has called disciples to follow him.
In Matt 4:17 we have one of the key transitional passages
(Kingsbury) in which the story of Jesus passes from the Period
of Preparation for Ministry into the Public Ministry of Jesus.
Remember the formula at Matt 4:17, "from that time
Jesus began to preach..."
The Sermon on the
Mount teaches disciples what kind of person a disciple is.
It develops the character of a disciple. A key thought is
that disciples are different in righteousness, piety, and
ambition from the Scribes and Pharisees,
and from the Gentiles.
The Sermon can be
broken down into seven (7) sections:
Matt 5:1-12 The
Disciple's Character (The Beatitudes)
Matt 5:13-16 The Disciple's
Influence
Matt 5:17-48 The Disciple's
Righteousness: To exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees
Matt 6:1-18 The
Disciple's Piety: Deeds of Righteousness
Matt 6:19-34 The Disciple's
Ambition
Matt 7:1-27 The
Disciple's Pitfalls
Matt 7:28-29 The Formulae
| Matt
6:19-34 The Disciples
Ambition |
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The
general thrust of this section is as follows:
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The disciple's ambition should be to be rich in God, not
rich in the worldly things. There is nothing wrong with
riches as long as they are not the center of one's life and
ambition. Disciples do not lay up treasure on earth, but
in heaven. Disciples should not be anxious regarding
earthly matters, but should rather be concerned with a right
relationship with God. This magnificent paragraph closes
with the admonition to seek first God's reign in their lives
(kingdom) and a right relationship with God (his righteousness).
The
key to this passage relates to the problem all
have with anxiety over the things of this life
and world. Disciples must know that their
hope and comfort lie not in Jerusalem or this world,
but in the future prepared by God for his
people. If, as we believe, Matthew was
written shortly after the destruction of
Jerusalem and the flight of the Jewish
Christians from Jerusalem north into Gentile
regions, then we can understand Matthew's
concern for reminding them of Jesus' teaching
concerning anxiety over the things of this life.
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| Matt
6:19-21 - True Riches |
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This
introductory passage to this section serves as a
key to the discussion on anxiety for the things of
this world and life. "Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth...For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also."
It was common in the Jewish tradition to see good
works as being the treasures that one lays up in
heaven (Tobit 4:9; 4 Ezra 6:5, et al).
Perhaps we can learn something from this. We
are not looking at good works as works that earn
one the reward, but perhaps we can see that good
works are what discipleship is all about, not good
works as merit, but good works as serving, for
this is what disciples do! James writes that
faith without works is dead! (James 2:17, but this
is what James is stressing, true faith
[discipleship] results in works, especially works
of love.) The result of true
discipleship (loving service, good works) is a
treasure waiting in heaven. Jesus promises a
treasure in heaven to those who give to the poor
(Matt 19:21). Paul, likewise, speaks of good
deeds "laying up a foundation for the
future" (1 Tim 6:18, 19).
Nevertheless, one
cannot escape the thought that Matthew's community
of disciples were experiencing anxiety over the
loss of their home and life's treasures in the
destruction of Jerusalem. They needed
encouragement, reassurance, and direction.
He reminds them of Jesus' admonition, focus more
on eternal things and treasure in heaven than on
the treasures if this life. |
| Matt
6:22-24 - Two Parables |
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Jesus
reinforces his point by reference to two parabolic
illustrations, one regarding the problem of covetousness
and lust, namely, the eye, the other the problem
of serving two masters.
The sound (aplous
- haplous - healthy, good, generous) eye is
contrasted with the eye that is not sound
(RSV, NIV - bad eye). The Greek for
"not sound" is ponhros
- poneros - evil, bad, wicked, sinful, malignant).
IN both instances, Jesus is speaking figuratively
of covetousness and lust. The thought
carries over from the previous discussion on
treasure. Covetousness and lust shape one's
life.
The second parable,
of two masters, would be clearly understood in a
culture familiar with slavery. Devotion to
earthly matters such as wealth create problems for
the disciples singleness of devotion to God since
worldly matters have the habit of conflicting with
spiritual matters. Paul addresses this in
Gal 5:16-26. The spirit and the flesh are in
conflict with one another, or as Paul expresses
it, "are opposed to each other."
The term mammon in this short parable (mamwnas
- mamonas is derived from the Aramaic which
simple means wealth, but in the broad sense means
property) illustrates the point of Jesus' and
Matthew's concern, anxiety of physical
earthly matters as opposed to spiritual
heavenly matters. In Lk 16:9, 11, Luke
adds the term unrighteous (adikia
- adikia - sinful, wrongdoing,
injustice, dishonest, not right) mammon,
contrasting this focus in life with true
righteousness which derives from a right relationship
with God and not the things of this life.
The expression of hating
the one and loving the other (6:24) was
a common Jewish idiom which stressed the
contrast between absolute and partial
commitment. The love-hate terminology
found in both Judaism and Jesus should not be
taken literally, but should be understood as an
idiom stressing the absolute priority of certain
matters over others. |
| Matt
6:25-33 - Trust and Anxiety |
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This
final pericope in the discussion on the disciple's
ambition has been described as one of the most
beautiful pieces of writing to be found anywhere,
especially in the English language.
The pericope does not stand alone, but must be
seen in the light of the previous discussions on
the disciples focus in life, choosing rather the
spiritual over the physical, the heavenly focus
against the things of this life and world.
The paragraph must also be understood in the
context of the pending (in the case of
Jesus' teaching) and recent (in the case of
Matthew's writing) traumatic experience of the
destruction of Jerusalem. In our case, it
should be seen in the light of increasing
commercialism and materialism.
This
pericope is also found in almost the same content
in Luke 12:22-3, although some of the terms used
by Luke differ from those used by Matthew.
Both Matthew and Luke found this teaching of Jesus
to be fundamental to their teaching, stressing the
proper focus and commitment of discipleship.
Jesus
reminds the disciples that life is comprised of
matters more necessary and significant than the
physical issues of food and clothing. As
important as these physical concerns may be, they
must never be permitted to dominate the disciple's
life and dedication. Jesus' illustration of
the birds and flowers is one of the most
meaningful and beautiful expressions to be found
anywhere! The God who is able to take care
of and provide for his natural creation can surely
take care of and provide for his ultimate and
spiritual creation, man.
Common
sense tells us that no matter how much we struggle
to add to life, food and clothing have little
impact on the final end. We are all destined
to die within a short span of life
expectancy! Not realizing this can be
devastating to one's eternal destiny, and
manifests poor understanding of the realities of
life. Jesus describes this as being of little
faith ("O men of little faith"
6:30)
In
contrast to this, Jesus encourages disciples to
seek other goals and priorities in life that hold
better and more lasting hope. This is the
climactic teaching of the whole section, and
perhaps even of the Sermon on the Mount!
"But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be
yours as well" (6:33). Perhaps these
words are some of the best known of all Jesus'
teachings! And yet, perhaps they are
among the most difficult to achieve!
His
kingdom refer to God's kingdom and his
righteousness refer to God's righteousness.
The expressions are parallel! Kingdom and
righteousness belong to God! Disciples
should seek these before all else. But what
does this mean?
First, we should stress that both are modified by
"seek first". First
- prwton
- proton is emphatic and covers both his
kingdom and his righteousness.
The second part of this statement his
righteousness is epexigetical, meaning that it
does not stand independent, but modifies the first
statement, his kingdom. The kingdom
of God is defined by the kind of righteousness
that God desires and which one finds in the nature
of God! The kingdom of God is found
in doing the will of God!
We
must discuss once more the nature of the term kingdom
- basileia
- basileia. The term basically refers
to the reign of God, God reigning
in one's life.
The
first priority of the disciple is to seek the
reign of God in one's life. Nothing is more
important than this. Nothing holds greater promise
in life than this. Anxiety for the physical
things of this life conflict with spiritual
matters such as the right relationship with God,
that is, God's reigning in one's life. In
Paul's terms, the flesh is opposed to the kingdom
of God, it interferes with the reign of God in
one's life. It is at war with the spiritual,
therefore, the disciple must be careful of one's
eye, of what masters one's life, of what takes
priority in life.
This
whole pericope is an encouragement to refocus
one's life, and a warning against anxieties that
interfere with ultimate matters such as God's
reign and a right relationship with God.
The
admonition to not be anxious about tomorrow (6:34)
is similar to the prayer of Matt 6:11, "give
us this day our daily bread," which we have
noted, does not simply refer to the physical bread
of life, but the spiritual bread of life.
The disciple should be more concerned for the
present today than for what might happen on the
morrow, over which we have no control.
I
like the observation of a German theologian,
Wolfhardt Pannenberg, "the present is the
arrival of the future." By this he
meant that we should be concerned over the present
for it must be shaped by the certainty of the
future judgment of God. Take care of the
present for it is already the future! Do not
be anxious of the tomorrow or the future.
Leave that to God, he will provide. By
seeking today his kingdom and righteousness the
future is secure.
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| Matt
7:1-20 The Disciples Pitfalls |
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In
this pericope the disciples are warned of the pitfall of constantly judging
one another (as was the practice of the Pharisees), and
encouraged to treat one another as they would like to be treated
(the golden rule). Finally, Matthew includes admonitions
by Jesus to be alert to false teachers, and a call to
commitment to the teachings of Jesus and the will of God.
Matt
7:1-6 - Judging One Another
Apparently the tendency to judge one another was
widespread, and form our experience, has been endemic of
religious groups throughout the history of
religion.
Although Christianity should be an exception to this
weakness (since the basic ethical foundation to the
Christina faith is that disciples, being children of God,
should love on another, for love is the fulfillment of the
law, and God is love - see John 13:34, 35; 1 John
3:11; 4:7, !) the human sinful nature of man leaves
Christians open to this sin.
The
translation "Judge not,..." in English does not
do the text justice, for the syntax (grammatical force) of
the Greek "not" (mh
- me - do not, pronounced may) with the
present imperative verb (krinete
- krinete - judge, decide, condemn) means "do
not get into the habit of judging..." Jesus is
not implying that disciples should never make personality
or relational decisions, sometimes even judgments, but
that they should beware that this does not become
habitual. There are times when disciples must make
fellowship decisions (1 Cor 5:9-13; 2 Thess 3:6-13), and
other times when disciples must simply decide that they
cannot share in the lifestyle of others, but the warning
is against the tendency to make this the routine way of
handling personality and human problems.
Jesus'
amusing story of a man with a log in his eye trying to
take a speck out of another's eye is one of the most
powerful and telling illustrations of human foolishness
manifest in many of our judgmental situations. If we
took our own imperfections serio9usly we would have little
time for judging others! Jesus' warning is
punctuated by the harshness of "You
hypocrite..." A hypocrite in the original
implies a play actor! Those who make a habit of
judging others are "play acting in the Christian
faith!)
One
significant teaching of similar vein in Paul is found in
Romans 14, 15. Notice Rom 14:1-4; 10-13. For
the sake of convenience we include these texts below.
| 1 As
for the man who is weak in faith, welcome him, but
not for disputes over opinions. 2 One
believes he may eat anything, while the weak man
eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who
eats despise him who abstains, and let not him who
abstains pass judgment on him who eats; for God
has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass
judgment on the servant of another? It is before
his own master that he stands or falls. And he
will be upheld, for the Master is able to make him
stand.
10
Why do
you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do
you despise your brother? For we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of God; 11 for
it is written, "As I live, says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
give praise to God." 12 So each of
us shall give account of himself to God. 13
Then let us no more pass judgment on one
another, but rather decide never to put a
stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a
brother. |
This pericope lies at the
very heart of living peaceably in a Christian community
while upholding the Christian ethic of loving one
another. In any environment in which the Christian
faith is to witness to the God of love, this admonition is
not only important, but vital to that witness. Paul
warned the Galatians to beware biting and devouring
themselves lest the be consumed by one another (Gal
5:15). The Galatians should not live according to
the flesh, but by the spirit. If they did, then they
would bear the fruit of love! (Gal 5:22). Paul
followed this admonition with one relating to how
Christians should handle one another's sins. They
should restore one another in a spirit of gentleness,
looking to themselves lest they be tempted! If
they did this Christians would fulfill the law of Christ -
love (Gal 6:1,2). Notice how similar Paul's
admonition is to that of Jesus!
The next
short pericope has raised several problems for
interpretation. The parable is in itself not
difficult. One should not give to that which is
unclean (dogs and swine) that which is clean or
holy! However, does the unclean refer to Gentiles,
or simply to the undeserving? Does it perhaps refer
to the hypocrite of 7:5? Hagner refers to this
pericope as a "detached logion" (saying).
The saying is undoubtedly in the form of a proverbial
expression illustrating the significance of some
point. Hagner is correct in observing that it would
do the pericope an injustice to limit it to either or only
the Gentiles and Jews. It is difficult
to determine what the "holy thing" is in Jesus
mind at this point as it relates to the previous
admonition against judging. It may be in the larger
picture that in the kingdom disciples who love one another
should not destroy the harmony of the kingdom by their
sinful tendency to constantly be judging one
another. The nature of disciple's life in the
kingdom, or the nature of the harmony of the kingdom, is
that which is holy.
Matt
7:7112 - Prayer, Faith, and the Golden Rule
The next
pitfall disciples of the kingdom face is the loss of
faith (Matt 7:7-12). Jesus encourages disciples
to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking, for true
faith never looses heart and quits. The verb forms
here are a string of present imperatives in an iterative
form which encourage repeated action.
Disciples need to know that even when things seemingly are
not going well, that their Father knows their needs and
troubles. The disciples must not give up faith and
loose heart when things go wrong or do not work out as
expected.
Again, Matthew follows this
encouragement of Jesus with a saying that seems to be
detached, the golden rule, but in the sense of being
another proverbial saying does have some connection to the
previous admonitions of Jesus. Disciples are to be
like their heavenly Father. They are to love one
another and be constant in their faith. This carries
over into their relationships to one another. Hagner
suggests that this saying forms the dominant and
summarizing theme of the previous statements of Jesus, and
perhaps of even the Sermon on the Mount itself! It
forms a distillation of kingdom ethics as explained by
Jesus in the Sermon. The Golden Rule, as this saying
is commonly known, is not unique to Jesus or Christianity,
for it is found in most religions in some form. In
Judaism it is found in the negative form. Rabbi
Hillel summarized it as follows, "What is hateful to
yourself, do to no other." The Christian form
as given by Jesus is, however, more positive and powerful
than the negative form, which does not deny the good
intention of the negative form. Again, this
proverbial saying is simply another way of expressing the
fundamental kingdom ethic of loving one another. The
Golden Rule, expressing the law of love, is what the law
and prophets are all about! (7:12).
Matt 7:13-20 - False
Teachers
The following three
admonitions, all demonstrating pitfalls the disciple
faces, are related. They address the problem of
false teachers and commitment to the teachings of
Jesus. These admonitions would be of special meaning
and import to Matthew's disciples who would be
somewhat distraught at what has recently transpired in
their experience.
The first pericope seems to
be another detached logion (saying), but when seen in the
context of the next paragraph relates to the matter of
false teachers and choosing what seems to be a simpler or
easier path to salvation. We are again introduced to
the Jewish idiom of two ways, here the one is the narrow
way, the other the broad way. The narrow way is the
more difficult. We are reminded that Jesus and
Matthew are calling for a radical model of
discipleship. Both know that the road ahead
for disciples will call for opposition and even serious
persecution. Faced by such choices, disciples will
be tempted to choose the easier way, perhaps that of
retaining their Jewish religion based on law. The
call to discipleship would be one that would seemingly be
opposed to law (we have already noted that Jesus went to
great lengths to deny that his purpose was to destroy the
law, and we know that Paul, likewise, would go to great
lengths to argue that although justification was by grace
through faith, the law was still holy, good, and spiritual
[Romans]). The emphasis on grace and faith,
opposition to salvation by works of law, and the inclusion
of the Gentiles with full rights into the community of
believers, would bring serious opposition from the Jews,
opposition that caused the denial of Jesus' Messiahship
and his ultimate crucifixion,
and opposition that would lead to cruel persecution by the
Jews themselves.
Note the following warnings
of severe opposition and persecution in the New
Testament: Mat 11:12, 16:24-28; Acts 14:22; 2 Cor
4:18-5:11; Col 1:24; 1 Thess 2:14-16, 3:3; 2 Tim 1:8,
3:12; James 1:2-4; 1 Pet 3:14-18, 5:7-10; Revelation
passim.
The road of radical discipleship
would not be easy. False teachers would propose a
system of Jewish Christianity that would include
maintenance of the Jewish Mosaic laws (see Paul's
opposition to this in Galatians and Romans), and tempt
some to return to Judaism.
The concept of a gate as
entrance to heavenly reward or to hell was not uncommon in
Judaism (4 Ezra 7:6-9, and several Rabbinic Tractates)
False Teachers and False
Teaching in the New Testament
The seriousness of Jesus' and Matthew's warning of false
prophets indicates the seriousness of the challenge the
disciples would face. Surely, the admonition of
Jeremiah 23:16ff must have been on Jesus' mind as he gave
this warning:
| 16
Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Do not
listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy
to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak
visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of
the Lord. 17 They say continually to
those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It
shall be well with you’; and to every one who
stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No
evil shall come upon you.’" |
That the
New Testament is replete with warnings against false
teachers indicates the seriousness of the problem faced by
the early church. However, false teachings in the
New Testament does not refer to differences of Biblical
interpretation and issues of opinion relating to some so
called "church doctrines"! In the New
Testament the truth or sound doctrine
related to teachings regarding the nature of Jesus as the
Son of God, the Messiah. Apostasy was a denial of
the divinity of Jesus and his death, burial,
and resurrection. False teaching was that
which denied the all sufficiency of Jesus and the gospel
of grace through faith that was preached by the
Apostles. Paul's opposition to binding the law on
the gospel was not so much a challenge to the law, for
which Paul and Jesus had the highest respect, but an
addition of the law to the gospel of the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus. Careful attention to the
context of sound doctrine in Paul's and John's epistles
will reveal that the false teaching referred to by them
related to these issues of the divinity and all sufficiency
of the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus. Note in particular 1 John 4:1-6; 1 Tim
1:3-11; 2 Tim 1:8-14, 2:8-13.
Matt
7:21-27 - Commitment to Jesus and to the Will of God
Jesus was fully aware that many would follow him, but on their
own terms or when it would be convenient! It would
take more than merely verbal confession of Jesus as
Lord! Obedience to the will of God would be the hallmark
of true discipleship. In the context of the Sermon
with its heavy emphasis on righteousness as the right
relationship with God and his will, it is not surprising the
Jesus would close the sermon with this teaching.
Failure to submit to, and do the will of God would result
in Jesus' denial of the disciple!
7:21 - The
expression "shall enter the kingdom", with the
verb in the future tense indicates that Jesus has in mind
the future eschatological kingdom which one
will enter after the judgment day, and not the present
reality of the inaugurated kingdom we presently enjoy.
7:22 -
"On that day" is a common Jewish reference to
the judgment day and is found in many instances in both
the Old and New Testaments (Amos 8:9, 9:11; Isa 2:20; Zeph
1:10, 14; Zech 14:4; 2 Thess 1:10; 2 Tim 4:8).
7:22 -
"In your name" is likewise a Hebraism implying in
the person of Jesus, or by his power.
7:22 -
"Casting out demons" was a practice already
found in Judaism (see Matt 12:27).
7:24-27 -
The Parable of the Two Builders provides a powerful
conclusion to this pericope on commitment to the will of
God, and to Jesus emphasis on the necessity of doing
the will of God.
Commenting
on this section of the Sermon, Hagner aptly expresses the
force of Jesus' teaching on discipleship:
| "Perhaps
no passage in the NT expresses more concisely and
more sharply that the essence of discipleship, and
hence of participation in the kingdom, is found
not in world, nor in religiosity, nor even in performance
of spectacular deeds in the name of Jesus, but
only in the manifestation of true righteousness -
i.e., the doing of the will of the Father as now
interpreted through the teaching of Jesus. Relationship
with Jesus is thus impossible apart from doing the
will of God. (Italics, IAF)....Religion can
never take the place of actual obedience to the
teaching of Jesus. Matthew will return to
this uncompromising view in chap. 25, again in
connection with the coming day of judgment....The
seriousness of ethical demand upon the disciples
does not cancel out the priority or significance
of grace manifested in Jesus and the kingdom. |
We might
pick up on the final thought of Hagner above, that ethical
demand in discipleship does not negate the concept of
grace available to Christians in Christ. Jesus is
not interested in the perfection of ethical obedience, but
on the commitment of the disciple to the will of God.
No disciple will ever perform the ethical demands of the
kingdom perfectly, but that is where grace works. James
aptly teaches that faith without works is dead.
Jesus teaches that works without faith and commitment to
the will of God are dead!
|
Matt 7:28, 29 - Formulae
1 |
|
"And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds
were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he taught
them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."
This
striking formulae, or one of similar wording is found at
the conclusion of each of the great discourses
Matthew has built into the Markan form of the
Gospel. Here the emphasis is on the teaching style
of Jesus - he teaches as one who has authority!
In each of
these formulae endings to the
teachings of Jesus, Matthew draws attention to the
authoritative role of Jesus:
|
Matt
5-7 |
|
he
teaches the crowds (The sermon on the Mount) |
|
Matt
10 |
|
he
teaches his disciples (The Limited Commission) |
|
Matt
13 |
|
he
teaches the disciples (The Kingdom Parables) |
|
Matt
18 |
|
he
teaches the disciples (The Christian Community) |
|
Matt
23-25 |
|
he
teaches the disciples (The Apocalyptic
Discourse) |
This
stylistic formulae is one of Matthew's rhetorical tools
that emphasize the teachings of Jesus.
|
|