MATTHEW 5-7. THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. This is the first of five blocks in which Mt. collects the greater part of the words of Jesus. He places it here in view of Mark 1:21. Attempts to locate the mountain or the exact time are useless in view of the fact that the sermon is a collection of material,... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST JUDGING (Luke 6:37 f., Luke 6:41 f.)· Mt. here returns (from Matthew 5:48) to the Sermon as it stood in Q. The subjects of the kingdom are warned against a censorious habit of mind; judging involves judgment, ultimate and Divine, or (as Mt. interprets it) present and human. Note how Lk. in t... [ Continue Reading ]
MATTHEW 7:6. DOGS AND SWINE. Lk. omits, as a reflection on Gentile readers. To the Jew, Gentiles were dogs, and careless Jews perhaps swine. The saying looks like a modification of the command not to judge; the disciple must exercise some discrimination (? in teaching). THAT WHICH IS HOLY is a stran... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VALUE OF PRAYER. An interpolation with no relation to the context. It is more suitably placed in Luke 11:9. The emphasis is on asking, seeking, knocking; no conditions or limitations are mentioned, but we must perforce understand Not as I will, but as Thou wilt. SEEK and KNOCK are pictorial illu... [ Continue Reading ]
MATTHEW 7:12. THE GOLDEN RULE (Luke 6:31). In negative forms the thought is widely found both in Jewish and pagan sources. This loftier positive form we owe to Jesus. It is the quintessence of the fulfilment referred to in Matthew 5:17 and taught in the Sermon. Mt. uses it to round off the teaching,... [ Continue Reading ]
EPILOGUE. Warnings and exhortations close the new Law, like the old (Exodus 23:20 ff.). MATTHEW 7:13 F. THE TWO GATES AND THE TWO WAYS (Luke 13:24). The picture is based on Jeremiah 21:8, and is frequent in Jewish and Christian writings. The way that leads to life (the word has eschatological forc... [ Continue Reading ]
MATTHEW 7:28 F. AN EDITORIAL NOTE (_cf. Matthew 11:1_, Matthew 13:53; Matthew 19:1; Matthew 26:1). Mt. uses this transition formula after each of his five chief groups of Christ's sayings. The MULTITUDES were not present during the Sermon (Matthew 5:1), but Mt. here returns to the Marcan narrative ... [ Continue Reading ]