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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 7:1-29 REVIEW: Chapter six had two major sections. The first was Jesus’ teaching regarding three acts of Jewish piety: 1) Almsgiving, 2) Prayer, and 3) Fasting. His major point in regarding all of these religious acts is that they should be done from a pure motive and without flaunting them. So often it is easy to do the right things for the wrong reasons – such as to feel good about ourselves or to make ourselves look good in the opinions of others. As part of his teaching about prayer, Jesus gave a “Model Prayer” for his followers to use as an “outline” for their praying. This “Lord’s Prayer” is modeled somewhat on the Eighteen Benedictions (Amidah) that pious Jews were supposed to pray three times a day. Jesus’ model, however, is much shorter (only one tenth as long) and personal – heeding his earlier admonition not to “heap up empty phrases” in our prayers. Following his Model Prayer, Jesus then singled out the petition about FORGIVENESS for special commentary – that offering forgiveness to others is absolutely necessary in order for us to receive forgiveness from our heavenly Father. The second major section of chapter six consisted a collection of various “wisdom sayings” about God’s kingdom as being the true treasure in our lives – such as the importance of having a relationship with God as our ultimate priority, being exclusively devoted to him rather than to things of this world, and trusting (rather than worrying) that God will provide us with what we need each day. CHAPTER 7:1-5 “Warning Against a Judging Spirit” “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” This teaching is one that was also taught in the Jewish Mishnah: “Do not judge your fellow until you are in his position.” – and “When you judge any man weight the scales in his favor.” Matthew’s Jewish-Christian community certainly would have been familiar with these and similar sayings. What is being condemned here is not “judging” per se, but a critical spirit that looks for faults in others. To refrain from all “judging” would mean to ignore sin, and that certainly is NOT what Jesus is suggesting. But Jesus is teaching that when we judge others, we should do so very carefully and even with “fear and trembling”, because we realize that we will be judged (by God and by others) by the same standards that we judge by. William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible commentary lists three reasons why we should be very careful about judging others.
The world and even the church have often been guilty of judging others while ignoring their own sins – especially the sins of pride and lack of love. Religious zealots like the Pharisees and social reformers have especially been guilty of this – they focus on the sins of others who do not live as they do or do not share their views – while neglecting their own sins of self-righteousness. These persons, Jesus says, are HYPOCRITES – actors – the same term he used earlier to describe those making an ostentatious display of their acts of piety. CHAPTER 7:6 “Guarding the Holy” “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.” This is a very difficult saying – and at first, there does not seem to be a good reason for it in this section of sayings of Jesus.. Many commentators even wonder if this teaching really was of Jesus. The early church often used this saying as a basis for preserving the purity of their faith. It was especially used as a justification for excluding people from receiving Holy Communion – that “Holy things should be reserved for holy people.” I (Pastor George) personally feel that this saying needs to be used in connection with Jesus’ previous warning against judging. You may have some legitimate criticisms about some of the behaviors and attitudes of others, but telling them your criticisms or pointing out their sins will not accomplish anything except to fuel their anger at you. In such cases, Jesus seems to be saying, leave them alone and use your time and energy for other activities in the Kingdom of God! CHAPTER 7:7-11 “Confidence in Prayer” “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” The emphasis in this teaching is not in our searching, knocking, and asking when we pray, but upon our understanding the nature of WHO we are praying to. Jesus wants us to understand that our Father in heaven loves us and is always ready to hear us and give us what we need. The comment “you…who are evil” is not to point out how bad people are, but rather to show how perfect God is in his love for us. If even WE want to give only good things to our children, how much more is God willing to give good things to us! Jesus is encouraging us to have CONFIDENCE that our Father in heaven will hear our prayers and answer them in a way that is best for us. CHAPTER 7:12 “The Golden Rule” “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” This is one of most famous of all of Jesus’ sayings – the so-called “Golden Rule”. There were many parallels to this saying within Judaism in its negative form. The Rabbi Hillel once summed up the Torah by saying, “What is hateful to yourself, do to no other; that is the whole Law, the rest is commentary.” In the Book of Tobit, there is a passage in which the aged Tobias teaches his son all that is necessary for life: “What thou thyself hatest, to no man do.” There is no equivalent within Judaism, however, for the “Golden Rule” in its positive form. By putting it in that way, Jesus was introducing an entirely different understanding of how we should live our lives. It can almost be conceived that we might refrain from doing or saying hurtful things to our neighbors – that would be literally obeying the letter of the Law. But it is an entirely different thing to actively help our neighbor in ways beyond what is required. For example, it is one thing to refrain from stealing from our neighbor; it is quite another to help our neighbor to “improve and protect his property and means of making a living.” (Martin Luther’s Small Catechism) Jesus tells us as disciples to always put ourselves in the other’s place, and then treat them as we would want to be treated if we were them. If we do this, we will automatically fulfill all the law and the prophets. INTRODUCTION TO MATTHEW 7:13-27 In this concluding section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives contrasts between two kinds of people – those who live according to God’s will and those who do not – with the warning that both will have to face God’s judgment. Those who have lived according to God’s way will receive the reward of life, while those who have not will be punished. This judgment is eschatological – that is, it may not be immediate, but ultimately everyone will receive their just rewards – either good or bad. CHAPTER 7:13-14 “The Narrow Way” “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Life is a constant series of choices. Each and every day we must make decisions that will make a difference as to who and what we are. These choices can not be evaded, for even not making a decision actually is a decision. The fact is, every decision we make will either help us to grow as God’s people OR will cause us to be further apart from God. Our natural tendency is to take the easy or “lazy” way – such as not taking time for worship and prayer on a regular basis, or not to involve ourselves in helping another person in need, etc. In this saying, Jesus reminds us that Christian discipleship demands commitment and an awareness that every moment and action in life is a “fork in the road” that can either lead toward or away from God. Are WE making the right choices in our lives? Why or why not? What may need to change in order to travel on the road that leads to eternal life with God? CHAPTER 7:15-20 “Recognizing False Prophets” “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” This was a problem that was very contemporary to Matthew’s original readers. In this case, the “false prophets” were probably not Pharisees or Sadducees, but were rather people within the Church itself. These are teachers who belong to eccentric schools of thought on the fringe of the Christian faith. Today this would include sects like Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science, 7th Day Adventism, etc. – that seem to have originated from Christianity, but are actually much different. Jesus’ point is that we need to be aware that there are always false prophets within the midst of the Christian community. Sometimes for evil reasons, but often for apparently the best of reasons (without even realizing it) – people begin to distort the gospel message. This is especially so for people who focus upon one particular aspect of God’s message while ignoring the rest of it. (For example, one may emphasize only “personal salvation”, while another may only emphasize “social justice” – but by ignoring the other aspects they distort the total Gospel message.) Others also distort and pervert the gospel message by proclaiming their own ideas in addition to or even in place of the Gospel (this certainly is true for the sects mentioned above. Jesus tells us to look at their fruits. To me (Pastor George), this means two things: 1. TEACHINGS. Are their teachings in accordance with the Scriptures and the faith of the Church, or are they different or new? Good teaching “fruit” within the Church must be firmly grounded upon God’s message in the Scriptures. For example, Jesus met each of the devil’s temptations in Matthew 4:1-11 by reminding the devil that “It is written…” 2. ATTITUDES. Love must always be the “fruit” by which one’s message is judged. If persons or group are preaching or showing a message of hate, intolerance, or exclusion toward others, they are false prophets! William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible commentary quotes a satirical poem about this attitude: “We are God’s chosen few, All others will be damned; There is no room in heaven for you; We can’t have heaven crammed.” As Barclay goes on to write: “(Christianity) is meant to bring people together, not drive people apart. It is meant to gather people into one family, not to split them up into hostile groups. The teaching which declares that any church or any sect has a monopoly of the grace of God is false teaching, for Christ is not the Christ who divides, he is the Christ who unites.” CHAPTER 7:21-23 “Lip Service” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name? Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” “Lord, Lord” was originally a term of respect given to teachers rather than a Christological title. Jesus is not trying to proclaim himself as the one coming to “judge the living and the dead”, but is simply reminding his disciples that true discipleship means putting his teachings into practice! The “proof” is not what we say about our allegiance to Jesus, but how we actually show it by our living. It is not the “great” things we may do that impress Jesus. True “greatness” in the kingdom of heaven is when we live by his teaching in small and apparently ordinary ways day by day by day. Living with purity of heart, being faithful, forgiving, not judgmental of others, doing to others as we would have them do to us, etc., is what Jesus considers to be “great” in the kingdom of heaven! CHAPTER 7:24-27 “The Only True Foundation”“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” Some of the ancient law codes concluded with a blessing and a curse (Leviticus 26:3-45 and Deuteronomy 28:3-6, 16-19) – blessings for those who observed God’s commandments and curses for those who did not. Perhaps Jesus had these in mind with this parable. Matthew’s version of this parable is slightly different from Luke’s version (Luke 6:47-49) in two ways. In Luke, the emphasis is upon one digging deeply (which is what one would have done in a Greek or Roman city) rather than upon the simple location of rock or sand. Even more important, only Matthew mentions the rain and the wind – symbolizing the persecutions that his Jewish-Christian readers were experiencing. Be that as it may, the fact is that we will all go through many trials in life that will test our faith. Living by Jesus’ teaching day by day – rather than just haphazardly – will provide a firm foundation that will enable our faith to endure those trials and still remain strong. CHAPTER 7:28-29 “The Authority of Christ” “Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” This verse is directly taken from Mark 1:20. The formula “when Jesus had finished saying...” marks the conclusion of each of the five main discourses of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel (see also Matthew 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, and 26:1). This formula was also used about Moses at the end of his instruction in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:1, 24). As mentioned previously, Matthew’s original Jewish-Christian readers would have been familiar with this – and would understand that Jesus again was being portrayed as the NEW MOSES who was giving new and fulfilled meaning to the Torah. The usual rabbinical teaching tradition was to cite previous rabbinical teachings – much as lawyers try to support their opinions by citing previous court rulings. That is what the scribes did in Jesus’ day. Jesus, however, did not teach in that way. He simply stated things – without appealing to other authorities – as being self-evident. As the “New Moses”, he – not anyone else before, during, or after him – was the ultimate “authority” on living a kingdom life! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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