Matthew 6: 1-15 Essay
Matthew 6: 1-15
Introduction:
At one point of another we have all said or done things and then acted out the opposite, thus being a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is one of the underlying themes found in Matthew 6: 1-15. The Gospel of Matthew is a relatively easy passage to read, and according to Hauer and Young, “The Gospel of Matthew is nearly as overt as the Gospel of Mark is hidden.”[1] Matthew is organized into a fivefold pattern and two parts of the fivefold passage, “The higher Righteousness” (Mt. 3-7) and “The true Discipleship” (Mt. 8-10) will be looking into in great detail regarding Matthews Gospel. Throughout his Gospel, according to Hauer and Young, “Matthew is proclaiming the authority of Jesus as teacher and preacher, but also with giving the content of his …show more content…
teaching.”[2] In contrast, Matthew shows the conflict between the Jesus Jews and the Jews who are following the Rabbinic leadership. While studying a passage from the Bible, it is beneficial for the reader to have a historical understanding of the author in order to fully understand the text. Studying the world behind the text (historically) world of the text (literary) and the world in front of the text (hermeneutics) gives the reader a clearer understanding of the text and allows them to apply underlying themes to a current issue. The Gospel of Matthew highlights the Jewish origin and identity of Jesus and his first followers more than any other piece of early Christian literature. The Gospel of Matthew is proposed to have been written in the last quarter of the first century, in 85-105 AD. This Gospel entails themes about hypocrisy, prayer, and almsgiving. These themes can be applied to the contemporary issue of the Oregon Food Bank being a foundation for giving food to the poor, thus portraying almsgiving and prayer for those less fortunate.
Matthew 6 (1-15)
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.[3]
World Behind the Text:
During the past two centuries, critical study of the New Testament gospels has yielded a wealth of insights on their origin and development. There are four canonical Gospels; Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. In Matthew, Jesus is God’s anointed, or messiah, and according to Coogan, “Matthew is the one who best envisions and interprets God’s plan or God’s people.”[4] Critical researchers of these four authors have noticed two intriguing features about them. According to Hauer and Young, “The gospel of John is quite different from the other three. Important events in the life of Jesus that Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded are absent from John.”[5] Hauer and Young further explain that there are long passages in all three gospels that coincide in content and outline, thus Mark, Matthew and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels, and the problem of explaining their interrelationship is the synoptic problem.[6] Many biblical scholars have their own hypotheses on why this is. However, the most widely accepted solution to the synoptic problem is the Four-Source Hypothesis. The first part of the Four-Source Hypothesis (FSH) is that the entire gospel of Mark served as a source for Matthew and Luke. Hauer and Young explain, “All of Mark is duplicated in the other two synoptic gospels; and, when a Marcan passage is missing from Matthew or Luke, it is almost always found in the other.”[7] Furthermore, according to Coogan, “The Gospel of Matthew was written after the Gospel of Mark and all but sixty verses of the Gospel of Mark appear in Matthew.”[8] The second leg of the FSH includes the notion that Matthew and Luke share a second common source besides Mark, and the so called “Q” source is yet another source where Mark and Matthew have derived information. Hauer and Young states, “More than one-third of Matthew and one-fourth of Luke consist of material they share in common that is absent from Mark.” [9] Material missing from Mark that is present in Matthew and Luke further confirms the second part of the FSH that the so called Q source is plausible. Moreover, many biblical scholars have tried to counter the FSH with new evidence. However, Hauer and Young state, “The Four-source hypothesis solves more problems more simply and raises fewer problems than any other hypothesis.”[10] In order to gain a proper understanding of Matthew’s writings, it is essential to understand his historical background. It is suspected that Matthew wrote his gospel in the last quarter of the first century, in 85-105 AD and has been referred to as a bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament, thus it was placed first in the NT (although Mt. was not written first). Coogan explains the timeline of Matthew’s Gospel, by explaining, “Matthew was written following the first Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE by the Roman general and eventual emperor, Titus.”[11] Like other gospels, Matthew has no direct reference within the work its author or place of origin. However, according to Hauer and Young, “A report usually dated about 130 C.E seems to attribute origin of the gospel Matthew, and this gospel was almost certainly composed in Greek.”[12] With this information we have a general idea of when the Gospel of Matthew was composed, and as for where Matthew wrote his Gospel, Coogan states, “While the traditional place or origin for Matthew has been considered the city of Antioch in ancient Western Syria, many now consider a southern Galilean city, Tiberias or Sepphoris, a more likely location for the writing of the Gospel.”[13] At this time in Matthew’s community, a conflict arose between the Jesus Jews and the Jews who are following the Rabbinic leadership. In the first and second centuries, Christianity began as a branch of Judaism. Virtually all of Jesus' followers during his life were Jews, and it was even a matter of controversy, many years after his death, as to whether non-Jews could even be considered Christians at all. There is considerable evidence that Jesus considered himself a reformer in the prophetic tradition, and did not intend to set up a new religion. The Gospel of Matthew offers accounts of confrontations and debates between Jesus and other Jews, and such conflicts were common among Jews at the time. Scholars debate the historicity of the Gospels, and have offered different interpretations of the complex relationship between Jewish authorities and Christians before and following Jesus' death. Moreover, it was only during the Rabbinic era that Christianity would compete exclusively with Pharisees for converts and over how to interpret the Hebrew Bible. Overall, all of these factors are important to understanding the contribution of the author’s writings especially where and when and knowing historical facts about the time period. Ultimately understanding the FSH and the setting in which Matthew wrote his gospel plays a vital role in the reader’s comprehension.
World of the Text:
The world of text refers to the literary composition of the writing including the genre of Matthew’s gospel as well as an in depth analysis of each line of the verse. As for the genre of the gospel, Hauer and Young explain, “The term gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word god-spell”[14] and these “god-spells” are typically a story from or about Jesus. Sometime in the first century C.E. Christians gave a literary term to gospel, and the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” came to refer to a literary work proclaiming the essential role of Jesus in God’s saving work.[15] From the perspective of the literary world, gospel is a genre, meaning a group of texts that have similar form, style, content, function and perspective. The gospel genre can at times be confused with bibliographies of Jesus, and this however is a misconception of the term gospel, which many biblical scholars have aimed to refute. Furthermore, according to Martin Dibelius, “As a category the Gospels are something new and independent in literature.”[16] Dibelius further comments, “Matthew was the very earliest of the gospel writers, and thus he would be the first to create a new category of literature.”[17] However, gospel as a genre includes only small portions of the life of Jesus and Gospels in a literary form carry a theological sense rather than a historical sense in their orientation.
Mt. 1-4
Matthew vs. 1-4 consists of almsgiving and in particular, how one should act when they give to the poor. The first line of Matthew’s gospel is, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” This line is suggesting that God alone will see your acts of righteousness and it is not necessary for one to make their good deed public. In a commentary by Oscar Cullman, he comments, “With almsgiving, not only that God sees in secret (Matt.6.4), but according to a very good, though not unanimously attested reading, that God is in secret.”[18] Furthermore, Cullmann is arguing that when one completes an act of almsgiving, God sees it in secret, but going even further to say that God is in secret. The next line of the verse states, "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” This line begins to bring out the theme of the Mt. 1-15 by describing the hypocrites involved in the synagogues as well as anyone who wishes to make the almsgiving a public notion. However, regardless of the hypocrisy involved, another important theme of almsgiving is portrayed in these verses.
Mt. 5-10: Matthew 5:10 begins to switch from almsgiving onto prayer. Mt. 5:6 states, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” which again, the theme of hypocrisy is present. According to Cullmann, “God has no needs, but God only wants human prayer.”[19] Prayer is a symbol of belief and faith, however when one chooses to make their prayers public, they are making their prayer less powerful. Cullman further states, “Then there is the positive instruction: ‘When you pray, go into your room and shut the door.’ There the person who prays is alone with God.”[20] Cullman makes an interesting point by mentioning “the person who prays is alone with God,” because when one prays, they are speaking to God alone, and should not have to make their prayers visible to anyone but the Lord. A prayer can be seen as a conversation with God and the one who prays, merely a special connection between the two. Ultimately with prayer, God is there for us in a special way and is seeking to fulfill our innermost wishes and thoughts. Verses 7:8 go on to say not to “keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” In Cullman’s commentary, he states, “In Matt.6.7 Jesus censures ‘babbling’, as Luther translated the rare Greek word, the use of ‘many words’ and the expectation of getting a hearing with them. The reason he gives (v.8) is particularly important for his understanding of prayer.”[21] Overall, many understand that God already knows our wants and needs before we pray to him, thus excessive babbling and praying in public is not considered the “right type of prayer,”[22] according to Robert Karris in his commentary on Prayer and the New Testament. The next verse (Mt:9) transitions to tell the reader how they should pray, and explains one should pray by reciting the “Our Father.” The Our Father, according to Cullmann, “has a unique significance within the tradition of the first three Gospels.”[23] Moreover, the Our Father is a way for God to teach us how to pray, it gives an application of His instructions and Cullman explains, “Jesus gave the Our Father to his disciples so they could pray it in their community – perhaps with him.”[24] The first two lines of the Our Father (Mt.vv 9:10) “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” are important in this prayer because we understand that God’s name should be hallowed and we realize that God’s kingdom is coming. It is also apparent that the Our Father is divided into two parts which can be seen by word choices. According to Cullmann, “The first part relates to a divine event it is also for our benefit and, as we shall see, we take part in it, but it does not lie directly in the human sphere and the second part relates to a divine event which is directly concerned with human beings. But the link between the two parts is that on both occasions these are saving acts to be requested from God.”[25]
Mt. 11-15:
The next two verses of the prayer, “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” (Mt.11:12) can be seen as symbolism. First of all, the meaning of bread can be seen as having multiple meanings. Moreover, according to Karris, “There is hardly any doubt that the term bread refers to real, not merely ‘spiritual,’ bread, but in antiquity generally bread was never taken as something merely material.” As for Matthew vs. 12, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” Oscar Cullmann comments, “Matthew has ‘debts’ and ‘debtors’ however there is no real difference here. Matthews more concrete translation here is probably to be seen as the more original, especially as Jesus was fond of using the situation of financial indebtedness as an illustration. This verse of the passage seems to be portraying that we as humans are too asking for God’s forgiveness. Karris comments, “We can ask for God’s forgiveness only if while we pray we are ourselves in the realm of the forgiveness. We must realize that God’s forgiveness is not some property, but belongs to his innermost being, his love.”[26] Each verse of the Our Father is referred to as a petition. The sixth petition, or also known as Matthew vs. 13, states, “Lead us not into temptation.” This line of the passage seems to ring true throughout our everyday lives. Day in and day out we are faced with temptations such as cheating, lying, and stealing, in which we ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation so we may carry out our daily lives living like the Lord. Biblical scholar, Richard McSorley comments, “It is not that God does not tempt anyone, it is more that God allows us to be faced with such issues, and we will in turn feel the need to pray to him to direct us away from such temptations.”[27] The seventh and eighth petitions of the Our Father states, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mt. 14:15) This line of the passage exemplifies that Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Karris views this line as a promise between man and God, “Here is a promise, if you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.”[28]
World in Front of the Text:
The underlying theme of almsgiving, hypocrisy and prayer that is endowed throughout Matthew vs. 1-15 can also be related to the contemporary issue today of the Oregon Food Bank being a provider for those less fortunate. Almsgiving can be viewed as an act solely out of compassion and for the goodness of community. “Give us this day our daily bread” can be applied to soup kitchens and food banks who are trying to make world hunger a not so pressing issue into today’s recession. In a rich Christian world in which we seem to live, many people are far more focused on buying their next BMW or investing their monies instead of helping out the poor. Hypocrisy seems to play a role within this issue because the Christian way is to do treat others as you wish to be treated, and furthermore, help others in need. Hunger today, especially in the Oregon and Portland areas is an issue that needs to be resolved and with the help of prayer and almsgiving, hunger can be restored. According to the newest report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, both the rates of food insecurity and hunger continue to increase in Oregon. Oregon Food Banks CEO Rachel Bristol states, “These alarming numbers confirm the severe human toll of this recession and what the Oregon Food Bank Network has been seeing for the past two years, Oregon has been hit especially hard.” Although the state of Oregon is not the only one suffering from the recession and hunger, it should be up to the residents and the more fortunate citizens of Oregon to step forward with almsgiving and prayer. The evidence of hypocrisy and merely “turning heads” away from the issue is not the Christian way to act. Many Oregon residents are just making ends meet, but can still offer their prayers and hopes to a better life for the poor.
Conclusion: Ultimately, the importance of prayer and almsgiving is stated in Matthew’s Gospel.
He hopes to portray God’s word onto his pupils in order for us to understand how to pray, and when to pray. He states that we should not be hypocritical while we pray and should “go in your room, and close the door” thus you are alone with God. Along with prayer, almsgiving is yet another issue Matthew stresses. He explains that one should give to the needy, but also do it in private. The lord sees all, and knows all, therefore, when one commits a good deed, the Lord alone will see it. In relation to today’s contemporary world all three of these underlying themes can be applied to today’s recession and all of the complications it has brought forward. In Oregon today, 13.1% of households are food insufficient and are in dire need of help from their communities. With the help of almsgiving and prayer, themes we can see portrayed in Matthews Gospel, it is important to help those who are less fortunate than us. Ultimately, it is not expected that everyone will come forward to help diminish hunger, but with the help of prayer and the lack of hypocrisy, we can support the needful and try to comfort this present
life.
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[1] Hauer and Young, An Introduction to the Bible (Prentice Hall, NJ: 1986), 252.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Michael D. Coogan, eds., The New Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford University, 2001) 15 NT. The New Oxford Annotated Bible will be used.
[4] Ibid., 7 NT.
[5] Hauer and Young, 246.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Coogan, 8 NT.
[9] Hauer and Young, 247.
[10] Ibid., 247.
[11] Coogan, 8 NT.
[12] Hauer and Young, 264.
[13] Coogan, 8 NT.
[14] Ibid.,245.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Martin Dibelius, A Fresh Approach to the New Testament (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1979) 57.
[17] Ibid., 56
[18] Oscar Cullmann, Prayer In The New Testament (Library of Congress, MN: 1995), 17.
[19] Ibid.,19.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid., 19.
[22] Robert J. Karris, Prayer and the New Testament (Crossroad Publishing Company, NY: 2000), 48.
[23] Cullmann, 37.
[24] Ibid., 38.
[25] Ibid., 43.
[26] Karris, 25.
[27] Richard McSorley, New Testament: Basis of Peace Making (Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1985) 73.
[28] Karris, 30.
Introduction:
At one point of another we have all said or done things and then acted out the opposite, thus being a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is one of the underlying themes found in Matthew 6: 1-15. The Gospel of Matthew is a relatively easy passage to read, and according to Hauer and Young, “The Gospel of Matthew is nearly as overt as the Gospel of Mark is hidden.”[1] Matthew is organized into a fivefold pattern and two parts of the fivefold passage, “The higher Righteousness” (Mt. 3-7) and “The true Discipleship” (Mt. 8-10) will be looking into in great detail regarding Matthews Gospel. Throughout his Gospel, according to Hauer and Young, “Matthew is proclaiming the authority of Jesus as teacher and preacher, but also with giving the content of his …show more content…
teaching.”[2] In contrast, Matthew shows the conflict between the Jesus Jews and the Jews who are following the Rabbinic leadership. While studying a passage from the Bible, it is beneficial for the reader to have a historical understanding of the author in order to fully understand the text. Studying the world behind the text (historically) world of the text (literary) and the world in front of the text (hermeneutics) gives the reader a clearer understanding of the text and allows them to apply underlying themes to a current issue. The Gospel of Matthew highlights the Jewish origin and identity of Jesus and his first followers more than any other piece of early Christian literature. The Gospel of Matthew is proposed to have been written in the last quarter of the first century, in 85-105 AD. This Gospel entails themes about hypocrisy, prayer, and almsgiving. These themes can be applied to the contemporary issue of the Oregon Food Bank being a foundation for giving food to the poor, thus portraying almsgiving and prayer for those less fortunate.
Matthew 6 (1-15)
1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.[3]
World Behind the Text:
During the past two centuries, critical study of the New Testament gospels has yielded a wealth of insights on their origin and development. There are four canonical Gospels; Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. In Matthew, Jesus is God’s anointed, or messiah, and according to Coogan, “Matthew is the one who best envisions and interprets God’s plan or God’s people.”[4] Critical researchers of these four authors have noticed two intriguing features about them. According to Hauer and Young, “The gospel of John is quite different from the other three. Important events in the life of Jesus that Matthew, Mark, and Luke recorded are absent from John.”[5] Hauer and Young further explain that there are long passages in all three gospels that coincide in content and outline, thus Mark, Matthew and Luke are known as the synoptic gospels, and the problem of explaining their interrelationship is the synoptic problem.[6] Many biblical scholars have their own hypotheses on why this is. However, the most widely accepted solution to the synoptic problem is the Four-Source Hypothesis. The first part of the Four-Source Hypothesis (FSH) is that the entire gospel of Mark served as a source for Matthew and Luke. Hauer and Young explain, “All of Mark is duplicated in the other two synoptic gospels; and, when a Marcan passage is missing from Matthew or Luke, it is almost always found in the other.”[7] Furthermore, according to Coogan, “The Gospel of Matthew was written after the Gospel of Mark and all but sixty verses of the Gospel of Mark appear in Matthew.”[8] The second leg of the FSH includes the notion that Matthew and Luke share a second common source besides Mark, and the so called “Q” source is yet another source where Mark and Matthew have derived information. Hauer and Young states, “More than one-third of Matthew and one-fourth of Luke consist of material they share in common that is absent from Mark.” [9] Material missing from Mark that is present in Matthew and Luke further confirms the second part of the FSH that the so called Q source is plausible. Moreover, many biblical scholars have tried to counter the FSH with new evidence. However, Hauer and Young state, “The Four-source hypothesis solves more problems more simply and raises fewer problems than any other hypothesis.”[10] In order to gain a proper understanding of Matthew’s writings, it is essential to understand his historical background. It is suspected that Matthew wrote his gospel in the last quarter of the first century, in 85-105 AD and has been referred to as a bridge from the Old Testament to the New Testament, thus it was placed first in the NT (although Mt. was not written first). Coogan explains the timeline of Matthew’s Gospel, by explaining, “Matthew was written following the first Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE by the Roman general and eventual emperor, Titus.”[11] Like other gospels, Matthew has no direct reference within the work its author or place of origin. However, according to Hauer and Young, “A report usually dated about 130 C.E seems to attribute origin of the gospel Matthew, and this gospel was almost certainly composed in Greek.”[12] With this information we have a general idea of when the Gospel of Matthew was composed, and as for where Matthew wrote his Gospel, Coogan states, “While the traditional place or origin for Matthew has been considered the city of Antioch in ancient Western Syria, many now consider a southern Galilean city, Tiberias or Sepphoris, a more likely location for the writing of the Gospel.”[13] At this time in Matthew’s community, a conflict arose between the Jesus Jews and the Jews who are following the Rabbinic leadership. In the first and second centuries, Christianity began as a branch of Judaism. Virtually all of Jesus' followers during his life were Jews, and it was even a matter of controversy, many years after his death, as to whether non-Jews could even be considered Christians at all. There is considerable evidence that Jesus considered himself a reformer in the prophetic tradition, and did not intend to set up a new religion. The Gospel of Matthew offers accounts of confrontations and debates between Jesus and other Jews, and such conflicts were common among Jews at the time. Scholars debate the historicity of the Gospels, and have offered different interpretations of the complex relationship between Jewish authorities and Christians before and following Jesus' death. Moreover, it was only during the Rabbinic era that Christianity would compete exclusively with Pharisees for converts and over how to interpret the Hebrew Bible. Overall, all of these factors are important to understanding the contribution of the author’s writings especially where and when and knowing historical facts about the time period. Ultimately understanding the FSH and the setting in which Matthew wrote his gospel plays a vital role in the reader’s comprehension.
World of the Text:
The world of text refers to the literary composition of the writing including the genre of Matthew’s gospel as well as an in depth analysis of each line of the verse. As for the genre of the gospel, Hauer and Young explain, “The term gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word god-spell”[14] and these “god-spells” are typically a story from or about Jesus. Sometime in the first century C.E. Christians gave a literary term to gospel, and the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” came to refer to a literary work proclaiming the essential role of Jesus in God’s saving work.[15] From the perspective of the literary world, gospel is a genre, meaning a group of texts that have similar form, style, content, function and perspective. The gospel genre can at times be confused with bibliographies of Jesus, and this however is a misconception of the term gospel, which many biblical scholars have aimed to refute. Furthermore, according to Martin Dibelius, “As a category the Gospels are something new and independent in literature.”[16] Dibelius further comments, “Matthew was the very earliest of the gospel writers, and thus he would be the first to create a new category of literature.”[17] However, gospel as a genre includes only small portions of the life of Jesus and Gospels in a literary form carry a theological sense rather than a historical sense in their orientation.
Mt. 1-4
Matthew vs. 1-4 consists of almsgiving and in particular, how one should act when they give to the poor. The first line of Matthew’s gospel is, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” This line is suggesting that God alone will see your acts of righteousness and it is not necessary for one to make their good deed public. In a commentary by Oscar Cullman, he comments, “With almsgiving, not only that God sees in secret (Matt.6.4), but according to a very good, though not unanimously attested reading, that God is in secret.”[18] Furthermore, Cullmann is arguing that when one completes an act of almsgiving, God sees it in secret, but going even further to say that God is in secret. The next line of the verse states, "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” This line begins to bring out the theme of the Mt. 1-15 by describing the hypocrites involved in the synagogues as well as anyone who wishes to make the almsgiving a public notion. However, regardless of the hypocrisy involved, another important theme of almsgiving is portrayed in these verses.
Mt. 5-10: Matthew 5:10 begins to switch from almsgiving onto prayer. Mt. 5:6 states, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” which again, the theme of hypocrisy is present. According to Cullmann, “God has no needs, but God only wants human prayer.”[19] Prayer is a symbol of belief and faith, however when one chooses to make their prayers public, they are making their prayer less powerful. Cullman further states, “Then there is the positive instruction: ‘When you pray, go into your room and shut the door.’ There the person who prays is alone with God.”[20] Cullman makes an interesting point by mentioning “the person who prays is alone with God,” because when one prays, they are speaking to God alone, and should not have to make their prayers visible to anyone but the Lord. A prayer can be seen as a conversation with God and the one who prays, merely a special connection between the two. Ultimately with prayer, God is there for us in a special way and is seeking to fulfill our innermost wishes and thoughts. Verses 7:8 go on to say not to “keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” In Cullman’s commentary, he states, “In Matt.6.7 Jesus censures ‘babbling’, as Luther translated the rare Greek word, the use of ‘many words’ and the expectation of getting a hearing with them. The reason he gives (v.8) is particularly important for his understanding of prayer.”[21] Overall, many understand that God already knows our wants and needs before we pray to him, thus excessive babbling and praying in public is not considered the “right type of prayer,”[22] according to Robert Karris in his commentary on Prayer and the New Testament. The next verse (Mt:9) transitions to tell the reader how they should pray, and explains one should pray by reciting the “Our Father.” The Our Father, according to Cullmann, “has a unique significance within the tradition of the first three Gospels.”[23] Moreover, the Our Father is a way for God to teach us how to pray, it gives an application of His instructions and Cullman explains, “Jesus gave the Our Father to his disciples so they could pray it in their community – perhaps with him.”[24] The first two lines of the Our Father (Mt.vv 9:10) “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” are important in this prayer because we understand that God’s name should be hallowed and we realize that God’s kingdom is coming. It is also apparent that the Our Father is divided into two parts which can be seen by word choices. According to Cullmann, “The first part relates to a divine event it is also for our benefit and, as we shall see, we take part in it, but it does not lie directly in the human sphere and the second part relates to a divine event which is directly concerned with human beings. But the link between the two parts is that on both occasions these are saving acts to be requested from God.”[25]
Mt. 11-15:
The next two verses of the prayer, “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” (Mt.11:12) can be seen as symbolism. First of all, the meaning of bread can be seen as having multiple meanings. Moreover, according to Karris, “There is hardly any doubt that the term bread refers to real, not merely ‘spiritual,’ bread, but in antiquity generally bread was never taken as something merely material.” As for Matthew vs. 12, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” Oscar Cullmann comments, “Matthew has ‘debts’ and ‘debtors’ however there is no real difference here. Matthews more concrete translation here is probably to be seen as the more original, especially as Jesus was fond of using the situation of financial indebtedness as an illustration. This verse of the passage seems to be portraying that we as humans are too asking for God’s forgiveness. Karris comments, “We can ask for God’s forgiveness only if while we pray we are ourselves in the realm of the forgiveness. We must realize that God’s forgiveness is not some property, but belongs to his innermost being, his love.”[26] Each verse of the Our Father is referred to as a petition. The sixth petition, or also known as Matthew vs. 13, states, “Lead us not into temptation.” This line of the passage seems to ring true throughout our everyday lives. Day in and day out we are faced with temptations such as cheating, lying, and stealing, in which we ask the Lord to lead us not into temptation so we may carry out our daily lives living like the Lord. Biblical scholar, Richard McSorley comments, “It is not that God does not tempt anyone, it is more that God allows us to be faced with such issues, and we will in turn feel the need to pray to him to direct us away from such temptations.”[27] The seventh and eighth petitions of the Our Father states, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Mt. 14:15) This line of the passage exemplifies that Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Karris views this line as a promise between man and God, “Here is a promise, if you forgive, your heavenly Father will also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those who desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren. Christ came into the world as the great peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.”[28]
World in Front of the Text:
The underlying theme of almsgiving, hypocrisy and prayer that is endowed throughout Matthew vs. 1-15 can also be related to the contemporary issue today of the Oregon Food Bank being a provider for those less fortunate. Almsgiving can be viewed as an act solely out of compassion and for the goodness of community. “Give us this day our daily bread” can be applied to soup kitchens and food banks who are trying to make world hunger a not so pressing issue into today’s recession. In a rich Christian world in which we seem to live, many people are far more focused on buying their next BMW or investing their monies instead of helping out the poor. Hypocrisy seems to play a role within this issue because the Christian way is to do treat others as you wish to be treated, and furthermore, help others in need. Hunger today, especially in the Oregon and Portland areas is an issue that needs to be resolved and with the help of prayer and almsgiving, hunger can be restored. According to the newest report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, both the rates of food insecurity and hunger continue to increase in Oregon. Oregon Food Banks CEO Rachel Bristol states, “These alarming numbers confirm the severe human toll of this recession and what the Oregon Food Bank Network has been seeing for the past two years, Oregon has been hit especially hard.” Although the state of Oregon is not the only one suffering from the recession and hunger, it should be up to the residents and the more fortunate citizens of Oregon to step forward with almsgiving and prayer. The evidence of hypocrisy and merely “turning heads” away from the issue is not the Christian way to act. Many Oregon residents are just making ends meet, but can still offer their prayers and hopes to a better life for the poor.
Conclusion: Ultimately, the importance of prayer and almsgiving is stated in Matthew’s Gospel.
He hopes to portray God’s word onto his pupils in order for us to understand how to pray, and when to pray. He states that we should not be hypocritical while we pray and should “go in your room, and close the door” thus you are alone with God. Along with prayer, almsgiving is yet another issue Matthew stresses. He explains that one should give to the needy, but also do it in private. The lord sees all, and knows all, therefore, when one commits a good deed, the Lord alone will see it. In relation to today’s contemporary world all three of these underlying themes can be applied to today’s recession and all of the complications it has brought forward. In Oregon today, 13.1% of households are food insufficient and are in dire need of help from their communities. With the help of almsgiving and prayer, themes we can see portrayed in Matthews Gospel, it is important to help those who are less fortunate than us. Ultimately, it is not expected that everyone will come forward to help diminish hunger, but with the help of prayer and the lack of hypocrisy, we can support the needful and try to comfort this present
life.
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[1] Hauer and Young, An Introduction to the Bible (Prentice Hall, NJ: 1986), 252.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Michael D. Coogan, eds., The New Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford University, 2001) 15 NT. The New Oxford Annotated Bible will be used.
[4] Ibid., 7 NT.
[5] Hauer and Young, 246.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Coogan, 8 NT.
[9] Hauer and Young, 247.
[10] Ibid., 247.
[11] Coogan, 8 NT.
[12] Hauer and Young, 264.
[13] Coogan, 8 NT.
[14] Ibid.,245.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Martin Dibelius, A Fresh Approach to the New Testament (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1979) 57.
[17] Ibid., 56
[18] Oscar Cullmann, Prayer In The New Testament (Library of Congress, MN: 1995), 17.
[19] Ibid.,19.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid., 19.
[22] Robert J. Karris, Prayer and the New Testament (Crossroad Publishing Company, NY: 2000), 48.
[23] Cullmann, 37.
[24] Ibid., 38.
[25] Ibid., 43.
[26] Karris, 25.
[27] Richard McSorley, New Testament: Basis of Peace Making (Pennsylvania: Herald Press, 1985) 73.
[28] Karris, 30.