O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...

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age, and then the SOM which is the set of rules for a future age. This view will notwork as clearly Jesus expects the sermon to be lived out in a sinful society, not in aperfect millennial reign (Carson 1994: 169). For example, the SOM ends with achallenge to put human sinfulness aside by not only hearing but also obeying theteachings of Christ (Matt 7: 24-27).Fourthly, it is seen as a sermon with an ideal social or liberal agenda; Kissinger(1975:40) says that this view is held together less by a specific set of doctrines andmore by common ideas, amongst which are social idealism and a positive attitudetowards humankind and what humans can achieve. The sermon need just be appliedand there will be a perfect peaceful society here on earth (Blomberg 1992: 94;Carson 1994:165-166; Lloyd-Jones 2006:17-18). This view holds little weight today;the two world wars disqualified the validity of its claims and it overlooked theessential nature of the human being, i.e. humans need God’s help to live out Hisdemands.Fifth, the Anabaptist approach. This approach advocates a literal living out of theSOM in the private and civic arena (Blomberg 1992: 94; Carson 1994:165). One ofthe more well known bi-products is that this approach promotes pacifism (Blomberg1992: 94). The down side of this approach is that it doesn’t take seriously that theSOM is not meant to be the final word on all the matters it touches on (Carson1994:164-165). There are other factors to consider, for example, the teaching styleof Jesus and the teachings of the rest of the Bible.The view favoured in this thesis would be as follows; The Sermon’s place in Matthewpromotes it as the teachings of Christ showing Christian disciples what it is like tolive as citizens of His Kingdom under His reign. Teachings which can and should beadhered to by all believers, in all places, through all ages. Matthew 28:16-20 isconsidered to be the key to understanding Matthew, as it relates to the fivediscourses in Matthew (Hendrickx 1984:6). Matthew 28:16-20 is that passage ofscripture which commands Jesus’ followers to go and make disciples and teachthem to obey what He has taught.The implication then is that the Sermon on the Mount, being one of the five3
discourses in Matthew, is meant to be applied by believers. Like Carson (1994:166-167) argues, it is acknowledged that conformity to the sermon is expected now, evenif perfection will not be achieved until the consummation of Christ’s Kingdom. TheSermon is addressed to, and expected to be practiced by the Christian Community(Hendrickx 1984:8; Lloyd-Jones 2006:20). The sermon is meant for the Christian(Lloyd-Jones 2006:20).The work of the exegete is to find out what it is that Jesus taught, and, importantly,what is the implication for the Christian disciple? With this in mind, attention isturned to the passage in question, Matthew 6:19-34. Even when settled on thechosen approach of interpretation to the SOM, there are several factors which makeunderstanding what Jesus taught in this passage difficult.First, today’s readers are far removed from the historical context which would haveshaped the teaching of the passage. To grasp the passage the historical setting ofthe text and its origin needs to be examined. I.e. we ask the question how thehistorical setting of the original hearers of the Sermon would affect theirunderstanding of the Sermon.Second, following the structure and rhetoric of the passage is not easy. For example,it looks as if Jesus is saying that money is primarily a moral issue and not aneconomic issue. Further, at times it looks like Jesus is advocating that the discipleshould put good sense aside in order to trust God (Carlston 1987:179). It even looksas if the passage suggests work is a bad idea. If that is so, how does the believerreconcile Bible stories such as Joseph who prudently worked in order to avert afamine?Third, the passage contains and is surrounded by theological motifs and themes inMatthew. These theological themes and motifs contained in Matthew will affect theunderstanding of the passage.Thus, to read Matthew 6:19-34 in order to understand the nature of the relationshipbetween the Christian disciple and money, a biblical and theological analysis isnecessary.4
Page 1 and 2: A BIBLICAL-THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF
Page 3 and 4: ACKOWLEDGEMENTSI am eternally grate
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER 1: Introdu
Page 7 and 8: 6.2.5 Discipleship and Community…
Page 9: sinfulness and pushes people toward
Page 13 and 14: Christian disciple and money was an
Page 15 and 16: NT text actually did occur and did
Page 17 and 18: to have used it as a source (France
Page 19 and 20: almost no evidence outside of the N
Page 21 and 22: addressed.Jesus says things in the
Page 23 and 24: The Jewish community was taxed very
Page 25 and 26: finding the origin and purpose of M
Page 27: instruction for the believing commu
Page 31 and 32: Matthew will have continued pertine
Page 33 and 34: Chapter 3Literary Analysis - Struct
Page 35 and 36: etween 6:19-24 and 7:1-11 that is c
Page 37 and 38: would not have ever found such a li
Page 39 and 40: and 7:7-11 are worth noting:a) Both
Page 41 and 42: appealing. He seems to at times ack
Page 43 and 44: three parts.While the literary appr
Page 45 and 46: Chapter 4Literary Analysis - Matthe
Page 47 and 48: common to a teacher like Jesus woul
Page 49 and 50: treasures would be, but agrees that
Page 51 and 52: Blomberg (1992:123) shows that the
Page 53 and 54: Talbert (2006:122) argues this by r
Page 55 and 56: for God’s kingdom, it is in a bad
Page 57 and 58: The statement that one cannot serve
Page 59 and 60: Chapter FiveLiterary Analysis - Mat
Page 61 and 62:
Moses. Even more significant is tha
Page 63 and 64:
ightly notes that humans are more v
Page 65 and 66:
Secondly, Henry’s argument that o
Page 67 and 68:
Perhaps the point is not to cast So
Page 69 and 70:
The second reason related to this p
Page 71 and 72:
the scriptures that even the great
Page 73 and 74:
more than what one eats and wears.
Page 75 and 76:
CHAPTER SIXTHEOLOGICAL MOTIFS OF MA
Page 77 and 78:
6:19-34 and that this chapter would
Page 79 and 80:
It has now been established that Th
Page 81 and 82:
Kingdom requires its citizens to ha
Page 83 and 84:
“our Father,” i.e. the Father o
Page 85 and 86:
It must be noted that the Father-So
Page 87 and 88:
Matthew 25:31-36 presents Jesus as
Page 89 and 90:
unanimous among scholars. These rea
Page 91 and 92:
Unger and White (1985:171) note tha
Page 93 and 94:
interdependent interpersonal relati
Page 95 and 96:
examples of how a disciple may prov
Page 97 and 98:
Chapter SevenConclusion7.1 Introduc
Page 99 and 100:
the accumulation of wealth over and
Page 101 and 102:
them. The historical analyses highl
Page 103 and 104:
preparedness to give up monetary pu
Page 105 and 106:
e for the benefit of the believing
Page 107 and 108:
captivity to sin. The SOM itself wa
Page 109 and 110:
APPENDIX ONETALBERTS FORMAL DIVISIO
Page 111 and 112:
BIBLIOGRAPHYAchtemeier PJ, Green JB
Page 113 and 114:
Clowney EP 1988. Church. In SB Ferg
Page 115 and 116:
Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishi
Page 117 and 118:
Peter Laing Publishing.Lloyd-Jones
Page 119 and 120:
73-97.Smith KG 2008. Academic Writi
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