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

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7.2.2 The Accumulation of WealthLuthi and Brunner (1963:129) say that Jesus, in Matthew 6:19 was advocating that adisciple cannot have amassed a significant amount of material wealth without givingthe allegiance of one’s heart to it. Notably they arrived at this conclusion by treatingJesus command not to lay up treasures on earth as an absolute command that couldstand on its’ own.However the literary analysis concluded that by taking Jesus teaching style intoaccount one can conclude that He was not prohibiting the accumulation of wealth.This speaks to the question of whether or not a disciple may commit her or himself toa vocation or enterprises whereby they accumulate a significant portion of wealth. Italso speaks to the question of whether the disciple is to neglect work in favour ofseeking God’s Kingdom.The literary analysis showed that the admonition from Jesus was not to neglect work,but in working hard to trust God to provide. This conclusion was reached in part byaffirming that this scripture needs to be understood in light of Proverbs 6:6-8. This isa passage of wisdom literature, that encourages the reader to neglect laziness andbe diligent in working to supply for one’s needs. Also it was noted that the metaphorsused by Jesus of birds, showed animals hard at work, but ultimately relying on God’sgoodness for provision. Further, the historical analysis showed Jesus to have had atrade, to have worked and yet he committed no sin.Thus it is possible to be involved in enterprises whereby a disciple accumulateswealth and keep one’s allegiance to God. However it was concluded in the examinedtheological motif of discipleship that Jesus may require different levels of sacrificefrom different disciples. The historical analysis settled on the assumption thatMatthew, a former tax collector, wrote the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew the taxcollector was one who would have, if not accumulated lots of wealth would havebeen in the position to do so and gave up everything to follow Jesus. A point whichthe first readers of Matthew’s gospel would have been aware of.Further it was noted that discipleship requires the disciples to adopt the attitude of95
preparedness to give up monetary pursuits in favour of obedience to Jesus. Jesus,whom the historical and theological analysis portrayed as the supreme example ofhow discipleship is to be lived, was known to have given up everything in obedienceto God.Matthew 6:19-34 provided some signals as to whether or not one’s accumulation ofMoney is at the cost of authentic discipleship. Firstly one could argue from the sayingof two kinds of treasure that if the disciple has not prioritised Heaven’s values abovemoney the disciple is not adhering to the demands of following Jesus.Secondly, the saying of the good and bad eye showed that a stingy dispositionmeans discipleship has been sacrificed for the worship of Money. Finally, a lifecharacterised by anxiety and fear over provision points to a movement away fromfollowing Jesus, to skewed priorities and a wayward attitude toward wealth.The cure for alleviation of worry or anxiety that is related to human survival andobscures disciple’s priorities, was put forward as adequate trust in God. This kind oftrust was not shown to be a quick fix. The literary analysis as noted in 7.2.1 but inmore detail here, encourages disciples to katamanthano nature in order to learn.Katamanthan is a word which was shown to require some reflection and pondering.Further this kind of reflection would have been done, as suggested by chapter two, inthe context of a people that were suppressed by the Roman Empire and many ofwhom would have been exploited by their own countrymen. I.e. God’s cure to thealleviation of this kind of worry may not meet the expectations of people who arelooking for swift justice on their enemies.One could also say that the alleviation of anxiety related to human survival and it’scure, were counter the culture of the day. Chapter two showed the ruling Romanpower to be extremely rich. This came about by conquest. Jesus on the other handadvocated trust in God. Further it was noted that philosophies of the day may haveadmired people who live a life free from the lure of wealth, but in practice did notadhere to such a world view.96
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A BIBLICAL-THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF
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ACKOWLEDGEMENTSI am eternally grate
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TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER 1: Introdu
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6.2.5 Discipleship and Community…
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sinfulness and pushes people toward
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discourses in Matthew, is meant to
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Christian disciple and money was an
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NT text actually did occur and did
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to have used it as a source (France
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almost no evidence outside of the N
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addressed.Jesus says things in the
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The Jewish community was taxed very
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finding the origin and purpose of M
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instruction for the believing commu
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Matthew will have continued pertine
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Chapter 3Literary Analysis - Struct
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etween 6:19-24 and 7:1-11 that is c
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would not have ever found such a li
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and 7:7-11 are worth noting:a) Both
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appealing. He seems to at times ack
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three parts.While the literary appr
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Chapter 4Literary Analysis - Matthe
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common to a teacher like Jesus woul
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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: them. The historical analyses highl
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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