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

and 7:7-11 are worth noting:a) Both use arguments from the lesser to the greater.b) Both use repetition of key words, around which the argument is built. “Worry,”is found five times in 6:25,27-28,31,34 and “ask and seek,” in 7:7, 8, 9, 10 and12.c) Both use two illustrations to argue their point. The illustrations beingrespectively that of the birds of the air and the lilies of the filed as well as theson who ask their Father for bread and fish.Allison says that Matthew often groups things in three’s and so looks for triads inorder to identify the structure of the text (Brooks 1992:27). However, Brooks arguesthat just because triads are “prominent” in Matthew it does not follow that they shouldbe seen as markers to the formal structure. The example of a triad that does not fit isthe relationship between 6:19-24 and 7:1-12 where the exhortation and parables “arenot parallel.”Stassen, like Allison, looks for the triads to find the text’s formal structure. Stassen(2003:268) argues that the Gospel of Matthew shows a preference for triads; this isseen clearly when one notes that Matthew contains approximately 75 triads, asopposed to only several dyads. Stassen (p.285) also views 6:19-7:12 as a one ofthe larger pericopes within the SOM. His argument is that while scholars havedivided the SOM into larger pericopes, there is a triadic structure to be seen in eachpericope (pp.267-268). The triads in the SOM are made up as followsa) a traditional teachingb) a vicious cyclec) a transforming initiative that delivers from the vicious cycle. The transforminginitiative includes an explanation.When applied to 6:19-34 one would see the triads displayed as follows:a) 6:19-23 – the traditional teaching is found in Jesus instructing disciples not tolay up treasure on earth (Stassen 2003:285). The vicious cycle would be themoth and rust destroying and the transforming initiative would be theimperative given by Jesus to store up treasure in Heaven . The explanation is32