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

(2006:120). The first part is found in Matthew 6:25-34 (p.126). This part begins witha prohibition in verse 25a and is then followed by four reasons for the prohibitionfound in verses 25b-30. The prohibition is made evident when is seen that Jesusinstructed His disciples not to worry about their lives, what they will eat and drink norabout their bodies and what will they wear.The prohibition in verse 25a begins with Jesus saying “Therefore I say to you.” The“therefore” in verse 25 can be read literally as “on account of this (Hagner1993:163)”’ While this connection refers definitely to verse 24 it more than likelyrefers to the whole of the preceding section. This thesis will work on the assumptionthat the connective “Therefore” is to connect Matthew 6:19-34 to Matthew 6:24-25.In the first sub unit (Matthew 6:19-24), included in the conclusion was that theChristian disciple must set the affection of her or his heart toward Jesus over andabove the accumulation of wealth. Further it was stated that the disciple’s life mustbe characterised by generosity and that the disciple, to avoid idolatry, must chooseallegiance to God over money.It then follows that such attitude and actions could leave the disciple feelingfinancially vulnerable. So it is fitting that the second sub-unit begins with, “Thereforedo not worry,” as if the disciple’s accept the truth of verse 19-24 seriously they couldfind themselves anxious as to their financial state (Schmidt 1988:172).Jesus saying, in verse 25 ‘I say to you,’ is a way to make reference to His authority(Hagner 1993:163). Several examples of this saying are found in the antithesis of5:21-48 (Hagner 1993:163). For example, 5:21-22a reads as follows, “You haveheard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and who ever murderswill be subject to judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brotherwithout a cause will be in danger of judgment (Matt 5:21-22a).” I.e. Jesus assumesthe right to speak prophetically about the ways of God.In Chapter two references from Matthew were made to Jesus as a Moses-like figure.In reflecting on the use of these antitheses in the SOM, Goldsmith (2001:62) saysthat by using the pronoun “I” Jesus is asserting his authority to speak as greater than53