O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...
O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ... O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...
includes present and eternal rewards) is that by giving the promise of reward, thequestion has been posed as to whether or not Jesus is promoting “prudent selfbetterment(Metzger 1992:164)?” The accusation that follows, is surely Jesus shouldhave promoted virtue for virtues sake, and not for the hope of reward.Metzger (1992:164) deals with this kind of accusation by paying attention to whatJesus taught about the nature of rewards. Metzger looks at Matthew 6:20 and readsit as saying Jesus is teaching His disciples to learn to value the things that Heavenvalues. Thus the reward is found in the activity of obedience (Metzger 1992:165).By way of example Metzger (p.164-165) looks to Matthew 5:6 where the reward forhungering and thirsting after righteousness is righteousness itself. Further the onewho searches after righteousness wouldn’t expect anything else as a reward. Jesustaught in Luke 17:17-10 that His followers have no right to expect thanks from God(Metzger 1992:165).Metzger then summarised his view on the matter by saying, “in short, Jesuspromises reward to those who are obedient to God’s will without thought of reward(Metzger 1992:165).” He arrives at this conclusion by paying attention to Matthew25:31-46, which paints a picture of the last judgement, where people who arerewarded with eternal life are unaware of righteous acts they performed to receiverewards, and people who are found wanting are shown to be people who would notact unless there was prospect of reward.6.2.5 Discipleship and CommunityThe motif of discipleship, has been grouped with the concept community in thissection, for a couple reasons. Firstly, as mentioned in Chapter 2, Jesus expecteddiscipleship to be lived out in the context of community. Secondly, and as anapplication of discipleship in community, the literary analyses showed a disciple isexpected to show allegiance to God through their generosity to others. Thusdiscipleship (at least to some degree) in Matthew 6:19-34 must be understood in thecontext of community.83
Unger and White (1985:171) note that the word “disciple” comes from the wordmanthano and means literally “to learn (Unger and White 1985:171).” However morethan just being one who learns John 6:66 and Luke 6:17 make the point that in ageneral way when people became disciples of Jesus they became His “adherents.”That is adherents not just to his teachings but also to His person.Senior (1997:63) echoes this sentiment when he says that Jesus is presented inMatthew as the ultimate example of how the Christian life is to be lived. As Seniornotes, Jesus actions and responses can be seen as “models for authenticdiscipleship.” By following their master a disciple carried the goal of becoming likeHim (Wilkins 1992:187).Wilkins (1992:187) argues that discipleship to Jesus differed to that of discipleship toother Rabbis, in that while other disciples had the goal of eventually having disciplesthat would follow them, Jesus disciples would remain committed to Jesus their entirelives. This view is supported by The Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20). Whileadmittedly here disciples are instructed to make disciples, it is note worthy that it isdisciples of Christ they are making. This life long commitment to Jesus is furthersupported by the fact that Jesus Kingdom and reign over His people was shown tobe eternal.The first theological motif examined was that of God’s Kingdom. As the Kingdomimplies God’s rule, it follows that a King rules over people (Marshall 1992:123). GodKingdom carries the idea that there are a group of people who have their allegianceto God as King. Matthew’s Gospel shows that Jesus “anticipates the development ofcommunity life among them (Marshall 2004:126).” This community “formed the basisof the church that developed after Easter and Pentecost (Marshall 1992:122)”The word church comes from ecclesia. Ellingsen (1983:118) says that ecclesiacarries the literal meaning of “called out.” Ellingsen says that the word ecclesiaoriginally referred to a gathering of Greek citizens who gathered for civil matters.However while it is true that ecclesia was used for a gathering of Greek citizens, thereference to ecclesia may have significance from something much earlier.84
- Page 39 and 40: and 7:7-11 are worth noting:a) Both
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- 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
includes present and eternal rewards) is that by giving the promise of reward, thequestion has been posed as to whether or not Jesus is promoting “prudent selfbetterment(Metzger 1992:164)?” The accusation that follows, is surely Jesus shouldhave promoted virtue for virtues sake, and not for the hope of reward.Metzger (1992:164) deals with this kind of accusation by paying attention to whatJesus taught about the nature of rewards. Metzger looks at Matthew 6:20 and readsit as saying Jesus is teaching His disciples to learn to value the things that Heavenvalues. Thus the reward is found in the activity of obedience (Metzger 1992:165).By way of example Metzger (p.164-165) looks to Matthew 5:6 where the reward forhungering and thirsting after righteousness is righteousness itself. Further the onewho searches after righteousness wouldn’t expect anything else as a reward. Jesustaught in Luke 17:17-10 that His followers have no right to expect thanks from God(Metzger 1992:165).Metzger then summarised his view on the matter by saying, “in short, Jesuspromises reward to those who are obedient to God’s will without thought of reward(Metzger 1992:165).” He arrives at this conclusion by paying attention to Matthew25:31-46, which paints a picture of the last judgement, where people who arerewarded with eternal life are unaware of righteous acts they performed to receiverewards, and people who are found wanting are shown to be people who would notact unless there was prospect of reward.6.2.5 Discipleship and CommunityThe motif of discipleship, has been grouped with the concept community in thissection, for a couple reasons. Firstly, as mentioned in Chapter 2, Jesus expecteddiscipleship to be lived out in the context of community. Secondly, and as anapplication of discipleship in community, the literary analyses showed a disciple isexpected to show allegiance to God through their generosity to others. Thusdiscipleship (at least to some degree) in Matthew 6:19-34 must be understood in thecontext of community.83
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