Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying,
'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or
'What will we wear?' 32 For it is the nations
that strive for all these things; and indeed
your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well.
34 So do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's
trouble is enough for today.
THE MISSION OF JESUS
§14.2
little faith! 29 And do not keep striving for what
you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do
not keep worrying. 30 For it is the nations of the
world that strive for all these things, and
your Father knows that you need
them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom.
and these things
will be given to you as well.
32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
It is impossible now to tell whether Jesus ever gave this as a single piece of
teaching. 45 The Sermon on the Mount itself provides sufficient evidence of
the tendency within church performances of the Jesus tradition to group material
for teaching purposes; even here the final saying in the two sequences
(Matt. 6.34/Luke 12.32) gives clear indication of performance/editorial freedom
on such matters. 46 The more important point is that Jesus was remembered
as encouraging a high degree of trust in the bounty of the Creator who
is also the Father — as also in Matt. 10.29-31/Luke 12.6-7). 47 Faith excludes
45. The Jesus Seminar concluded that Matt. 6.31-34 and Luke 12.26, 29-31 are secondary
accretions to the underlying tradition which can be traced back to Jesus (Funk, Five
Gospels 151-53); Becker distances it from the 'itinerant radicalism' of the mission instructions,
but concludes equally that it is authentic Jesus material (Jesus 131-32); Lüdemann regards
Matt. 6.25-33 as authentic 'because they cannot be derived from the community' and
fit the context of the disciples sent out by or accompanying Jesus from village to village (Jesus
149). There is an ongoing debate as to which of Q 12.22-31 and P.Oxy. 655 is the earlier,
J. M. Robinson and C. Heil arguing in favour of the latter (P.Oxy. 655 is nearer to the simpler
oral tradition), J. Schröter in favour of the former (P.Oxy. 655 is more likely post-Synoptic).
For the latest rounds see Robinson and Heil, 'The Lilies of the Field: Saying 36 of the Gospel
of Thomas and Secondary Accretions in Q 12.22b-31', NTS 47 (2001) 1-25; Schröter,
'Rezeptionsprozesse in der Jesusüberlieferung: Überlegungen zum historischen Charakter
der neutestamentlichen Wissenschaft am Beispiel der Sorgensprüche', NTS 47 (2001) 442-
68; and Robinson and Heil, 'Noch einmal: Der Schreibfehler in Q 12,27', ZNW 92 (2001)
113-22; Schröter, 'Verschrieben? Klärende Bemerkungen zu einem vermeintlichen
Schreibfehler in Q und tatsächlichen Irrtümern', ZNW 92 (2001) 283-89. Earlier, Manson
had observed that Matt. 6.26-30/Luke 12.24-28 provides a good example of poetic parallelism
(Teaching 56).
46. The saying reflects popular wisdom (see particularly Davies and Allison, Matthew
1-7 662-63), drawn on either by Jesus or in subsequent performance.
47.
Matt. 10.29-31
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet
not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
vour Father. 30 And even the hairs of vour head
are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid: vou
are of more value than many sparrows.
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Luke 12.6-7
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet
not one of them is forgotten before
God. 7 But even the hairs of vour head
have all been counted. Do not be afraid; vou
are of more value than many sparrows.