Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§8.5 The Tradition
Matt. 7.13-14
13 Enter through the narrow gate; for
the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to
destruction, and there are many who enter through
it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard
that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matt. 7.24-27
24 Everyone then who hears these my
words and acts on them will be like a wise man
who built his house
on rock.
25 Torrential rain fell, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not
fall, because it had been founded on rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not act on them will be like a foolish
man who built his house on sand.
27 Torrential rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat against
that house, and it fell — and great was its fall!
Luke 13.24
24 Strive to enter through the narrow door;
for many. I tell you, will try to enter and
will not be able.
Luke 6.47-49
47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my
words and acts on them, I will show you what he
is like. 48 He is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when a flood arose, the river
burst against that house but could not shake it,
because it had been well built.
49 But he who hears
and does not act is like a
man building a house on the ground without a
foundation. When
the flood burst against it,
immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that
house.
In each case two features are evident: the teaching is the same in substance; the
main emphases are carried by key words or phrases (salt, lost its taste, thrown
out; accuser, [danger of being] thrown in prison, 'I tell you, you will never get
out until you have paid back the last [halfpenny'; 249 cheek, other, cloak/tunic
also, 'Give to him who asks you' ; 250 treasure in heaven [invulnerable to] moth or
thief, 'where your treasure is there also will your heart be'; 251 'Enter through the
narrow [gate]'; hearing and acting, house built on rock, flood, house built on
poor foundation, fall); otherwise the detail is quite diverse. 252 It is hard to imagine
such sayings being simply copied from the same document. 253 The alternative
suggestion that there were several editions of Q (Matthew copying from one,
249. Did. 1.5 makes use of this last saying: 'he will not get out from there, until he has
paid back the last penny'.
250. Did. 1.4-5 may well reflect knowledge of Matthew's version. In the Gospel of
Thomas the saying has been formulated with a slightly different thrust: 'If you have money, do
not lend it at interest, but give it to someone from whom you will not get it back' (GTh 95).
251. See further below chapter 13 n. 158.
252. I have left Matt. 5.43-48/Luke 6.27-28, 32-36 till §14.5 below.
253. The difficulty of reconstructing Q in these cases is evident in Robinson/Hoffmann/
Kloppenborg's Critical Edition. E.g., in what Kloppenborg regards as the first cluster in his Q 1
(Q 6.20-23b, 27-49), 6.27-35 is all like 6.29-30, illustrated above. However, it is less likely that
the considerable variations are the result of editing a document (Q). The more obvious explanation
is that Matthew knew different versions and that he was free to present the overlap material
(q) in the spirit of the free-er oral retelling. Similarly with Q 6.36, 43-44, 46. On the Q hypothesis,
it is Matthew who has broken up and scattered Q 6.37-40 (Matt. 7.1-2; 15.14; 10.24-25).
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