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Matthew
6:1-21
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(December 0708)
 | Reading the Text:
|
| Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
 | The
Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto. |
| Comparative World Scriptures from United
Communities of Spirit:
|
| The Qaddish,
and comparative texts about Pharisees
& Sadducees from Josephus, Tosefta, Mishnah & Babylonian Talmud.
At (Rutgers University Dept of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the
World of Jesus companion to the historical study of Christian texts. |
|
"Forgiveness for Forgiveness," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of
the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C.
Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation. |
|
Commandment X.2,
Shepherd of
Hermas. (c.145) |
|
Chapter XV,
Chapter XVI,
The First Apology of
Justin
Martyr. (c 150) |
|
IX, 22-29, 32-41,
44-46; Tatian's
Diatessaron
(c. 150-160). |
|
IV.XVI.1,
IV.XXX.3,
V.XVII.1, Adversus
Haereses,
Irenaeus of Lyons.
(c. 180) |
|
Chapter II,
Ad Martyras,
Tertullian (c.197) |
|
Chapters I - IX,
Chapter X,
Chapter XVII,
Chapter
XVIII,
Chapter
XXIV, On Prayer,
Tertullian
(c. 199) |
|
Chapter X, Exhortation
to the Greeks,
Clement of
Alexandria (c 200) |
|
I.8, Paedagogus,
Clement of Alexandria (c 200) |
|
I.6,
II.18,
III.6,
III.12,
IV.6,
IV.8,
IV.22,
VII.12,
VII.13, Stromata,
Clement of Alexandria (c 200) |
|
"Who is
the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?" (sermon on Mark 10:17-31), Clement of
Alexandria (c. 200) |
|
Chapter XIII, On
The Veiling of Virgins,
Tertullian (c.
205) |
|
II.5,
To His Wife, Tertullian (c. 206) |
|
Exegetical
Fragments,
Hippolytus of Rome
(c 210). |
|
Concerning
Flight in Persecution (paragraph 2)
Tertullian (c.
212) |
|
Chapter
XXIII, Against Praxeas,
Tertullian
(c. 213) |
|
II.IV.1, First
Principles (De Principiis),
Origen.
(c.225) |
|
X.14,
XI.15, Commentary
on the Gospel of Matthew,
Origen. (c.247) |
|
On the
Lord's Prayer --
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 252) |
|
Concerning
Works and Almsgiving --
Cyprian
of Carthage (c. 252) |
|
Homily XIX on the Lord's Prayer, St John Chrysostom (c 400)
 | "HE roots out in what remains the
most tyrannical passion of all, the rage and madness with respect to
vainglory, which springs up in them that do right. For at first He had
not at all discoursed about it; it being indeed superfluous, before He
had persuaded them to do any of the things which they ought, to teach
in which way they should practise and pursue them." |
|
|
"Our Lord's
Sermon on the Mount," Part 1, Book 2,
Augustine
(354-430).
| "A third opinion is wont to be
held by carnal people, so absurd and ridiculous, that I would not
mention it had I not found that not a few are entangled in that
error, who say that by the expression left hand a wife is meant; so
that, inasmuch as in family affairs women are wont to be more
tenacious of money, it is to be kept hid from them when their
husbands compassionately spend anything upon the needy, for fear of
domestic quarrels." |
|
| Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St.
Chrysostom (c. 380)
|
| Paraphrase
of the Lord's Prayer, Saint Francis of Assisi, (English translation). (c. 1200) |
| From the
Catena
Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas, c. 1263. |
|
Chapter 1, On Cleaving to God,
Albertus
Magnus, c. 1275. |
| Commentary
on the Petitions in the Lord's Prayer, from Martin Luther's Large Catechism.
| "For though we have received
of God all good things in abundance we are not able to retain any of
them or use them in security and happiness, if He did not give us a
permanent and peaceful government. For where there are dissension,
strife, and war, there the daily bread is already taken away, or at
least checked." |
|
| On
Prayer: The Lord's Prayer, from Luther's "Large Catechism." |
| "The
Lord's Prayer," from Luther's "Small Catechism." |
| From the Geneva Notes.
| "He rebukes two revolting
faults in prayer, ambition, and vain babbling." |
|
|
Commentary on a Harmony of the
Evangelists, John Calvin, 1558:
|
| The
Lord's Prayer, from Practical Divinity, by Thomas Watson. (1692)
| "If God be our Father, we may
go with cheerfulness to the throne of grace. Were a man to petition
his enemy, there were little hope; but when a child petitions his
father, he may hope with confidence to succeed." |
|
| From
Matthew
Henry's Commentary.
| "What we do, must be done from
an inward principle, that we may be approved of God, not that we may
be praised of men." |
|
| Christ the Support of
the Tempted (Matt 6:13): sermon by George Whitefield.
| "The great and important duty
which is incumbent on Christians, is to guard against all appearance
of evil; to watch against the first risings in the heart to evil;
and to have a guard upon our actions, that they may not be sinful,
or so much as seem to be so." |
|
| From
Wesley's Notes.
| "In the foregoing chapter our
Lord particularly described the nature of inward holiness. In this
he describes that purity of intention without which none of our
outward actions are holy. This chapter contains four parts, The
right intention and manner of giving alms, ver.1 - 4. The right
intention, manner, form, and prerequisites of prayer, ver.5 - 15.
The right intention, and manner of fasting, ver.16 - 18. The
necessity of a pure intention in all things, unmixed either with the
desire of riches, or worldly care, and fear of want, ver.19 - 34." |
|
| The Sermon on the Mount: Sermon 6 (Matt
6:1-16), Sermon
7 (Matt 6:17-18), Sermon 8
(Matt
6:19-23). Sermons by John Wesley.
| "The thing which is here
forbidden, is not barely the doing good in the sight of men; this
circumstance alone, that others see what we do, makes the action
neither worse nor better; but the doing it before men, "to be
seen of them," with this view from this intention only." |
|
| From the Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
| "Take heed that ye do not
your alms--But the true reading seems clearly to be "your
righteousness." The external authority for both readings is
pretty nearly equal; but internal evidence is decidedly in favor of
"righteousness." The subject of the second verse being
"almsgiving" that word--so like the other in Greek--might
easily be substituted for it by the copyist: whereas the opposite
would not be so likely. But it is still more in favor of
"righteousness," that if we so read the first verse, it
then becomes a general heading for this whole section of the
discourse, inculcating unostentatiousness in all deeds of
righteousness--Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting being, in that case,
but selected examples of this righteousness." |
|
| "A
Heavenly Pattern for our Earthly Life; Matthew 6:10," Charles H.
Spurgeon, 1884.
| "If the prayer of our text had
not been dictated by the Lord Jesus himself, we might think it too
bold. Can it ever be that this earth, a mere drop of a bucket,
should touch the great sea of life and light above and not be lost
in it? Can it remain earth and yet be made like to heaven?" |
|
| From The People's
New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
| "The Savior condemns
ostentatious piety, and then he singles out three illustrations of
his meaning. The Christian is not forbidden to practice
righteousness before men, but to make it his object to be
seen." |
|
| The
Lord's Prayer, from Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, Ellen G.
White, 1896.
| "Christ holds it for you, safe
beyond the spoiler's reach. Like the child, you shall receive day by
day what is required for the day's need." |
|
|
| Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
|
Comments
(commentary) and
Clippings
(technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican
Diocese of Montreal. |
|
"The Internal World of Piety: A Study of Matthew 6:1-6," Kenneth E.
Bailey, The Presbyterian Outlook, 2008.
| "The amazing make up of this
short list of pious acts strikes us first. Surprisingly, there is no
mention of the temple or of its sacrifices." |
|
|
"Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting," Gospel Analysis, Sermons from
Seattle,
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle,
Washington. Detailed background and exegesis. |
|
"Preaching on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:1-8)," Irving J. Arnquist and
Louis R. Flessner,
Word & World: Theology for Christian Ministry, Luther Northwestern
Theological School, 1990.
| "In Jesus' prayer we are connected
and bonded with each other. We find our health, our integrity, and our
righteousness; that is true piety." |
|
|
"Focus of the Heart," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic
Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's Story, Family
Activity, Support Materials.
| "What place does Lent have in today's
society?" |
|
|
"Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting,"
Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible
Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed
textual notes.
| "The outward forms of prayer and fasting are signs of
an inward cry which can be enacted in the heart itself without the symbol.
In the end, the action of the heart is what is important." |
|
|
"When
You Give to the Poor," Jerry Goebel,
One
Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study
and activities.
| "This type of 'personal salvation' without
'communal restoration' is at the heart of meo-theism, which is the
greatest deception of our cultural Christianity. We don’t hear Jesus
say; 'I have come to be good news to the poor, but that’s not
important to you,' or, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these you
do unto me, but you needn’t worry about that if you go to church.'" |
|
|
"Holiness: Simplicity," commentary by David F. Wells, The Christian
Century, 2000. At Religion Online.
|
"A person who lacks faith settles
for the majority verdict -- the good esteem of the crowd -- while the
disciple who has faith knows there is only one verdict that matters: the
judgment of God." |
|
|
"Thy Kingdom Come: Living the Lord's Prayer," N.T. Wright, The
Christian Century, 1997.
|
"What are we praying for when we pray for God's
kingdom to come?" |
|
|
"The
Call to Secret Service (Matthew 6:1-18)," John C. Purdy.
Chapter 4 in Returning God's Call: The Challenge of Christian Living.
At Religion Online.
| "That
piety should be a private matter is a radical not to say revolutionary
idea. It goes totally against the cultural grain. For traditional piety
is something performed for others to see. In Roman culture, pietas
referred to the public veneration of the gods. Without such a display
from prominent citizens, what would happen to the traditional values
that were associated with the gods? Pietas was the cultural glue,
holding all things in place. How could there be law and order without
it?" |
|
|
"God
Cares about Money (Matt 5:1-2; 6:19-21, 24-33)," John C. Purdy.
Chapter 6 of God With a Human Face (1993), republished at Religion
Online.
| "If our trust is
expressed as obedience, then we will not worry unduly about food,
shelter, and clothing. If we take care of the things God cares about,
God will take care of the money. God really does care for money - in the
most practical, matter-of-fact sense." |
|
| "The
Issue of Forgiveness in the Sermon on the Mount," by Greg Herrick at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
| "It appears that what Jesus is
really saying is that God, with a view toward loving the unforgiving
child, refuses to forgive him in an attempt to get the child to come
face to face with His sin of an unforgiving heart. The person who is
unwilling to forgive will soon meet his Equal. The goal of this is
to re-establish the broken relationships between God and the people
involved." |
|
| "An
Exposition of Matthew 6:1-8," by Greg Herrick at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
| "...we need to keep in mind
that Jesus says that God does listen and our Father loves to reward
us by answering our prayers, prayers that we can make with the
utmost confidence that He is indeed listening." |
|
| "The
Fatal Failures of Religion: #3 Externalism," from the Biblical Studies Foundation.
| "May God enable us to become
so overwhelmed with being His sons that we have no care about what
others think of our spirituality (by human standards)." |
|
| "Matthew
6: The Practice of Righteousness," by Hampton Keathley IV at the Biblical Studies Foundation.
| "Faithfulness is difficult,
but the promise of reward is a proper form of motivation." |
|
| "A
Prayer for All People," Michael Joseph Brown. Living the
Word in Sojourners Online, July/August 2000.
| "The theology of the Lord’s
Prayer teaches us that we have an obligation to work together with
God to abolish evil and meet basic human needs. In this activity we
bring about God’s kingdom through our voluntary submission to God
will. In essence, it is a program for action based upon a social
understanding of all existence." |
|
| The Our
Father/Lord's Prayer in 31 languages plus 290 other languages/dialects. |
| Kingdom Priorities-Verse
Commentary on Matthew 6:19-34, Jirair Tashjian, Christian Resource Institute.
| "In Greek the verb and the
noun have the same root and can be literally translated, "Do
not treasure up treasures." A treasure is not only the stored
object but also the place of safe keeping. Where a treasure is
stored is just as critical as the stored object itself." |
|
| "Pray
This Way: A Study of the Lord's Prayer," by Mark G. Vitalis
Hoffmann. Includes links to study and worship materials on the Lord's
Prayer. |
| The Prayer Jesus Taught Us
by Victor Hoagland, C.P., The Passionist Missionaries page.
| "When Moses approached God on
Mount Sinai, he heard a voice saying, "Do not come near; put
off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are
standing is holy ground." An infinite chasm separates us from
the transcendent God. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw
near to God who is beyond human understanding, who dwells in
mystery, who is all holy. We can call God "our Father"." |
|
|
| Articles & Background:
|
"Sermon on the Mount," wikipedia. |
|
"And Lead
Us Not into Temptation," Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Biblica Vol. 84(2003)
259-278.
|
"The sixth petition of the "Our
Father" has been translated in various ways across the centuries. This
article discusses its literal meaning and the permissive paraphrases of
it, explaining the sense of "temptation" and God’s activity in "leading"
into it, as well as the various subterfuges adopted to avoid the obvious
meaning of the Greek formulation, including its supposed Aramaic
substratum." |
|
|
"Sermon on the Mount," multiple articles and resources, Christian Reflection, The Center for Christian
Ethics at Baylor University, 2008. |
|
"Matthew 6:9-13//Luke 11:2-4: An Eschatological Prayer?" Jeffrey B.
Gibson, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2001.
|
"This article argues that in the
eyes of Matthew and Luke the so-called Lord's Prayer reflects a perception
of Jesus that his disciples are in grave danger of becoming members of
"this generation," that is, those among Jesus' co-religionists who reject
what Jesus shows is God's will for Israel. Its focus and concern is that
the disciples invoke God's protection against engaging in this apostasy." |
|
|
"Echoes of Wisdom in the Lord's Prayer," Rick W Byargeon,
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1998.
|
"This paper has sought to demonstrate the possibility
that the Lord's prayer contains significant allusions to Prov 30:7-9." |
|
|
"Learning
to Pray," an interview with Roberta C. Biondi. By John C. Purdy at Religion OnLine.
| "For students who are afraid of God, who have emphasized God's
righteousness and their sinfulness, God's bigness and their wormlikeness, I suggest that
they find something that doesn't occupy their minds but is pleasant to do, like handiwork,
or doing a crossword puzzle, or even reading a detective novel, and to just sit in God's
presence. That is a way to begin to learn that God is trustworthy and that God isn't that
person they're afraid of, but somebody else." |
|
|
"Exploring
a Life of Prayer," Jane E. Vennard, Iliff School of Theology. At Religion OnLine.
| "Although these holy people have much to teach us about prayer, I believe a
life of prayer is available to all of us -- young and old; alone and in the midst of
family; working, retired, and unemployed. God calls all of us into
relationship." |
|
| "Praying," Kenneth
W. Collins. At Ken Collins' Web Site.
| "The most important thing to
remember about prayer and all other forms of worship is the hardest part: talk to God, not
about Him." |
|
|
The Lords Prayer
in English. ( Trace the Lords Prayer through Old English, Middle English, Modern
English - from various manuscripts and prayer books) |
| The Lord's Prayer in
Aramaic. ("The Language that Jesus Spoke.") |
| The Lords
Prayer by Jack Kilmon. Extended treatment of Aramaic/language and textual issues. |
|
| Articles in
ATLAS Journals. (Direct link when you are
subscribed and logged in to
ATLASerials online collection of Religion and Theology Journals.):
| Arnquist, Irving J., and Louis R.
Flessner,
"Preaching on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:1-8)," Word & World,
1990. |
| Bandstra, Andrew J.,
"The Original Form of the Lord's Prayer," Calvin Theological Journal,
1981.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Berghuis, Kent D.,
"A Biblical Perspective on Fasting," Bibliotheca Sacra, 2001. |
| Binau, Brad A., "'Holding On' and
'Letting Go': the Dynamics of Forgiveness," Word & World, 2007.
(See Word & World 27.1
Forgiveness)
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PDF |
| Blomberg, Craig L., "On Wealth and Worry: Matthew
6:19-34 -- Meaning and Significance," Criswell Theological Review,
1992.
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PDF |
| Brown, Ramond E., S.S.,
"The Pater Noster as an Eschatological Prayer," Theological Studies,
1961.
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PDF |
| Brueggemann, Walter,
"The Secret of Survival," Journal for Preachers, 2003.
Sermon. |
| van Bruggen, Jacob, "The Lord's Prayer and Textual
Criticism," Calvin Theological Journal, 1982.
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PDF |
| Buchanan, Mark,
"Go Fast and Live: Hunger as Spiritual Discipline," The Christian
Century, 2001. |
| Burghardt, Walter J., SJ, "Without Contemplation, the
People Perish," The Living Pulpit, 1993.
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PDF |
| Byargeon, Rick W.,
"Echoes of Wisdom in the Lord's Prayer," Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society, 1998.
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PDF |
| Carter, Warren,
"Recalling the Lord's Prayer: The Authorial Audience and Matthew's Prayer as
Familiar Liturgical Experience," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly,
1995. |
| Charry, Ellen T.,
"The Grace of God and the Law of Christ," Interpretation, 2003. |
| Corrington, Gail Paterson,
"The Defense of the Body and the Discourse of Appetite: Continence and
Control in the Greco-Roman World," Semeia, 1992. |
| Dugan, Kathleen M.,
"Fasting for Life: The Place of Fasting in the Christian Tradition,"
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1995. |
| Frykholm, Amy Johnson,
"Soul Food: Why Fasting Makes Sense," The Christian Century,
2005. |
| Garland, David E.,
"The Lord's Prayer in the Gospel of Matthew," Review & Expositor,
1992. |
| Hultgren, Arland J.,
"Forgive Us, As We Forgive," Word & World, 1996. |
| Jacobson, Karl N., "A Word in Season: Preaching the
Lord's Prayer," Word & World, 2002.
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PDF |
| Johnson, Julie A.,
"An Invitation: The Pathway to Humility," Journal for Preachers,
2006. Sermon. |
| Johnson, Susan B.W.,
"Remorse and Hope," The Christian Century, 1997. |
| Keller, Jack A., "On Providence and Prayer," The
Christian Century, 1987.
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PDF |
| Lachs, Samuel Tobias,
"On Matthew 6:12," Novum Testamentum, 1975. |
| Lawrence, Louise Joy,
"'For Truly, I Tell You, They Have Received Their Reward' (Matt 6:2):
Investigating Honor Precedence and Honor Virtue," The Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, 2002. |
| Levine, Etan,
"The Theology of Fast Day Cosmetics (Matthew 6:16-18)," Journal of
Ritual Studies, 1999. |
| Mitchell, Curtis, C.,
"The Practice of Fasting in the New Testament," Bibliotheca Sacra,
1990. | | |
