Post by Tom Green on Feb 25, 2007 4:40:19 GMT -5
Lesson plan: Sermon on the Mount, Part Two
Last week we dealt with the first two sections of the sermon on the mount, which make up the first chapter. There are three more sections left but I won't cover one of them (the fourth, on laying up treasures in heaven) in too much detail because we'll have a lesson on that topic later on.
1. Warning against an empty religion of show.
It's important to remember that the first 18 verses of Matthew 6 all focus on a single topic: a warning against an empty religion of show. Thus, while we derive information on other topics (such as prayer and forgiveness) from this section, we should remember its primary focus--it will help us interpret better.
The theme is set in the first four verses.
Read Matt. 6:1-4.
What is the point of doing alms--or charity--in secret? (We can be certain we are not doing it for the praise of men, and only for God.)
What does it mean that our right hand should not know what our left hand is doing? (This is clearly metaphorical. While I chuckle a bit at the occasional ancient interpretation that the left hand is one's wife, it's clear that the real point is that not only should we not aim for the congratulations of others, we should not practice self-congratulation either.)
Verse 4 emphasizes that the practicer of true, secret good deeds will be rewarded by his Heavenly Father, rather than by those on earth.
2. The Lord's Prayer.
We continue this theme of empty religious show as we move into the next section, on prayer. As we go, let's compile the advice we get on prayer and write it on the board. We have just seen one comparison with "the hypocrites," and now we get another:
Read Matt. 6:5-6.
What's our first piece of advice? (Don't pray openly.)
I imagine it is because of these words of Jesus that we have a habit of closing the doors of rooms when we pray (something I forget more often than not), but it has broader implications than just doors. Can you think of places that would be inappropriate for prayer?
Let's go on to the next piece of advice on prayer.
Read Matt. 6:7-8.
We need to notice that these verses are really different from the ones before. First, notice that Jesus is using a different group for comparison. In verses 2 and 5 (like verse 16 to follow), He compares to "the hypocrites." Here He compares to "the heathen." The point of His advice, then, is different: it does not have to do with avoiding hypocrisy, but with avoiding some other type of incorrect practice.
Continuing on that same line, look at the last line of verse 7: "they think they shall be heard for their much speaking." Now, this isn't hypocrites we're talking about; it's heathen. Thus, it may be that they were sincere--they really expected their god to hear them.
Now, let me tell you one thing about these verses. Replace the phrase "use not vain repetitions" with the phrase "don't battologize." Look at the verses again.
Obviously, I have just rendered these verses less comprehensible. But the truth is that these verses really are almost exactly this incomprehensible in Greek--the word used there, Greek battologeô, is unique here. When interpreters run into a word that doesn't occur anywhere else, they are forced to do two things. First, they look at the context, and second, they look at the root components of the word to try to figure it out. I'll do the second part if you'll do the first.
From the context, what does this expression seem to mean? (From the expression that follows it, "for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking," it appears that the word means speaking a lot, or something like that.)
OK, now I'll do the second part. Let's start with the second half of this compound word: logeô means "to make a speech." Battos, it is thought, is probably onomatopoeic--it means like it sounds. In fact, this adjective is sometimes used for stutterers. So this verb does not seem to mean "use vain repetitions" exactly, but rather "make stuttering speeches." Applying a little historical context, it is probable that this means something like "chant nonsensically." Long nonsense chants--like "abracadabra," but much longer (see Ehrman p. 28)--were commonly used as a way to tap into the mystic power of the gods. While it is true that these nonsense incantations could be called "vain repetitions," this term doesn't really describe very well what Jesus was talking about.
If we understand this term in this new way (the New English Bible's translation "go babbling on like the heathen" is right on), what are the implications of this verse for us? (A few things: 1. We've been accusing the Catholics on this verse for years without cause--it has nothing to do with saying the same prayers over and over, as long as the prayers aren't nonsense. Note that Jerome's Latin translation [nolite multum loqui, "don't speak much"--clearly no more than a guess on Jerome's part] says nothing about repetition. 2. By the same token, we don't need to worry about repetition in the sacrament prayers, or for that matter any phrases in our own prayers, as long, of course, as they are sincere. 3. We have a good warning against mysticism. Write answers applicable to us on the board.)
At the end of verse 8, Jesus seems to sum up His comments on both the heathen and the hypocrites, "be ye not therefore like them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." What can we understand from this? (We do not need to be overly concerned about being all-inclusive in our prayers.)
Next we get what is traditionally known as "the Lord's Prayer." While we should remember that this prayer may be nothing more than an example of the precepts Jesus has just taught (namely: be brief, don't talk nonsense, and don't worry about including everything), it does seem to form a pretty good model for prayer.
Read Matt. 6:9-13.
Does anyone have thoughts on this example of prayer?
I do have just one thought. If you look at verse 12, you see that it talks about "debts," but seems to mean "sins" (see Matt. 6:14-15, Luke 11:4). The word "debts" is literally correct, but hardly the whole story. For some time (a few centuries at least--see Sirach 28:2) sins had been conceived as a sort of debt--for which God's inevitable punishment was the price to be paid when the loan came due. The word "forgive" here is literally "release" (though we, too, talk of "forgiving" debts). Thus, this phrase petitions the Lord to exercise mercy instead of justice by not punishing us for our sins, and further says that we, too, will not punish but rather forgive.
There is more in this section, but we should move on to the next.
3. Treasures in heaven.
Jesus quickly lays out His next theme:
Read Matt. 6:19-21.
This scripture seems fairly plain. What can we learn from it? (We must be dedicated to the things of God alone; the things of this earth drag us down. Further comment would be appreciated.)
Jesus goes on to say essentially this same thing many times in the remaining verses in the chapter. I'm only going to spend a little time on the next few verses, which I find very interesting.
Read Matt. 6:22-23.
The word "single" in verse 22 is appropriately confusing. In Greek it is haplous, which usually means "simple," but also functions as the opposite of diplous, which means "double." There is some word-play in this verse which relies on this double meaning.
Jesus starts off by saying that "the light of the body is the eye." This was a well-known metaphor. Unlike Luke, whose use of this metaphor we discussed last week, Jesus means by this, not that the eyes glow upon the outside world, but rather that they allow light into the body. Now, eyes, of course, are always "double," because we have two of them: that way we see better. The paradox with which Jesus gets the attention of His audience is that He says your eye is better if it is "single"--i.e., if you have only one! If you have only one, of course, you can see less--but that is His point: by seeing less, if you see the right things, you enlighten yourself better. On this line, Joseph Smith's elucidation "single to the glory of God" (footnote b) is a good doctrinally focused extension.
However, as I said, haplous usually means "simple," which is where a lot of modern translations get the term "clear" in these verses. And this is surely right, too, because we see in verse 23 that Jesus is comparing, not to having two eyes, but to having a dark, poorly-functioning eye. With this piece of word-play, then, Jesus pointedly tells His audience that what is required is that one's eyes both be wide open and clear (to admit the full light) and be strictly focused (to look only at the light).
(Notice that the idea of dualism is picked up then in the next verse: "No man can serve two masters..." [v. 24].)
4. The parable of the builders.
I'd like to skip ahead a bit to a parable near the end of chapter 7. There are two versions of this parable recorded, one in Luke and one in Matthew. I'd like to have someone read each, while others follow along and try to examine the differences.
Read Matt. 7:24-27, Luke 6:46-49.
These two versions are very similar indeed, but what is the difference?
The difference resides in one verse, really, Matt. 7:24 vs. Luke 6:48. Luke puts more emphasis on the effort involved in building, while Matthew emphasizes the foundation. Many translations show that there is also a difference in the next verse: Luke, instead of saying that the house stood because of its firm foundation, says it did not fall "because it had been soundly built"--again emphasizing the effort.
This example shows well why it's good to compare different versions of the same story in the gospels. Obviously both sources heard the parable, but both took away slightly different points from it. Jesus surely meant to make both points. What are the twin morals of this parable? (Our salvation depends on obedience. By obedience is meant: 1) obeying the right source [the foundation] and 2) putting in serious effort [the labor]. One could even say that these twin principles extend to the idea of grace and works being required together: they confirm and implement one another.)
5. Judging.
Let's go to the beginning of chapter now for our final discussion. Although there are a few points I want to make here, I think this would be fruitful ground for a more open discussion. So let's first just read the verses under consideration, and then I'll take some comments.
Read Matt. 7:1-6.
OK, here's the big question: Are we to judge or aren't we?
(I think that question can generate enough discussion on its own. As appropriate, the following points, a sort of a verse-by-verse commentary, could be made to redirect or emphasize the conversation.)
Verse 1: The warning "that ye be not judged" is always taken to refer to God, but I see no reason why it, and verse 2, could not refer to the commonsense idea that other people will hold us to the standard to which we hold them (i.e., "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones).
Verses 3-5: These verses clearly show the problem with judging: we ourselves have such serious problems that we are poorly qualified to determine the problems of others. In fact, like the beam in the eye...
our own problems can be very difficult for us to see;
problems we see in others may be nothing more than projections of our own;
we may do more damage to others when we try to solve their problems while our own interfere; and
we invite ridicule and condemnation by standing in judgement upon those who may well be better than us.
The problems that can be seen in these verses should make us very wary of judging at all, especially because, as noted in (1) above, our own problems can be difficult to see.
Luke 6:36-38 gives a very good alternate context, with an emphasis on choosing forgiveness over judgement.
Even though judgement clearly sometimes is sanctioned, it seems to me that we spend altogether too much time justifying our right to judge and too little time trying to find alternatives--like forgiveness, suggested so ably in Luke--to doing so. I would like to close with a quotation from the plain-talking Brigham Young (from Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 278--this particular quotation drawn from Infobase Library [see below]).
I am very thankful that it is not our province, in our present condition, to judge the world; if it were, we would ruin everything. We have not sufficient wisdom, our minds are not filled with the knowledge and power of God; the spirit needs to contend with the flesh a little more until it shall be successful in subduing its passions, until the whole soul is brought into perfect harmony with the mind and will of God. And we must also acquire the discretion that God exercises in being able to look into futurity, and to ascertain and know the results of our acts away in the future, even in eternity, before we will be capable of judging.
Last week we dealt with the first two sections of the sermon on the mount, which make up the first chapter. There are three more sections left but I won't cover one of them (the fourth, on laying up treasures in heaven) in too much detail because we'll have a lesson on that topic later on.
1. Warning against an empty religion of show.
It's important to remember that the first 18 verses of Matthew 6 all focus on a single topic: a warning against an empty religion of show. Thus, while we derive information on other topics (such as prayer and forgiveness) from this section, we should remember its primary focus--it will help us interpret better.
The theme is set in the first four verses.
Read Matt. 6:1-4.
What is the point of doing alms--or charity--in secret? (We can be certain we are not doing it for the praise of men, and only for God.)
What does it mean that our right hand should not know what our left hand is doing? (This is clearly metaphorical. While I chuckle a bit at the occasional ancient interpretation that the left hand is one's wife, it's clear that the real point is that not only should we not aim for the congratulations of others, we should not practice self-congratulation either.)
Verse 4 emphasizes that the practicer of true, secret good deeds will be rewarded by his Heavenly Father, rather than by those on earth.
2. The Lord's Prayer.
We continue this theme of empty religious show as we move into the next section, on prayer. As we go, let's compile the advice we get on prayer and write it on the board. We have just seen one comparison with "the hypocrites," and now we get another:
Read Matt. 6:5-6.
What's our first piece of advice? (Don't pray openly.)
I imagine it is because of these words of Jesus that we have a habit of closing the doors of rooms when we pray (something I forget more often than not), but it has broader implications than just doors. Can you think of places that would be inappropriate for prayer?
Let's go on to the next piece of advice on prayer.
Read Matt. 6:7-8.
We need to notice that these verses are really different from the ones before. First, notice that Jesus is using a different group for comparison. In verses 2 and 5 (like verse 16 to follow), He compares to "the hypocrites." Here He compares to "the heathen." The point of His advice, then, is different: it does not have to do with avoiding hypocrisy, but with avoiding some other type of incorrect practice.
Continuing on that same line, look at the last line of verse 7: "they think they shall be heard for their much speaking." Now, this isn't hypocrites we're talking about; it's heathen. Thus, it may be that they were sincere--they really expected their god to hear them.
Now, let me tell you one thing about these verses. Replace the phrase "use not vain repetitions" with the phrase "don't battologize." Look at the verses again.
Obviously, I have just rendered these verses less comprehensible. But the truth is that these verses really are almost exactly this incomprehensible in Greek--the word used there, Greek battologeô, is unique here. When interpreters run into a word that doesn't occur anywhere else, they are forced to do two things. First, they look at the context, and second, they look at the root components of the word to try to figure it out. I'll do the second part if you'll do the first.
From the context, what does this expression seem to mean? (From the expression that follows it, "for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking," it appears that the word means speaking a lot, or something like that.)
OK, now I'll do the second part. Let's start with the second half of this compound word: logeô means "to make a speech." Battos, it is thought, is probably onomatopoeic--it means like it sounds. In fact, this adjective is sometimes used for stutterers. So this verb does not seem to mean "use vain repetitions" exactly, but rather "make stuttering speeches." Applying a little historical context, it is probable that this means something like "chant nonsensically." Long nonsense chants--like "abracadabra," but much longer (see Ehrman p. 28)--were commonly used as a way to tap into the mystic power of the gods. While it is true that these nonsense incantations could be called "vain repetitions," this term doesn't really describe very well what Jesus was talking about.
If we understand this term in this new way (the New English Bible's translation "go babbling on like the heathen" is right on), what are the implications of this verse for us? (A few things: 1. We've been accusing the Catholics on this verse for years without cause--it has nothing to do with saying the same prayers over and over, as long as the prayers aren't nonsense. Note that Jerome's Latin translation [nolite multum loqui, "don't speak much"--clearly no more than a guess on Jerome's part] says nothing about repetition. 2. By the same token, we don't need to worry about repetition in the sacrament prayers, or for that matter any phrases in our own prayers, as long, of course, as they are sincere. 3. We have a good warning against mysticism. Write answers applicable to us on the board.)
At the end of verse 8, Jesus seems to sum up His comments on both the heathen and the hypocrites, "be ye not therefore like them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." What can we understand from this? (We do not need to be overly concerned about being all-inclusive in our prayers.)
Next we get what is traditionally known as "the Lord's Prayer." While we should remember that this prayer may be nothing more than an example of the precepts Jesus has just taught (namely: be brief, don't talk nonsense, and don't worry about including everything), it does seem to form a pretty good model for prayer.
Read Matt. 6:9-13.
Does anyone have thoughts on this example of prayer?
I do have just one thought. If you look at verse 12, you see that it talks about "debts," but seems to mean "sins" (see Matt. 6:14-15, Luke 11:4). The word "debts" is literally correct, but hardly the whole story. For some time (a few centuries at least--see Sirach 28:2) sins had been conceived as a sort of debt--for which God's inevitable punishment was the price to be paid when the loan came due. The word "forgive" here is literally "release" (though we, too, talk of "forgiving" debts). Thus, this phrase petitions the Lord to exercise mercy instead of justice by not punishing us for our sins, and further says that we, too, will not punish but rather forgive.
There is more in this section, but we should move on to the next.
3. Treasures in heaven.
Jesus quickly lays out His next theme:
Read Matt. 6:19-21.
This scripture seems fairly plain. What can we learn from it? (We must be dedicated to the things of God alone; the things of this earth drag us down. Further comment would be appreciated.)
Jesus goes on to say essentially this same thing many times in the remaining verses in the chapter. I'm only going to spend a little time on the next few verses, which I find very interesting.
Read Matt. 6:22-23.
The word "single" in verse 22 is appropriately confusing. In Greek it is haplous, which usually means "simple," but also functions as the opposite of diplous, which means "double." There is some word-play in this verse which relies on this double meaning.
Jesus starts off by saying that "the light of the body is the eye." This was a well-known metaphor. Unlike Luke, whose use of this metaphor we discussed last week, Jesus means by this, not that the eyes glow upon the outside world, but rather that they allow light into the body. Now, eyes, of course, are always "double," because we have two of them: that way we see better. The paradox with which Jesus gets the attention of His audience is that He says your eye is better if it is "single"--i.e., if you have only one! If you have only one, of course, you can see less--but that is His point: by seeing less, if you see the right things, you enlighten yourself better. On this line, Joseph Smith's elucidation "single to the glory of God" (footnote b) is a good doctrinally focused extension.
However, as I said, haplous usually means "simple," which is where a lot of modern translations get the term "clear" in these verses. And this is surely right, too, because we see in verse 23 that Jesus is comparing, not to having two eyes, but to having a dark, poorly-functioning eye. With this piece of word-play, then, Jesus pointedly tells His audience that what is required is that one's eyes both be wide open and clear (to admit the full light) and be strictly focused (to look only at the light).
(Notice that the idea of dualism is picked up then in the next verse: "No man can serve two masters..." [v. 24].)
4. The parable of the builders.
I'd like to skip ahead a bit to a parable near the end of chapter 7. There are two versions of this parable recorded, one in Luke and one in Matthew. I'd like to have someone read each, while others follow along and try to examine the differences.
Read Matt. 7:24-27, Luke 6:46-49.
These two versions are very similar indeed, but what is the difference?
The difference resides in one verse, really, Matt. 7:24 vs. Luke 6:48. Luke puts more emphasis on the effort involved in building, while Matthew emphasizes the foundation. Many translations show that there is also a difference in the next verse: Luke, instead of saying that the house stood because of its firm foundation, says it did not fall "because it had been soundly built"--again emphasizing the effort.
This example shows well why it's good to compare different versions of the same story in the gospels. Obviously both sources heard the parable, but both took away slightly different points from it. Jesus surely meant to make both points. What are the twin morals of this parable? (Our salvation depends on obedience. By obedience is meant: 1) obeying the right source [the foundation] and 2) putting in serious effort [the labor]. One could even say that these twin principles extend to the idea of grace and works being required together: they confirm and implement one another.)
5. Judging.
Let's go to the beginning of chapter now for our final discussion. Although there are a few points I want to make here, I think this would be fruitful ground for a more open discussion. So let's first just read the verses under consideration, and then I'll take some comments.
Read Matt. 7:1-6.
OK, here's the big question: Are we to judge or aren't we?
(I think that question can generate enough discussion on its own. As appropriate, the following points, a sort of a verse-by-verse commentary, could be made to redirect or emphasize the conversation.)
Verse 1: The warning "that ye be not judged" is always taken to refer to God, but I see no reason why it, and verse 2, could not refer to the commonsense idea that other people will hold us to the standard to which we hold them (i.e., "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones).
Verses 3-5: These verses clearly show the problem with judging: we ourselves have such serious problems that we are poorly qualified to determine the problems of others. In fact, like the beam in the eye...
our own problems can be very difficult for us to see;
problems we see in others may be nothing more than projections of our own;
we may do more damage to others when we try to solve their problems while our own interfere; and
we invite ridicule and condemnation by standing in judgement upon those who may well be better than us.
The problems that can be seen in these verses should make us very wary of judging at all, especially because, as noted in (1) above, our own problems can be difficult to see.
Luke 6:36-38 gives a very good alternate context, with an emphasis on choosing forgiveness over judgement.
Even though judgement clearly sometimes is sanctioned, it seems to me that we spend altogether too much time justifying our right to judge and too little time trying to find alternatives--like forgiveness, suggested so ably in Luke--to doing so. I would like to close with a quotation from the plain-talking Brigham Young (from Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 278--this particular quotation drawn from Infobase Library [see below]).
I am very thankful that it is not our province, in our present condition, to judge the world; if it were, we would ruin everything. We have not sufficient wisdom, our minds are not filled with the knowledge and power of God; the spirit needs to contend with the flesh a little more until it shall be successful in subduing its passions, until the whole soul is brought into perfect harmony with the mind and will of God. And we must also acquire the discretion that God exercises in being able to look into futurity, and to ascertain and know the results of our acts away in the future, even in eternity, before we will be capable of judging.