Tred Final Paper
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Transcript of Tred Final Paper
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I. The Text
Matthew 6:19-21
“19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,20
but lay up for yourselvestreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal 21 !or where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also"
II. Introduction
Matthew si# is about the different sermons of $esus on the mount %t &an
be observed from the te#t that the tan'ible treasures found here within the
earth are differentiated with the treasures 'ained in heaven (he treasures
stated in the verses refer to the literal treasures like 'old and other lu#urious
thin's Moreover, a&&ordin' to the te#t, the treasures found or 'ained here on
earth &an disappear %t &an either be dissolved throu'h a moth or rust, it &an
even be stolen from a person (his means that not a sin'le thin' here on
earth is permanent )verythin' &an &han'e and &an even be destroyed or be
'one (hat is why the te#t &alls the readers to store up a different treasure, a
treasure that will last, not only here on earth, but also until in heaven %t also
says somethin' about the where a person*s fo&us should be +owever,
throu'h readin' the verse, uestions like the ones below were formed:1 %s it wron' to store up treasures like wealth2 .hat kinds of treasures should a person store whi&h &annot be eaten
by moth, stolen by a thief or &annot even rust/ .hat does it mean by “!or where your treasure is, there your heart will
be also"0 Does $esus &ondemn those who are wealthy and ri&h
III. Literal Meaning of the Text
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Matthew 6:19-21 as mentioned earlier, is part of the first maor dis&ourses
found in Matthew 3* Dono'hue, 24115 %t is within Matthew*s dis&ourse
known as the ermon on the Mount 3M5 (here is no &on&lusive answer as
to when this te#t was written +owever, it is proposed that it was maybe
written at around 74 8D sin&e Matthew used the 'ospel of Mark as his
sour&e in writin' these te#t Moreover, a&&ordin' to !ran&e 1995 as &ited by
3* Dono'hue, 2411;, Mark*s writin's, the first one to be &ompleted at around
6< 8D must have been popular enou'h for it to be one of Matthew*s
sour&es(here are also different beliefs when it &omes to the author of the =ospel
(he early &hur&h, a&&ordin' to !ran&e 1995 believed Matthew, the apostle
wrote the =ospel of Matthew 8pparently, a&&ordin' to Davies 199/5 as &ited
by 3* Dono'hue*s study, the =ospel was only attributed to Matthew +owever,
throu'h readin' a study about Matthew &hapter 6 by 3* Dono'hue, it is said
that Matthew, himself, &an be &onsidered as the author of the =ospel
espe&ially be&ause “it refle&ts the work of the ta#-&olle&tor apostle" Matthew
had a &han'e of heart, wherein he left everythin', even bein' a ta# &olle&tor
who 'ains money, ust for $esusMatthew*s purpose for writin' this te#t is be&ause of numerous reasons
(he first one, a&&ordin' to =uthrie 19765 as &ited in 3* Dono'hue*s work;, is
be&ause of Matthew*s intent for >ate&hism +is purpose to tea&h and spread
the word of =od refle&ted in his writin' style 3* Dono'hue*s work
a&knowled'ed ?e&k 244<5 sayin' that Matthew has stru&tured his =ospel to
&ater easy memori@ation .ith that, it &an be easily tau'ht 8nother purpose
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for writin' Matthew is for makin' it an instru&tions for dis&ipleship Aolland,
244<5 $ust like in the Matthew 6:19-21, a tea&hin' was pronoun&ed that one
should not lay themselves up in 'ainin' earthly treasures %t is the same as
with the other parts in Matthew %t is intended to serve as a 'uide for its
audien&e .ith that, for whom was the te#t written 8&&ordin' to 3* Dono'hue 24115, the te#t was written for $ewish->hristian
and for the dis&iples, themselves +owever, it is not only limited to the $ewish-
>hristian &ommunities, firstly be&ause the ermon on the Mount was
prea&hed on a mountainside where many people &an here $esus tau'ht his
dis&iples on a mountain while hu'e &rowds were listenin' .ith that, it is not
only the dis&iples, or the $ewish->hristian &ommunities whi&h heard $esus*
tea&hin' but also, numerous people whi&h in&lude passers-by and the like3verall, the te#t was written by Matthew, a former ta#-&olle&tor at around
74 8D +e wrote it with an underlyin' >ate&hism intention and his audien&e
were, but not limited to, the dis&iples and the $ewish->hristian &ommunities of
faith (he te#t is spe&ifi&ally written to show the person*s relationship with
money and what should instead be done to $esus* tea&hin's
IV. Literary Context
8&&ordin' to tephen Bin@*s, in order to interpret the =ospel in a proper
way, it should be read and interpreted in the li'ht of the human*s purpose, its
&onte#t, histori&al and &ultural ba&k'round, literary type, &anon of the
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&ripture and in li'ht of the tradition of the &hur&h !or this part, the verse*s
&onte#t, literary type, its &anoni&al &onte#t will later be dis&ussed(o start with, the &onte#t of the verse lies with the relationship of human
with treasures found here within the earth %t differentiated the earthly
treasures with that of the heavenly treasures (he earthly treasures $esus
referred in the verse in&lude &lothes, 'old or other pre&ious metals or
anythin' that &an easily disappear or perish .ith this two kinds of treasures,
$esus was not imposin' that is wron' to a&&umulate treasures like material
possessions (hrou'h reali@in' the &onte#t of the verse, the first uestion in
the introdu&tion part &an be answered 8'ain, $esus does not prohibit a
person from a&&umulatin' material thin's .hat $esus prohibits, is the
prioriti@ation of wealth instead of followin', servin' and prioriti@in' the
?in'dom of =od(he literary type of the verse was &onsidered as apo&alypti& Blomber',
19925 (he apo&alypti& writin' was inspired by another literary type whi&h is
prophe&y (he verse somehow reveals the future %t in&ludes bein' in heaven
and attainin' the treasures whi&h &an neither perished nor stolen if this
sermon is to be followed 8nother way in order to interpret the verse &learly is throu'h &ate'ori@in'
ea&h part of the verse (he verse &an be divided into three: prohibition,
&ommand and reason Crohibition was &lassified as su&h due to the use of
“Do not" %n this part, $esus prohibits the prioriti@ation of the treasures here on
earth (his is mainly be&ause these said treasures &an be taken away from
someone at a blink of an eye
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(he moth is one of the numerous thin's that &an take away one*s
treasure Moths are &apable of 'ettin' into someone*s &lothes and &hew it off
%t doesn*t seem harmful, but it &an &ause 'reat dama'e to a person*s
possession like the most e#pensive &loth or fabri& a man &an ever wearAe#t is the rust as stated in the verse %n &hemistry terms, rust is when
iron &ame in &onta&t with moisture, water or salt %t is the resultin' rea&tion
when iron and o#y'en &ame in &onta&t with ea&h other .hen a &ertain metal
&orrodes or develops rust, it is deemed useless for some be&ause firstly, it
already has lost its durability or even stren'th in en'ineerin' terms
Moreover, it &an be &onsidered as waste be&ause it is not aestheti&ally
pleasant to look at .hen the steel bars of one*s home &orrode, it &an destroy
the beams and &olumns and &ould possibly lead it to failure )nou'h of these
en'ineerin' &on&epts, but the point is, rust &an first lead to dama'e and
eventually destroy !rom the spe&k of rust, it &an widely spread and turn
somethin' into nothin' the same as a thief, stealin' away a person*s
possession(he thieves &an easily steal away all one*s possession that is why they do
everythin' they &an to prote&t those treasuresBa&k to the &ate'ories present in the verse, the ne#t one is &ommand
$esus*s &ommands his dis&iple that instead of 'atherin' earthly treasures, the
treasures to be 'athered are somethin' that &annot perish (hese treasures
in&lude spiritual realities like for'iveness, prayer, moral e#&ellen&e, love of
=od and nei'hbors and others that are developed within
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Eastly, the verse in&ludes the reason why people should follow $esus*
sermon %t is stated in the verse that a person*s fo&us should be on attainin'
heavenly treasures and the ?in'dom of =od
V. Historical and Sociocultural !ac"ground
3ne of the &ultural attributes in $esus* times is the use of money Ceople
at that time are aware of how money euals power %t is used as means of
obtainin' resour&es, and manipulatin' demands
Durin' that time, there were three $ewish 'roups in the 1st &entury who
were &onsiderably wealthy Davids 1992:741-7425 (he first 'roup awere the
+erodians (hese people were known to have many lands 8t that time, to be
wealthy is to own a land (hey used their politi&al power to 'ain wealth Ae#t
'roup was the “3lder $ewish 8risto&ra&y" and “individuals who had be&ome ri&h
throu'h trade" Davids 1992:741-7425 8n e#ample were the people who obtain
wealth by 'ettin' earnin's as ta# &olle&tors (he last 'roup pertains to the
Mer&hants
(he system before works like this Eand owners earn money by makin'
farmers rent their land (hey often use this to e#ploit the farmers Both Mer&hants
and Eand owners developed their 'ood ima'e by e#ploitin' the poor farm
workers (he poor &onsisted of people who had no skills and owned no land
ome think of material ri&hes or treasures as si'n of =od*s favor and that
the poor was a si'n of =od*s displeasure Eioy 2440:166-1675 (his was
&ontradi&ted by the tea&hin' in the tenth &ommandment
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Matthew tells us that $esus time here on earth was simple and free from
material treasures
VI. Inter#retation I
(he verse is all about the two different kinds of treasure 3ne is found
here within the earth and the other are the treasures that &an lead and
eventually brou'ht up in heaven !irstly, the earthly possession in&ludes a
person*s wealth %t &an be in a form of an e#pensive &lothin', in terms of
humun'ous pile of 'old and silver 8ll of these are used to buy somethin' or
to indi&ate someone*s status !or e#ample, the &lothin' of a prin&e &an be
differed from a &lothin' of a slave in terms of the fabri& used (he food that
one needs to survive and all the other needs &an be bou'ht throu'h money or
durin' the old times, 'old %t seems like all of these are the only thin' that
di&tates what you &an do and buy (hat is why almost everyone is aimin' to
attain these, to survive, to help others or even to attain power+owever, this is not the treasure that $esus wants people to store and
a&&umulate !or these treasures &an easily be destroyed or &an be taken
away from someone $esus wants us to prioriti@e and aim to be&ome part of
the ?in'dom of =od %t is be&ause in there, one &an have the perfe&t 'ift
whi&h &annot be taken away by someone or anythin'
%f our fo&us deviated from bein' in the ?in'dom of =od to wealth, then in
the end, one will have nothin' 8ll the wealth that he or she 'ained for his or
her entire life will be 'one $esus prohibits this that is why we have to fo&us
on heavenly treasures as mentioned before
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%f one has money, one way to not let this be&ome an earthly treasure is by
sharin' it to others harin' and 'ivin' what you have is truly a 'ood deed
that &an lead someone into the ?in'dom of =od hare not be&ause it is an
obli'ation, share be&ause it is sin&ere and true to your heart
VII. Inter#retation II
+avin' dis&ussed the bibli&al passa'e and its literal meanin', literary
&onte#t, histori&al and so&io-&ultural ba&k'round, it is ne&essary to &onne&t its
messa'e to today*s 'eneration
(oday, people have be&ome more materialisti& espe&ially with the
advan&ement of te&hnolo'y )#ample of this is the people who buys e#pensive
thin's ust be&ause they want it Aot be&ause they need it .ith this, people who
e#hibits this kind of nature e#ists mostly amon' the avera'e and hi'h so&iety
(hey are not satisfied with what they have and &rave for more % will 'ive a
spe&ifi& s&enario that des&ribes this 8n e#ample of this is the trend when a new
'ad'et is released ome people who ust bou'ht a phone last year will wait for
another one to be released ome buy it ri'ht away ome wait for them to have
enou'h money and buy it (heir ustifi&ation is that, the new edition of the phone
provides better uality and is more attra&tive to look at But when the ne&essary
or basi& &hara&teristi&s of the new edition and the old one are &ompared, they
are more or less the same o what we see here is that these kinds of people
shows materialisti& behavior
8lso, it does not seem to be appropriate for parents to provide &hildren at
a very youn' a'e with hi'h-end 'ad'ets (hey will sub&ons&iously think that
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these kinds of materials are the priority in life %t is advisable to provide them with
these at an appropriate a'e wherein they already know that these materials are
not the sour&e of happiness % believe that parents play an important role in
instillin' in the minds of the youn' ones the meanin' of true happiness (hey
should 'uide their &hildren on how to attain true happiness throu'h havin' a
meanin'ful and nourishin' &onne&tion with them Aowadays, a lot of &hildren do
not have a &lose relationship with their parents % believe that misuse of
te&hnolo'y is one of the fa&tors behind it 8nother s&enario will be 'iven to further
elaborate my point Carents 'ive their &hildren 'ad'ets or e#pensive thin's as
'ifts to them 3f &ourse the tenden&y is that they will use the 'ifts to entertain
themselves 8nd then they will be so fo&used there that they seldom talk to their
parents anymore, that they will talk to their parents only durin' meal time that is
if they still eat to'ether5, that they will only talk to their parents whenever they
need somethin' (his s&enario happens 'radually but &an be observed over
time Maybe it is not true for all but this is what % observe in today*s 'eneration
(he worst part is when the parents also do not seem to &are with their
relationship with their &hildren .hat do you think happens to these &hildren
(hey will be demandin' about buyin' thin's (he worst is that they will see to it
that they have what &urrently the trend is %t may sound e#a''erated but there
are &hildren who 'rew up like this (hey base their happiness on what they have,
rather than their relationship with other people
.e should not be so fo&used on what we have and depend our happiness
and &onvenien&e in it % will &ite my e#perien&e to show what % mean % have my
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separate room with my parents .e usually have our food delivered But we &ook
the ri&e % am in &har'e of &ookin' ri&e Aow one time, when it is about to have
dinner, my dad asked me to &ook ri&e be&ause he is about to ask for a food
delivery 8nd how do you think he told me to &ook the ri&e +e messa'ed me
throu'h my phone % felt this sad feelin' 8nd at that moment % reali@ed that a
distan&e 'rew between us +is room is ust a few steps away from mine +e
&ould have went in my room, ask how my day is, and tell me to &ook the ri&e 8
lot more &ases similar to these happens 8nd % believe that % am not alone with
this kind of situation
(e&hnolo'y may have many benefits for us today, but we should use it
wisely .e should not allow ourselves to be&ome hindered by these materials in
attainin' true happiness Doin' 'ood and helpin' others are sour&es of
happiness that does not reuire bein' materialisti& (he feelin' that we feel when
we help others even in a little way is what true happiness is (his a&t is what
$esus tau'ht +is followers way ba&k )#pressin' our love and bein' kind to
those around us is the treasure that the passa'e is tellin' us %t says that we
should not measure our worth here on earth throu'h material thin's but throu'h
'ood deeds
VIII. $rayer
Eord please bless me with all thin's that % need today% will open myself to all that Fou want to 'ive me
8nd % thank you in advan&e for the blessin's that % will re&eive
Eord please prote&t me from the sense of 'reed on material thin's
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!or these will hinder me from feelin' the love that Fou had 'iven meEord please help me share the blessin's that % had re&eived today to my
nei'hborsEord please make me a tool for spreadin' Four love to everyone else
Eord % surrender to you my stresses, problems and trials+elp me &ontrol my emotions in order for me to make 'ood despite my
&onditions
%n $esus Aame 8menI%. &eferences
3* Dono'hue 24115 A Biblical-Theological Analysis of Matthew 6:19-34 to
Clarify the Relationship between the Christian isciple an! Money"
!ran&e, G( 19<5 (he (yndale Aew (estament >ommentaries =randGapids, Mi&hi'an .illiam B )erdmans Cublishin' >ompany
Davies, M 199/5 Matthew heffield, )n'land: $3( Cress
=uthrie, D= 19765 #ew testa$ent %ntro!&ction /rd ed5 )n'land: %nter-
Harsity Cress
?e&k, E ) 244<5 (he Aew %nterpreters Bible: Aew (estament urveyAashville: 8bin'don Cress
Aolland, $ 244<5 The #ew %nternational 'ree( Testa$ent Co$$entaryTe)t: the 'ospel of Matthew: a Co$$entary on the 'ree( te)t =rand Gapids,
Mi&hi'an: .illiam B )erdmans Cublishin' >ompany
Davids, C+ 19925 Rich an! *oor %n $B =reens and M&?ni'ht*s eds5
Di&tionary of $esus and the =ospels, 741-714 Downers =rove, %llinois: %nter
Harsity Cress
Eioy, D 24405 The ecalog&e in the +er$on on the Mo&nt" ,n! e!. Aew
Fork:114
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