Sermon on the Mount

How is it possible not to worry about tomorrow? Some people are more prone to worry than others, so that reading this passage will make you feel a little guilty for being anxious (or overly spiritual if you are one of those chill people who never seem to worry about things). Like most things in the sermon, Jesus is describing the ideal disciple who finds balance between having the basic necessities of life and one who is driven by the pursuit of wealth.

The problem Jesus addressed in Matthew 6:25-34 was excessive worry caused by misplaced loyalty. In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus described the ideal disciple as “storing up treasure in heaven.” It is impossible to serve both God and money, and it is dangerous to be stingy with any wealth God has given to you. “Therefore,” Jesus begins in verse 25, “do not worry your physical needs in this life.”

The problem with wealth (treasures on earth) is that the quickly become an end to themselves rather than the means to an end. The danger of accumulating wealth is found in the Old Testament, Jewish Wisdom Literature, and virtually every culture which has stopped to consider the dangers of wealth.

Ecclesiastes 5:11 (ESV) When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

1 Baruch 3:18 those who schemed to get silver, and were anxious,  but there is no trace of their works?

“The more property, the more care.” Hillel, m. Aboth 2:7.

“Poor man wanna be rich, Rich man wanna be king, and a king ain’t satisfied, ‘til he rules everything.” Badlands, Bruce Springsteen

“It’s like the more money we come across, the more problems we see.” Mo Money Mo Problems, The Notorious B.I.G.

Jesus is not recommending his disciples not prepare for the future or take the time to prepare for the next day. “For the contemporary person who has grown tired of the constant Christian justification of possessions and who is suspicious about the emphasis on the supreme value of work, the text offers a glimpse of an alternative way of life” (Luz, Matthew 1-7, 348).

But when the basics of life consume the disciple with anxiety, then they are wholly distracted from what they ought to be seeking, the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God. For the people following Jesus in Galilee, it is likely they were living in poverty. They likely did worry about how they would feed their family or how they would pay their taxes.

Jesus has already said his disciples ought to be storing up treasures in heaven. If the disciple of Jesus doing that, then there is no need to be anxious about the basics of life. The verb “be anxious” (μεριμνάω) refers to being unduly concerned over things. The object of the worry is “your life.” This refers to every aspect of life, including the physical aspects Jesus mentions. Most importantly it includes the mental and spiritual processes crippled by worry. Jesus is saying the disciple should not be so anxious over things which God has already provided for.

Both Paul and Peter make similar warnings against worry (Phil 4:6-7 and 1 Peter 5:7). For Paul, worry is the opposite of contentment. Philippians 4:6-7 says the follower of Jesus should not worry about anything, but present those worries to God through prayer, with thanksgiving. Writing from a Roman prison in a situation which might very well end his life, Paul models the balance between worry and contentment.

McKnight points out the anxiety and agitation of Martha in Luke 10:41. She is so concerned about proper hospitality she has forgotten to sit at Jesus’s feet and be taught, as her sister Mary was (Sermon, 218). Some people are like Mary (not worried about anything but Jesus) and other are like Martha, concerned with all the things which need to be done they miss out on what Jesus wants to teach them. To have no care at all about personal needs is as foolish as being consumed with worry.

Jesus makes the shocking statement, at least by contemporary standards, that life is more than food and clothes (6:25) Jesus offers three illustrations of “earthly cares” (food, drink, and clothing). These are the basic necessities of life. For Jesus’s original listeners and the original readers of Matthew, basic daily needs were not guaranteed. The readers Matthew are Jewish Christians who will be soon undergoing persecution and their basic necessities are in jeopardy. Tomorrow they may not have a home, the next day they might not be able to afford food.

In the context of modern western life, these things seem minor since we have all our basic needs met. We are more likely to worry about making a car payment. Bur for the majority world, many do not know where their next meal is coming from, or do not have access to clean water, or may only own a few items of clothing. Have modern western Christians developed “misplaced loyalties” because they have so much wealth? I realize the average college student feels they live in poverty, but they have shelter and food (and often gain that freshman fifteen!) Yet people are anxious about everything! How does this teaching of Jesus work speak to the problem of worry and anxiousness even in the western world?

Jesus continues the theme of loyalty to God: one cannot serve two masters. Service here is to be a slave, not be employed. It is possible to be employed by two masters, but not to be a slave. Slavery requires complete devotion, a slave was to be 100% disposable to his master. One cannot give 100% to two different persons, so a slave cannot serve two masters. By way of analogy, imagine a baseball player who is trading to a new team, but wants to continue serving the old team. If he were to do things to help the old team, the new team would be furious. Imagine a player trying to wear his old uniform with his new team.

The reference to loving one, hating the other probably implies that he serves both, but is not devoted to both. One of the services is hypocritical and shallow, the other is genuine, but not one hundred percent.

The ESV and NIV translate μαμωνᾶς as money. The KJV transliterated the Aramaic word (מָמוֹנָא). BDAG suggests this was a Canaanite loanword originally meaning “food, maintenance, provisions” (מון). In Luke 16:9, 11 the word simply means money.  Mammon is not the name of the “demon of materialism.” Some Aramaic Jewish writings translate Proverbs 3:9 as “honor God with your Mammon” and Deuteronomy 6:4 include Mammon in the list of things which can be used to love God.

Nevertheless, Jesus is personifying money and possessions as the opposite of God, one can either choose to seek first money or seek the kingdom of God.

Jesus reflects the general teaching of wisdom literature on the proper use of wealth (Prov 3:9), although without the promise of material blessing in the future. As with the first saying, there is a hard edge of coming persecution in Jesus’s claim one can only serve one God. As his disciples are persecuted, they will have to choose between their possessions and God. Under threat from Rome, disciples can either choose the nice home and comfortable life, or God and his kingdom.

This is an important (and convicting) application of Jesus’s words for modern America. If there was a government sponsored attack on the church that forced a decision to following Jesus and give up our wealth as a church, what might we choose? If standing firm on an issue cost a church their tax-free status, would they continue to stand firm?

Jesus never says wealth is evil nor does he demand his followers all join him in a voluntary vow of poverty. But he does call his followers to live a life of simplicity, to hold their possessions lightly, and to dedicate themselves to pursuits which result in eternal profits.

Just a short note on this very difficult saying. Although it is between two sayings on wealth, the connection to wealth is not clear to most modern readers. First, ancient people thought the eye illuminated the mind. The science is not right in the analogy from a modern perspective, but it is from the first century way of thinking about how an eye works. Second, “healthy” and “unhealthy” are metaphors for generosity and stinginess in Deuteronomy 15:9 (“your eye is wicked” (וְרָעָ֣ה עֵֽינְךָ֗), LXX: καὶ πονηρεύσηται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου) and Proverbs 22:9 “a good eye” (טֽוֹב־עַ֭יִן).

Deuteronomy 15:9 (ESV) Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.

Proverbs 22:9 (ESV) Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Third, In Matthew 20 Jesus tells a parable of workers in the field. Those who grumble about the owner’s generosity are envious (NIV) or “begrudge” the generosity of the owner (ESV). Literally, this is “your eye is evil because I am good” (ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρός ἐστιν).

A “good eye” and a “bad eye” are therefore contrasting metaphors for how one perceives wealth. A generous person who does not hold their possessions too closely is a light in the world, in contrast to the utter darkness of the one who hoards wealth.

“Treasures on earth” are material possessions. A rich person would be known by their expensive clothes and jewelry as well as large and expensive homes. A moth (σής) destroys clothing (which is why we use cedar chests and moth balls to keep them away). Sometimes this word is translated as “wood worm” since moths really only destroy clothing, which is not specifically mentioned by Jesus. Rust (βρῶσις) destroys metal, although gold and silver cannot rust (silver can tarnish, but that is different than rust). “Rust” was translated “worm” or “vermin” in some translations (NIV 2011) since it refers to eating or consuming something. A third risk to material possessions is theft. All we are doing by storing up treasure on earth is keeping it for someone to break in and steal. In each of these three examples, material possessions are temporary. Even the most durable treasures like gold or silver will fade away or be stolen by others.

The contrast is with “treasure in heaven.” The things which destroy earthly treasures cannot harm heavenly treasure. Jesus is speaking metaphorically, our good deeds do not generate literal wealth in heaven (and it is certainly not being assembled into a great mansion for you to live in when you get there!) Jesus says our loyalty and behavior should reflect a heavenly perspective, not a temporal earthly perspective. The idea is that all behavior is either for God or not, with no in between ground. You are either storing up treasure in heaven or on earth, and the disciple is to be about the business of storing up the treasures in heaven.

The concept of “treasures in heaven” was common in Jewish thinking, Jesus is using a metaphor that would have been understood immediately by his listeners to mean proper God-honoring behavior.

This is important because our earthly treasure reveals our true loyalties. Jesus says that wherever your treasure is, there your heart is also. What he means is that most people are smart enough to know where they are getting their rewards, and that they will put their effort into the place where they are gaining reward. Salesman make their money by selling, so a good salesman will get to know what kind of person is there to buy and which is there to browse. In a similar fashion the disciple is being told here to know which behaviors and attitudes are worthy of heaven and stick to them.

Scot McKnight draws a contrast between the wealthy and powerful Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57) and the wealthy young man whom Jesus told to sell all his possessions (Matthew 19:16-30). Joseph was focused on the coming kingdom and used his wealth wisely, the young rich man could not (Sermon on the Mount, 207).

Since Jesus has already warned his disciples they will be persecuted on account of the r testimony, this warning on wealth is especially important. When the Jews were persecuted in Rome, the first phase was loss of possessions. For some of the early Jewish Christians this was enough to drive them away from Christianity and back to Judaism.

Hebrews 10:32-35 indicates some Jewish Christians in Rome had been subjected to insult and confiscation of property. If possessions really indicate the content of one’s heart, then Jesus warns his disciples to not place their confidence in material possessions since those will not endure. These disciples live out this principle in the book of Acts. They live a voluntary life of poverty as they await the return of Jesus. This sometimes involved selling property (land, etc.) in order to support the community (Acts 2:45; 4:32-5:10).

Jesus’s words are perhaps shocking to American Christians (especially at Christmas, when this could be considered treasonous!) Rejection of western materialism is difficult since we like to have “nice things.” Wealth is not inherently evil, but the love of money is indeed the root of all evil.