Tred Final Paper

7/17/2019 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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