from the Gospel according to
St. Matthew

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Matthew

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The Gospel According to
Matthew

probable date: soon after 70 CE

For translation and copyright information, see version links in the left column.

RSV/NT 4:1-4

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Cited by:

Pope Benedict XVI

Source:

Deuteronomy 8:3

NRSV 5:33-37

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

Topic:

Oaths

5:43-46

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

6:1-4

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Note (Hal’s):
When Jesus (repeatedly, in this section of the sermon) says “they have received their reward,” is he perhaps saying they deserve and will receive no further rewards?

— end note

Topic:

Hypocrisy

6:14-15 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Topic:

Forgiveness

6:19-21

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Topic:

Wealth

RSV/NT7:1-5

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Cited in:

my notes

NRSV 7:7-8

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Compare to:

James 4:2b-3

7:12

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”

7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ ”

11:16-19

“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Topic:

Propaganda

12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Contrast to:

Mark 9:40

RSV/NT 22:30

“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

Reference in:

George MacDonald

Topic:

the Resurrection

KJV 25:29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Quoted by:

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Note (Hal’s):
An apparent expansion of Mark’s gospel, incorporating a birth-story and more about Jesus’ teachings.

These teachings emphasize confronting and repudiating the natural human desire for control, in aspects of religious belief and practice as well as with respect to provision of necessities and material possessions. I see the conflicts with the Pharisees as an aspect of this theme.

— end note

text checked (see note) Jan, Jul 2005; Feb, Apr 2006; May 2009

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