The Sermon on the Mount Part 2.
Seven Warnings Against False Behaviour, Each Accompanied by The Command To Take Action In The Opposite Direction, And Each of Which Culminates in Assurances of the Father's (God's) Resultant Blessing (6:1-7).
Having brought out the full significance of God's Law (in chapter 5), and having stressed the importance within that Law of right human relationships, and having shown them the final goal of full God-likeness at which they had to aim, Jesus now moves on to deal with the worship and service of His disciples (Matthew 6:1-18), what their attitude should be towards material things (Matthew 6:19-34) and how they should view judgment among themselves (Matthew 7:1-6). For perfection did not just lie in what their relationships with men and women were like. It lay in what they were overall in their whole attitude to life.
It is important to note here that leading up to Matthew 7:7-12 we now have constant mention of ‘your' heavenly Father, or the equivalent. Jesus is leading them towards approaching the inner sanctum of God, and turning their thoughts towards things above, a process which will be completed in Matthew 7:7-12. Here we have Jesus' equivalent of Paul's ‘heavenly places' (Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6). They are sons of their Father in Heaven and even while on earth are to dwell in His presence continually, asking, seeking and knocking as sons of their Father (Matthew 7:7-11). But they can only do this if they first beware of what may drag them down, and instead turn all their thoughts on things above.
One feature of this final part of the Sermon, is the direct command without the accompaniment of a connecting word. This occurs in the first part of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-11) and then in a series of direct exhortations (Matthew 6:19; Matthew 6:24 b; Matthew 7:1; Matthew 7:6-7; Matthew 7:13; Matthew 7:15). It would seem that by this, having laid the foundation by His exposition of the Law, and having dealt with the importance of their basic religious activities being directed towards God and not men, He now wants to bring home with extra force the response required of them in respect of their attitude towards worldly things.
The second section of this central part of the Sermon from Matthew 6:1 to Matthew 7:12 is in the form of a chiasmus, and central to it are what we could call seven or eight ‘bewares'. (Whether we see it as seven or eight depends on how we see the function of Matthew 7:6, which appears both to finalise the previous section, and also to lead in to Matthew 7:7-12). We have sought to bring out both aspects in the following analysis.
In this regard therefore they were to:
a Not do their righteousness before men in order to be seen of them, otherwise they will have no reward from their Father in Heaven (Matthew 6:1).
b Beware of ostentatious charitable giving, but rather to give secretly, and then their Father Who sees in secret will recompense (Matthew 6:2-4).
c Beware of ostentatious praying, but rather to pray secretly, and then their Father Who sees in secret will recompense.
d Beware of vain repetitions in prayer, for their Father knows what things they have need of before they ask Him, but rather they are to pray for the coming of the Kingly Rule of Heaven and the hallowing of God's Name.
And they must be forgiving as their heavenly Father, if they would be forgiven (Matthew 6:7-15).
e Beware of ostentatious fasting, (laying up reputations on earth), but rather to fast in secret, for their Father Who sees in secret will recompense (Matthew 6:16-18).
e Beware of being taken up with wealth, and laying up treasures on earth, but rather to lay treasures up in Heaven, and their reward will then be to have God as their Master (Matthew 6:19-24).
d Beware of being taken up with the cares and anxieties of this world, because their heavenly Father knows that they have need of all these things. They are rather therefore to seek the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness, thus turning their thoughts on their Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:25-34).
Beware of judging their brothers, but are rather to put themselves in a position to take the splinters from their brothers' eyes, demonstrating concern for their Father's family (Matthew 7:1-5).
c Beware of giving what is holy to dogs, but rather to ask for what is holy from their Father Who will certainly give it to them. Then they will be able to come openly to their heavenly Father together, entering continually into His presence as His sons and continually asking for the ‘good things' of the Kingly Rule of Heaven, knowing that He will fully respond (Matthew 7:7-10).
b They can know that the great Giver gives good things to those who ask Him because He is their Father in Heaven (Matthew 7:11)
a They are to do to others what they would have them do to them, because this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).
Note that in ‘a' their righteousness was not to be superficial and man-pleasing, and in the parallel this is made clear by revealing what must be the basis of all their actions towards each other. In ‘b' their giving is to be as to their Father and not in order to obtain men's commendation, and in the parallel there is the comparison of how their Father will give to them. In ‘c' their prayers are to be in loving fellowship with their Father, and the same applies in the parallel where their approach in prayer is to be in the confidence of a child to its father. In ‘d' their Father knows what they need before they ask Him, and they are therefore to seek His Kingly Rule, and to be forgiving because they will be forgiven, and in the parallel their Father knows what they need and they are therefore to seek His Kingly Rule and to be non-judgmental because they will not be judged. In ‘e' they are not to lay up a reputation for ‘merit' on earth, but in Heaven before their heavenly Father, and in the parallel they are not to lay up treasure on earth, but in Heaven so that their minds are set on serving God. This whole section is therefore a unity.
These seven (or eight) passages within this section now also divide up into four and three (or four), the former dealing with what would have been seen as their religious activity, which on the whole should be kept secret from men, and will bring them to their Father's awareness (Matthew 6:1-18), and the latter having more to do with the material basics of life, but again leading up to a contrasting spiritual awareness which will keep their minds on things above (Matthew 6:19 to Matthew 7:6 /7). Yet even in the latter case He indicates that there are some secrets which it is better to keep from the generality of men, for mankind in general only despises heavenly things (Matthew 7:6). Their emphasis on laying up their treasures in Heaven, their trusting their heavenly Father for their daily needs, and their care to ensure that they can help their brethren by being fitted to pull the splinters out of their eyes are not something to be divulged to the unfit (Matthew 7:6). Rather they are to be coped with by coming openly to their heavenly Father (Matthew 7:7-12).