Bible study notes for the coming Sunday's Gospel. This will be the last "Wednesdays with the Word" post for now, as the parish has decided that for Lent to turn out attention to Pope Francis' new encyclical, the joy of the Gospel.
Gospel: Matt 5:17-37
Context. We continue reading of
the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the five main discourses of Matthew’s
gospel. The Sermon is preceded by an account of Jesus’ healing and preaching
ministry and his call of the first disciples.
It began with the beatitudes, proclaiming blessing for the persecuted
Church. Blessing comes before demand.
Next, we moved us from indicative to imperative (be what you are!; salt
and light) in very general terms. Then,
after a reminder on the continued relevance of Torah, the instructions started
getting a lot more specific (the so-called antitheses). Next, comes a section of proper cult
(fasting, prayer and almsgiving). We do
not read this in the Ordinary Time lectionary, is it will be read in Lent. The Lord’s Prayer becomes the center of the
Sermon. Today’s reading is part of what
follows that: how to deal with possessions.
After this will come a section on how to deal with your neighbor. The Sermon concludes with promise and
warning: whether you heed these words will determine how you weather the storm
that is coming. After the Lent and Easter
seasons are over, we will pick up our continuous reading of Matthew’s gospel a
few chapters later (some weeks are skipped each year). It would be good to read over the whole
Sermon (chapters 5-7) as Lenten reading.
Interpretation. The first saying of our reading
can be summarized simply: divided commitment is an oxymoron. All humans serve something, ascribe
absolute value to something. Our choice
is what, and we can choose God. Wealth
can master anyone, the rich through greed or the poor through envy. Mammon is just the Aramaic word for
possessions. It is not a Syrian deity
(sorry, Milton). Its etymology might
be ’mn (‘trust’), so Jesus could be
playing on the idea that possessions are not what you should trust
in. If Matthew understands it this way,
that would explain why he leaves the word in Aramaic.
The next section warns against anxiety. This is intended as a respite in the midst of
challenging summonses: God will take care of you; providence is trustworthy. Just like with God and mammon, we have a choice
between anxiety and faith: is what’s really real what we fear and what God
promises? Worry puts God out of the
picture. Modern science could confirm
Jesus’ insight by showing us that worry actually shortens life. Looking to nature can help us understand God
(so it’s not that the material world is bad – that would be the Gnostic reason
for eschewing possessions). The kingdom
is real and has already started to in-break with Christ and his Church. So, it can be sought. God will do the adding (divine passive). There is no guarantee of prosperity or even
comfort here, just “daily bread.”
Questions
1.
Can we freely choose not to be anxious? What are good responses to anxiety?
2.
What ‘other gods’ do we feel tempted to follow?
3.
What do we say about world hunger?
4.
How else can nature bring us closer to God?
5.
Now we’ve read all that will from the Sermon on
the Mount, what impression do you have of it?
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