9TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.

MT 7: 21-27

v. 21 - Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of hea-ven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

v. 22 - Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?'

v. 23 - Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'

Verses 21-23 is further explanation of the preceding verses (16-20) where it talks about “by their fruits you shall know them.” Fruit is not what a man says but what he does. Therefore, to distinguish the two kinds of prophets is by their deeds. The prophets in verse 22 are identified as a false prophets because their deeds were evil (v. 23).

Jesus as judge on the last day will also judge by deeds and not by words (Mt 3:12).

“I never knew you” is used here in the sense of “to not acknowledge” or “to not recognize”. Jesus declares that although they claimed his authority for the mighty deeds they performed, he has not commissioned them.

“Depart from me, you evildoers” is a quotation from Ps 6:8.

v. 24 - "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

v. 25 - The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.

v. 26 - And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.

v. 27 - The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

As in the case of the false prophet so also those who hear the teaching of Jesus will also be judged by what they have done.

The one who acts of the words of Jesus is the one who obeys his teachings. He is considered a wise man. The one who disobeys his teachings is a foolish man.

Contrasting the wise and the foolish is also found in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Mt 25:1-13). There the foolish virgins addressed the bridegroom with “Lord, Lord” (Mt 25:11) as here in Mt 5:21. And as in v. 23 the foolish virgins also received the response of “I do not know you” (Mt 25:12).

8TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

No one can serve two masters.

Mt 6: 24-34

The teaching of this Sunday is as follows: The disciple is to have single-minded devotion to God in contrast to hypocrites who pretend to give to God but in fact collect their reward from men. The disciple is to be a slave of God alone, and have no care for anything except his will; and if he does this, he should not be afraid for himself, because the God whom he serves is the God who cares for his creation. You can rely on him today and tomorrow.

The connection with the Beatitudes – The man who lives by faith (who puts his trust in God’s providence) is not anxious about his life. He is poor in spirit. God will reward him in the age to come and will clothe him and feed him here and now.

v. 24 - "No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Mammon is an Aramaic word for ‘wealth’ or ‘property’. Devotion to God cannot be combined with devotion to mammon because there will be times when the former will require the sacrifice of the latter (cf. 5:29. 30. 40). A choice has to be made between God and wealth or between faith and anxiety.

v. 25 - "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

The disciple may protest: “But I must have enough to live and to clothe myself.” The reply of Jesus is: “God who has made life and the body will surely take care after those things which are less than these, that is, food and clothing.

v. 26 - Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

If God feeds the birds, how much more will he feed men.

v. 27 - Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Anxiety cannot increase the “helikia” of a man. The Greek word may be translated as “span of life” and “stature”. These things are in the hands of God. Cf. Mt. 5:36.

vv. 28-30 repeats the argument found in v. 26. Anxiety is the penalty for men of little faith.

v. 31 - So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?'

Compare this verse to v. 25. This is another example of inclusion, a technique used by Matthew to round off the passage.

v. 32 - All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

The Gentiles who live without faith in God (cf. Mt 5:47) are anxious about these things. The disciples in contrast trust in God because he is a Father who knows all their needs even before they ask (cf. Mt 6:8).

v. 33 – But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Righteousness with reference to moral conduct means conformity with God's will. It may also mean the saving activity of God.

v. 34 - Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

It is futile to be anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow is completely outside our possible control today (cf. Mt 5:36 ; 6:27).

Compare vv. 33 and 34 with vv. 10 and 11 of the Lords’s Prayer both found in this chapter (Ch. 6). Kingdom , righteousness, tomorrow, this day and kingdom, will (= righteousness), this day, tomorrow.

6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 5:17-37

DIVISION

• Mt 5: 17-20. The righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven
• Mt 5: 21-26. Killing and anger
• Mt 5: 27-32. Adultery and lust
• Mt 33-37. Oaths and truthfulness

MT 5: 17-20. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS NECESSARY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

v. 17 - Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets may be taken in the sense of fulfilling the prophecies of the OT or in the sense of teaching a righteousness that exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

v. 18 - Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.

It may mean that the whole Law is binding until the end of the world or that it will no longer be binding on Christians once Jesus fulfills it demands.

v. 19. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

What are these commandments? Are they commandments of the law (Mosaic Law) or the commandments of Jesus (which Jesus will now talk about)? It would probably be the former because Matthew was writing for the Jews who had converted to Christianity.

v.20. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was based on the Law and the Prophets. How Christians are to exceed this righteousness will be explained in the following verses (21-48).

THE OLD RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE NEW RIGHTEOUSNESS

If Jesus demands a greater righteousness, he must teach a more exacting “law”. Thus we find five paragraphs beginning with “You have heard that it was said…But now I say to you…” (5:21ff; 5:27ff; 5:33ff; 5:38ff and 5:43ff).


We have here the new Law for the new Israel. This law is given by Jesus who is greater than Moses (Jn 1:17). The new Law covers the subjects of anger, lust, oaths, retaliation and love. The first three are covered in the gospel for this Sunday.

The section on killing and anger may be related to the seventh beatitude (blessed are the peacemakers) while the section on adultery and lust may be related to the sixth beatitude (blessed are the pure of heart).

MT 5: 21-26. KILLING AND ANGER

Matthew takes the first the fifth commandment (you shall not kill) and contrasts it with the prohibition of anger. Anger is to killing as thought is to deed.

The disciple is not only to avoid anger in himself. He is to avoid or remove the anger of others against himself. Thus he is to be a peacemaker (Mt 5:9).

v. 21. "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'

To your ancestors – to Israel in the wilderness, who first received the Law of God through Moses.
Whoever kills will be liable to judgment – Judgment may mean the decision of a court or condemnation. See Ex 21:12, Lev 24:17 and Dt 17:8-13.

v. 22. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

There is a double contrast here: Moses and Jesus; the Old Israel and the new.

Jesus declares that anger, the motive behind killing, is liable to the same pu-nishment as that for killing. Rabbi Eliezer (c. A.D. 90) said: “He who hates his neighbor, lo he belongs to the shedders of blood.”

Insults, raqa is probably an Aramaic word meaning “stupid” or “blockhead”.

There seems to be an ascending order of punishment here: local court (judg-ment), Sanhedrin (council) and Gehenna (hell).

Gehenna is the place of punishment after death. It received its name from a valley south of Jerusalem where refuse was burning continually. In popular Jewish belief , the last judgment was to take place there.

v. 23-24. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

The reference to gift and altar may mean that at this time Christians were still taking part in the temple worship.

The disciple has a more difficult task here. He is to seek reconciliation with those whom they have offended. He starts from a weak position.

vv. 25-26. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

Probably Matthew sees behind this saying the final court at which the Son of Man will be the judge and the prison will be Gehenna.

MT 5: 27-32. ADULTERY AND LUST

As anger is the motive behind killing, so lust is the motive behind adultery. And just as he forbids anger, he also forbids lust.

It may be that Matthew is collecting material here to illustrate “Blessed are the pure of heart”. He contrasts lust with purity and the sinful use of the eye in this world with the vision of God in the age to come.

v. 28. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

There is a rabbinic saying that goes this way: “He who looks at a woman with desire is as one who has criminal intercourse with her.”

vv. 29-30. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

In order to avoid lust, the occasions that give rise to sin must be avoided. And since looking was mentioned first, the eye is place first before the hand.

Here we find one of the basic Christian ideas – that the way to the greatest gain in the world to come involves the sacrifice and loss of life in the here and now.

v. 31. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.'

See Dt 24:1-4.

v. 32. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlaw-ful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Neither Mark nor Luke makes an exception to this command. Only here and in Mt 18:9 is an exception allowed in the case of unchastity (porneia). It is not clear what “porneia” refers to.

MT 33-37. OATHS AND TRUTHFULNESS

The Law forbade the use of oaths when one was going to tell a lie. It also commanded oaths in the name of the Lord. Jesus forbids all oaths in the name of the Lord or in any other name. The disciples are simply to be truthful and this makes oaths unnecessary.

v. 33. Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.'

Do not take a false oath - This is not an exact OT quotation. But see Ex 20:7, Dt 5:11 and Lv 19:12.
Make good to the Lord all that you vow – See Ps 50:14.

v. 37. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one.

“Ek tou ponerou” may either be masculine (the evil one) or neuter (evil).

Oath-taking presupposes a sinful weakness of the human race, namely, the tendency to lie.

5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.

Mt 5:13-16

v. 13 - "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."

Parallels:
• Mk 9:50 - Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.
• Lk 14:34 - Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, with what can its flavor be restored?

The Church is the new Israel because the old Israel had lost its taste.
Just as salt is useful in cooking, preserving and as fertilizer on the earth, so the Church has a usefulness to God in making the world acceptable to him through its sacrifice and intercession (prayers).

Some consider this to refer to the salt that came from the Dead Sea which was often an unstable combination of salts. This salt was quite capable of deteriorating and going bad. Others take this to refer to even pure salt which could not lose its flavor but could become ritually unclean and thus be unusable and be thrown out.

Jesus compares a disciple who loses his passion for following the Master with salt that has gone bad.

Salt which acts as both a spice and a preservative was also an image of a good teacher who enhanced and preserved the student's life by his teaching.

v. 14 - You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.

Perhaps the city set on a mountain is Jerusalem.

v. 15 - Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

Parallel. Mk 4:21 - He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?”

God is lighting a lamp through the teaching of Jesus and which he is giving to his disciples. This light will be displayed for all to see when he sends his disciples to all nations.

v. 16 - Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

The light will be seen both in their words and in their good works which is doing the will of the heavenly Father.

v. 17 - Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets may be taken in the sense of fulfilling the prophecies of the OT or in the sense of teaching a righteousness that exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

v. 18 - Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.

It may mean that the whole Law is binding until the end of the world or that it will no longer be binding on Christians once Jesus fulfills it demands.