FAITH OR ANXIETY

Mt 6:22-34

[= Luke11:34, 3 5, 16:13, 12:22-31]

It is not, at first sight, very obvious how the next four paragraphs hang together or follow on from the previous part of the teaching on the mountain: first there is a short saying about the sound eye, and the eye which is not sound; then another about the impossibility of serving two masters; after that, a much longer paragraph on anxiety; and a final short saying on anxiety about tomorrow. The line of thought may be as follows: the word translated sound ( haplous) can mean 'single' or 'simple', and it can also mean 'generous'. The disciple is to be generous in his gifts to God (piety 6:1-21) and he is to have a single-minded devotion to him (unlike the hypocrites, who pretend to give to God, but in fact collect their reward from men). Double-mindedness is impossible in practice – like being the slave of two masters. The disciple must be the slave of God alone, and have no care for anything except his will; and if he does this, he need not be afraid for himself because the God whom he is serving is the God who cares for his creation. He can be trusted today and tomorrow.

There is no very obvious verbal echo of the Beatitudes here. We should expect to find some reference to the blessings on the poor in spirit and the meek, and to the promises of the kingdom of heaven and the earth (5:3, 5). The connexion may lie in the subject-matter: the man who lives by faith in God, and is not anxious about his life, will be poor. But God will reward him in the age to come, and will feed him and clothe him here and now.

The parallels to these verses in Matthew are spread out in three different chapters of Luke: Lk 6:22-23 = Lk 11:34, 35; Lk 6:24 = Lk 16:13; 6-34 Lk 6:25-34 = Lk 12:22-31.

22f
We have already been reminded that the lamp gives light to all in the house (5:15); similarly, the eye gives light (in sight) to the whole body: whether you are a seeing man or a blind man depends entirely on your eyes. In what sense is Matthew using this parable? sound is haplous, which as we have seen means both single and generous; not sound is poneros, and 'the evil eye' means 'grudging', 'mean', 'stingy' (see 20:15, Where R.S.V. translates 'Is your eye evil ... ?' as do you begrudge?)

If the disciple is generous towards God, he will be full of light ( perfect, as his heavenly Father is perfect 5:48). If he is mean, he will be full of darkness (like the devil). The next saying expounds the other sense of haplous - single or simple. The disciple must keep his eye on one master, not on two.

24
The man with the eye which is not sound is attempting the impossible – to serve two masters; the man with the sound eye has chosen God. Mammon is an Aramaic word, meaning 'wealth', 'property'. Devotion to God cannot be combined with devotion to mammon, because, as we have seen already, there will be occasions when the former will demand the sacrifice of the latter (5:29, 30, 40). A choice is therefore necessary between God and mammon; or between faith and anxiety (see following verses).

25
The disciple who is told not to serve mammon may well reply, But I must have enough to live and to clothe myself. To this, Jesus replies that God who has made life and the body will certainly look after those things which are less than these – viz. food and clothing.

26
Moreover, he feeds the birds: how much more will he feed men.

27
And anxiety cannot increase a man's span of life (or stature [margin], helikia can mean both). Cf 5:36 for our inability to control the colour of our hair. These things are in the hands of God.

28-30
The same type of argument as that in v. 26 above is used with regard to anxiety about clothing. God clothes the lilies, even better than man can clothe himself; the lilies are of less value than man: therefore God will take care of man's clothing. To think otherwise is to be men of little faith (oligopistoi, a rare word, which Matthew uses four times: here and at 8:26, 14:31, 16:8; the only other occurrence of it in the New Testament is in Luke 12: 28, the parallel to this passage: did Luke take it from here?).

31
repeats v.25 in order to round off the passage – an example of Matthew's use of inclusio.

32
The Gentiles (who live without faith in God, cf 5:47) are anxious about these things. The disciples, on the other hand, are to trust God as the Father who knows all their needs before they ask (cf 6:8).

The prayer which Jesus had taught them did not include petitions for clothing, and even the petition for food may have been a petition for the kingdom. That is what the disciples are to pray for, and to trust God to give them all these things as well.

34
The final futility is to be anxious about tomorrow: tomorrow is completely outside our possible control today (cf 5:36, 6:27). There is a possible set of verbal links common to vv. 33, 34, and vv. 10, 11 in the Lord's Prayer: kingdom, righteousness, tomorrow, this day; kingdom, [God's] will, this day, tomorrow.