Category: Gospel of Matthew

Therefore, you should pray like this . . . (Matthew 6:9) In last week’s post we talked about “vain repetition” or empty babbling: praying like the prophets of Baal, in a desperate show of works meant to get the attention of an indifferent God. Jesus is clearly against that kind of praying. What sometimes gets…

When you pray, don’t babble like the idolators, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8) I grew up on the KJV, so I knew “babble” as “vain repetition”: empty parroting, just saying words to…

Characteristic of Jesus’s teaching on spiritual disciplines is his constant calling out of a crowd he calls “the hypocrites.” So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do … Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites … Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like…

Jesus doesn’t start his discussion of spiritual disciplines by trying to convince people to do them. He treats them as a given: these are things his listeners are already doing. We can see this clearly in the first discipline: So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites…

I remember years ago realizing that disciple and discipline share the same root. This sheds light on just what it MEANS to be a disciple. A disciple is a learner in a specific arena, a “discipline.” And a disciple is one who practices certain behaviors and habits, “disciplines,” in order to achieve a set result.…

Jesus gives up the game with this one. “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on…

You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. As for the one who wants to sue you and take away…

Jesus spends 3/5 of his moral teachings on three of the great commands in the ten commandments: Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear false witness. He brings in the streams of oath-taking and divorce law to drive home the true nature of these three commands: oath-taking and divorce…