Interpretation. A Journal of Bible and Theology 41 (April, 1987): The Sermon on the Mount

114 Pages·2009·6.28 MB·English

by  Robert A. Guelich

A JOURNAL
OF BIBLE AND
THEOLOGY
~
APRIL 1987
nterpreta ti on
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Interpretation
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Interpretation
A JOURNAL OF BIBLE AND THEOLOGY
VOLUME XLI APRIL 1987 NUMBER 2
CONTENTS
115 Editorial
117 Interpreting the Sermon on the Mount
ROBERT A. GUELICH
131 The Place, Structure, and Meaning of the Sermon
on the Mount
JACK DEAN KINGSBURY
144 The Ethical Implications of the Sermon on the
Mount
LISA SOWLE CAHILL
157 The Sermon on the Mount as Radical Pastoral
Care
RICHARD LISCHER
170 Expository Articles
170 Matthew 5:43-48
BONNIE BOWMAN THURSTON
173 Matthew 6:5-15
PHILIP B. HARNER
179 Matthew 6:24-34
CHARLES E. CARLSTON
BOOKS
184 Major Book Reviews
184 The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction, by Norman
K. Gottwald
J. GERALD JANZEN
187 Matthew as Story, by Jack Dean Kingsbury
DENNIS DULING
190 Preaching, by Fred B. Craddock
RICHARD LISCHER
193 Revelation and Theology: The Gospel as Narrated Promise, by
Ronald F. Thiemann
RALPH HJELM
196 Shorter Reviews and Notices
220 Books Received
Copyright 1987 by Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Editorial
I F PEOPLE KNOW ANYTHING at all about the Bible, it will surely
include material found in Matthew 5-7. The Golden Rule, turning the
other cheek, the Lord's Prayer, walking the straight and narrow-all are
drawn from its content. Yet despite its familiarity, the three chapters that
make up what is popularly known as the Sermon on the Mount (wrongly
named; Matthew 5:2 refers to it not as preaching but as teaching) continue
to intrigue, baffle, and enlighten interpreters even after some two millenia
of study. Its importance for the Christian church can hardly be exagger
ated. It was the most widely cited passage of Scripture in the Ante-Nicene
Fathers, played a major part in the way various reform movements of the
sixteenth century understood their relationship to secular society, and has
continued to playa role in the way Christians understand themselves and
their role in contemporary life. It is therefore an appropriate topic for
those interested in biblical interpretation to address.
A broad survey of the many ways the Sermon on the Mount has been
interpreted makes up the content of the first article. In it, Robert Guelich
isolates the characteristic ways of viewing this biblical passage which have
emerged in critical periods of the life of the church, and shows how each
view has influenced the way Christian life was understood within the
larger society of its time. Despite what Guelich calls the "sea of literature"
thus produced, the Sermon, showing itself to be anything but self-evident
in meaning, continues to challenge interpreters who seek to find the
Christian path within secular society. The article is an excellent guide into
that challenge and some of its possible solutions.
Because the Sermon on the Mount is part of the larger literary entity we
know as the Gospel of Matthew, an understanding of the Sermon depends
in large measure on an understanding of its place and function within the
larger context of that Gospel. In the second article, Jack Dean Kingsbury
leads the reader step by step through an analysis of that context and the
way the Sermon is related to it. Using this larger context to interpret the
Sermon, Kingsbury tackles the vexed problem of the intention of these
chapters: Did Matthew intend them to be an impossible ideal, or did he
intend them as an actual guide for Christian living? Considering the
Sermon passage by passage, from the opening Beatitudes to the closing
parable of Houses, Kingsbury shows how Matthew made clear his inten
tion. The article thus constitutes an invaluable aid for the interpreter of
this portion of Matthew's Gospel.
115
In the third article, Lisa Sowle Cahill invites the reader to consider with
her the broader implications for Christian ethics which a careful interpre
tation of the Sermon on the Mount inevitably provokes. Assuming the
canonical authority and the literary coherence of the Gospel of Matthew,
Cahill examines the ethical implications of the Sermon for a variety of
contemporary problems, including ethics as relationship and action, and
as imitation of God; the impact of eschatological judgment on ethical
decision making; and the social dimensions of the righteousness expected
of the Christian disciple, including the problems of nonviolence and
nonresistance to evil. Thoughtful reading of this carefully reasoned article
will increase one's sensitivity to the ethical implication for contemporary
life of the sayings of Jesus found in these three chapters of Matthew.
Because the Sermon on the Mount represents an address not only to the
individual believer but also to the community of believers, it is necessary to
view it from that perspective as well. In the final article, Richard Lischer
looks at the Sermon from the perspective of the actual life of that commu
nity to see what resources it has to offer. Noting what he finds to be a
puzzling lack of references to the Sermon in contemporary literature
devoted to the practical aspects of church life, a lack all the more sur
prising because of the organic relationship Lischer finds between this
passage from Matthew and the life and ministry of the present-day
congregation, Lischer examines how the Sermon can function in two of
those aspects: pastoral care and the liturgical life of the community.
Written from a close acquaintance with theology and biblical interpreta
tion, this essay will reward those who read it carefully with a renewed
appreciation of the value of the Sermon on the Mount for the Christian life
of the community of believers.
The interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is continued in the
three expository articles, each dealing with a passage chosen from the
material contained in it. In an exposition of Matthew 5 :43-48, Bonnie
Bowman Thurston examines the intimidating demand that the Christian
be "perfect" and aids the reader in finding the levels of meaning contained
in that command. Philip B. Harner looks at Matthew 6:5-15 and helps the
reader to a fuller understanding of the prayer Jesus commended to his
disciples. In the third exposition, Charles E. Carlston examines Matthew
6:24-34, warning of the dangers of understanding the Word of God as a
law, or simply as an exhortation to "try harder."
Taken together, these articles provide the reader with a careful look at a
most familiar yet most enigmatic passage from the Bible.
116
Interpreting the Sermon on the Mount
ROBERT A. GUELICH
Teaching Minister and Theologian in Residence
The Colonial Church of Edina, Edina, Minnesota
Although interpreters have been occupied with the Sermon
on the Mount for nearly two millenia, and have produced
widely differing results, the challenge of these verses
for Christians remains undiluted.
ACCORDING TO W. S. KISSINGER, "No portion of the Scriptures
was more frequently quoted and referred to by the Ante-N icene
writers than the Sermon on the Mount." 1 The same may still obtain for our
day when one recognizes that the so-called Sermon on the Mount of
Matthew 5: 1-7:29 contains such well-known passages as the Beatitudes
(5:3-11), the Lord's Prayer (6:9-13), and the Golden Rule (7: 12). Several
exhortations have become ethical maxims such as turning the other cheek
(5:39), going the extra mile (5:41), loving one's enemies (5:44), and
walking the straight and narrow (7: 13-14).
Familiarity, however, does not insure understanding. The sea of litera
ture on the Sermon demonstrates that the meaning of the Sermon is
anything but self-evident. So vast is this literary sea that no one has
undertaken the task of charting the waters by writing a complete history of
the Sermon's interpretation.2 Yet trends and issues have emerged over the
l. The Sermon on the Mount: A History of Interpretation and Bibliography, ATLA Biblio
graphy Series 3 (Meteuchen, NJ: 1975), p. 6.
2. Four works offer some guidance: Harvey K. McArthur, Understanding the Sermon on
the Mount (New York: Harpers, 1960); Kissinger, The Sermon on the Mount; Ursula Berner,
Die Bergpredigt: Rezeption und Auslegung im 20. Jahrhundert (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und
Ruprecht, 1979); Clarence Bauman, The Sermon on the Mount: The Modern Quest fOT its
Meaning (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985).
117
centurie,s that provide an important setting for one seeking to understand
and interpret the Sermon for an audience removed by nearly two mil
lennia.
1. THE PRE-REFORMATION ERA
A review of the Ante-Nicene writers' use of biblical texts reveals that "the
fifth chapter of Matthew appears more often in their works than any other
single chapter, and Matthew 5-7 more frequently than any other three
chapters in the entire Bible.,,3 Those writers indicate that the early church
understood these teachings to be from] esus and prescriptive for the life of
the Christian. For example, the Didache made frequent reference to
passages from the Sermon in its exposition of the "way of life." Justin drew
from much of Matthew 5 to describe Christian conduct in his apology
addressed to the Emperor Antonius Pius (Apol. I, 14-16). Augustine
prefaced our oldest commentary on the Sermon by referring to it as "the
perfect measure of the Christian life.,,4
Though the question of practicability never directly arose during this
period, we do find indirect signs of the early church's struggle to apply
these teachings. "Without cause"s softens] esus' prohibition of anger.
]ustin's]ewish partner in dialogue, Trypho, hints at the idealistic tone of
these demands when he says, "But the precepts in what you call your
Gospel are so marvelous and great that I don't think that anyone could
possibly keep them" (Dial. with Trypho, 12). Chrysostom may also betray
this concern in his exhortation on 6:25-34: "Let us not therefore suppose
his injunctions are impossible: for there are many who duly perform them,
even as it is.,,6
After Constantine and the mass conversion of the populace to Chris
tianity, a tendency towards a two-level Christianity emerged. Those for
whom conversation meant rigorously following] esus' demands that
eventuated in an ascetic withdrawal from the world stood in contrast to the
masses who professed Christ and were baptized into the church.
This distinction was clearly spelled out by Aquinas. The masses lived by
the "precepts" or "the commandments" necessary for salvation, while
those who chose a higher way towards perfection and greater merit
followed the "counsels of perfection" or the "evangelical counsels" which
the Lord added to the "precepts" (Summa Theol. I, IIae. cvii-cviii). More
and more the Sermon's demands came to be interpreted as "evangelical
counsels" attainable by a few. Thus one concedes the Sermon's imprac-
3. Kissinger, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 6.
4. The Preaching of Augustine, ed. Jeroslav Pelikan (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1973), p. l.
5. Eikei in l D L W 0 fl.l3 it syr; irlaL OrPL.
6. The Preaching ofChrysostom: Homilies on the Sermon on the MOLl,nt, ed. Jeroslav Pelikan
(Philadelphia: Fortress, 1973), p. 174.
118
Interpreting the Sermon on the Mount
Interpretation
ticability by recognizing that most of the demands were not even for every
Christian.
2. THE REFORMATION ERA
A major shift in interpreting the Sermon emerged from the sixteenth
century reformation. Oversimplified, three approaches arose: Luther's,
Calvin's, and the Anabaptists'.
The "Anabaptists" or radical reformers 7 stand out because they took the
Sermon to be the charter for the Christian life. Viewed as a compendium
of Jesus' teaching, the Sermon represented a new law commensurate with
the coming of the Kingdom of God and provi~ed the norm for every
believer.
Inevitably the demands of the Sermon did not mix with the socio
political realities of this world. Consequently, some took a revolutionary
tack and attempted to build a new society, the Kingdom of God, based on
the Sermon's principles (e.g., Munzer, the Zwickau prophets, the Mel
chiorists). The majority, however, settled for a radical separation of
church and state and a withdrawal from direct participation in socio
political structures that might compromise the principles of the Sermon
(e.g., the Swiss Brethren and the Mennonites). Thus, in their own way, the
radical reformers illustrate the impracticability of the Sermon's demands
for life in the "real" world.
Luther's work on the Sermon addressed specifically the issue of prac
ticability by focusing on two targets, the "canonists" and the Anabaptists.8
On the one hand, he confronted the double standard of the "canonists" of
the Roman Church who took the Sermon's demands as optional "coun
sels" for a select few, while holding the "precepts" or "commandments" to
be necessary for salvation for all. On the other hand, he confronted the
radical reformers who sought to apply the Sermon's demands literally for
all believers leading either to an uncompromising withdrawal from the
world or to an attempt to construct a new world.
According to Luther, both had failed to distinguish between two divine
ly ordained orders, "two kingdoms," the secular kingdom of the world and
the spiritual Kingdom of Christ. He viewed the secular order to be
ordained by God as the ordering principle for society with roles ("offices")
and laws, the ignoring of which would lead to anarchy and chaos. At the
same time, he viewed every believer to be called to live and work in faith
and love according to the demands of the Sermon. Consequently, one
7. Luther often used Schwiixmer ("enthusiasts"), but "anabaptists," "schismatics," and
"sectarians" have all been used to refer to the often diverse followers of Thomas Munzer
and the Zwickau Prophets, the Melchiorists or Hoffmanites, the Mennonites, the Hut
terites, and the Swiss Brethren.
8. Luther's "commentary" comes from a series of weekly sermons preached between
1530-1532 prepared for publication by his students with a preface written by Luther.
119
must distinguish between a believer's "office" and "person," the one
pertaining to the kingdom of the world and the other to the Kingdom of
Christ. Therefore, as a citizen, jurist, or soldier one carried out the
commensurate responsibilities established by civil law while personally in
keeping with the Sennon intending no harm and grieving over the
adverse consequences for those involved.9
By separating the "two kingdoms," Luther avoided the "papist" error of
subsuming the temporal or secular authority under the church and the
"schismatic's" error of imposing the spiritual upon the secular and/or
withdrawing from the latter. Yet by delineating two kingdoms, Luther too
recognized implicitly what had come to be accepted by the "papists" and
the "schismatics," namely, the impracticability of Jesus' demands in the
Sermon on the Mount for the socio-political structures of this world.
Calvin also addressed the same two fronts.10 He objected to the
"Schoolmen" relegating Jesus' demands to optional "counsels" and thus
failing to recognize Jesus as a "Lawgiver" (Institutes, I, 419). He also
rejected the literalism of the Anabaptists whose limited focus on the
Sermon and strict application, for example, of the prohibition of oaths and
the use of the judicial system illustrated their failure to interpret Scripture
in light of Scripture as a whole. Like Luther, Calvin took the Sermon as
applicable to all believers, but his response to the "Schoolmen" and the
"Anabaptists" stems from a different approach to the Sermon.
First, apropos the "Schoolmen" he raised into bold relief the issue of
Jesus' role as "Lawgiver" in relationship to Moses and the law by disputing
any distinction between "commandment" and "counsel." Jesus does not
represent any discontinuity with the law. Calvin argued strongly for the
"sacred tie between the law and the Gospel" (Commentary, I, 278) seen in
Jesus' coming as the fulfillment of the law by restoring the true meaning of
the law and stripping away the Pharisaic distortions (Institutes, I, 373-74).
Jesus clarified the spirit of the law which remains binding for all.
Second, Calvin countered the Anabaptists' narrow literalism and
cushioned the Sermon's radical demands by reading them against the
broader witness of Scripture. For example, he maintained that Jesus'
prohibition of oaths only excludes oaths that "abuse and profane the
sacred name" (Commentary, I, 295). "God not only permits oaths ... but
commands their use ... [Exod. 22: 10-11]" (Institutes, I, 391). Conse
quently, properly understood against the broader context of Scripture the
Sermon's demands prove practicable even for one involved in the struc
tures of society.
9. Luther's Works, Vol. 21: The Sermon on the Mount and the Magnificat, ed. Jeroslov
Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1956), p. 113.
10. One must extrapolate Calvin's treatment of the Sermon from his Commentmy on the
Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949)
and his Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, The Library of Christian
Classics XX, XXI (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960).
120