ACC ~ Matthew 7 v7 - 12

OVERVIEW:

The door is not opened except to one who knocks in the form of asking and seeking (AUGUSTINE). To knock is to approach God with intensity and passion (CHRYSOSTOM). Since we who are evil know how to give good gifts, God who is incomparably good will know all the better how to give good gifts to us when we, like children, ask (AUGUSTINE). Since you know what you wish others to do for you, it is clear what you ought to do for others (CHRYSOSTOM). This way of stating the central maxim of the Christian life does not contradict the other ways of stating the maxim as encompassing the love of God and one’s neighbor. People cannot serve another with a single heart unless they render that service in such a way that they look for no temporal advantage, which they cannot do unless motivated by the love of God (AUGUSTINE). Hence virtue is defined in accordance with our nature, so that we all know within ourselves what our duties are and can never again find refuge in ignorance (CHRYSOSTOM).

7:7-8 | Ask, Seek, Knock

ASKING, SEEKING AND KNOCKING

AUGUSTINE: But when the precept was given that a holy thing should not be given to dogs and that pearls should not be cast before swine, questions abound. Mindful of our own ignorance and frailty and hearing it prescribed that we are not to give away something that we have not yet received, [1] we might therefore ask, “What holy thing do you forbid me to give to dogs, and what pearls do you forbid me to cast before swine? For I do not see that I have as yet received them.” Most aptly, then, did the Lord go on to say, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and one who seeks, finds; and to one who knocks, it shall be opened.” The asking refers to obtaining soundness and strength of mind through prayer, in order that we may be able to fulfill the precepts that are being given. The seeking refers to finding truth. For the blessed life is made up of acting and knowing. Action requires a store of strength, while contemplation requires the manifestation of truths. Of these two, we are to ask for the first and we are to seek for the other in order that the one may be given and that the other may be found. In this life, however, knowledge consists in knowing the way toward that blessedness rather than in possessing it. But when anyone has found the true way, that one will arrive at that possession. As for you, it is to one who knocks that the door is opened. In order that these three things—the asking, the seeking and the knocking—may be illustrated by an example, let us consider the case of one who is unable to walk because of weak limbs. Of course, such a one must first be healed and strengthened for walking. Hence the Lord said, “Ask.” SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.21.71-72. [2]

[1] One who has not yet fully received and appropriated scriptural teaching is not yet prepared to give it away or offer it to another. The blessed life calls for doing the truth oneself before one offers it as a teaching for others.

[2] PL 34:1302; FC 11:181-83*. To ask is to pray for soundness of mind. To seek is to look for ways to embody the truth. To knock is to take action to embody the truth.

KNOCK, AND IT WILL BE OPENED

CHRYSOSTOM: However, Jesus did not simply command us to ask but to ask with great concern and concentration—for this is the meaning of the word he used for “seek.” For those who are seeking put aside everything else from their minds. They become concerned only with the thing that they are seeking and pay no attention at all to the circumstances. Even those who are looking for gold or servants that have been lost understand what I am saying. So this is what he meant by seeking. But by knocking Jesus meant that we approach God with intensity and passion. Therefore, O mortal, do not give up. Do not show less eagerness for virtue than desire for possessions. For you frequently sought possessions but did not find them. Nevertheless, although you knew that you could not guarantee that you would find them, you used every means of searching for them. Yet even though in this case you have a promise that you surely will receive, you do not even demonstrate the smallest fraction of that same eagerness. But if you do not receive immediately, do not despair in this way. For it is because of this that Jesus said “knock” to show that even if he does not open the door immediately we should remain at the door knocking. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 23.4. [1]

[1] PG 57:312; NPNF 1 10:160.

7:9-11 | Giving Good Gifts

OUR GIFTS TO OUR CHILDREN AND GOD’S GIFTS TO US

AUGUSTINE: But how do evil people give good gifts? Those whom he here calls evil are sinners. As such they are still lovers of this world. It is in accordance with their notion of good that their gifts are to be called good. Their gifts are called good, that is, because the givers consider them good. Although these things are good in the order of nature, they are nevertheless temporal things pertaining to the infirmities of life. Moreover, whenever an evil person bestows them, he is not giving what is his own, for “the earth and the fullness thereof is the Lord’s. … Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.” [1] So even we who are evil know how to give what is asked. How much more confidence ought we to have that God will give us good things when we ask. God will not deceive us by giving us one thing rather than another when we ask of him. Even we do not deceive our children. And whatever good gifts we bestow, we give what is God’s and not our own. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.21.73. [2]

[1] Ps 24:1; 146:6 (23:1; 145:6 LXX).

[2] PL 34:1303; FC 11:183-84. We who are drenched in the history of sin still know something about how to give good things to our children. We do not deceive them. In giving, we give to them what is God’s, not our own. Since we who are evil know how to give these good gifts, would not God who is good know all the better how to give good gifts to us when we, like children, ask?

7:12 | How to Treat Others

WHATEVER YOU WISH OTHERS WOULD DO TO YOU

CHRYSOSTOM: In this statement Jesus briefly sums up all that is required. He shows that the definition of virtue is short and easy and known already to all. And he did not merely say, “Whatever things that you want,” but “Therefore [1] whatever things that you want.” For he did not add this word therefore in its straightforward sense, but rather he used it with a deeper meaning. He is saying, “If you want to be heard, do these things in addition to those about which I have already spoken.” What are these additional things? “Whatever are those things that you want people to do to you.” Do you see how this shows that our wishes imply careful regulation of our behavior? Note that he did not say, “Whatever things that you want God to do for you, do these things to your neighbor.” Thus you cannot say, “How is that even possible? He is God and I am a human being!” Instead, Jesus said, “Whatever things that you want your fellow servant to do, you yourself also perform for your neighbor.” What is less of a burden than this? What is more just? Then the praise is exceedingly great: “For this is the law and the prophets.” From this it is clear that virtue is defined in accordance with our nature. So we all know within ourselves what our duties are. We cannot ever again find refuge in ignorance. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 23.5. [2]

[1] “So” in the RSV text.

[2] PG 57:314; NPNF 1 10:161-62. You know what you wish others to do for you. Hence it is clear what you ought to do for others.

WHETHER LOVE OF GOD IS IMPLIED IN THE COMMAND

AUGUSTINE: Elsewhere Jesus says that there are two precepts on which the whole law and the prophets depend. [1] The present precept seems to concern only the love of neighbor and not the love of God as well. Of course, if he had said, “All things whatever you wish to have done to you, [2] do you also those things,” he would then have embraced those two precepts in the one maxim, for it would be readily understood that everyone would wish to be loved by both God and other persons. So, when someone would be given that one precept—when he would be required to do whatever he would wish to have done to him—then he would of course implicitly be given the other precept as well: that he should love both God and neighbor. But it would seem that the present maxim means nothing more than “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” [3] for it seems very expressly restricted to persons, since it reads, “Whatever you wish that people would do to you, do so to them.” However, we must pay close attention to his further observation on this point, for Jesus goes on to say, “This is the law and the prophets.” In the case of the previously mentioned two precepts, he did not say merely that “the law and the prophets depend on them.” He said that “the whole law and the prophets depend” on them, for that is the sum of prophecy. But by omitting the word whole in the present instance, he seems to reserve a place for the other precept—the precept that pertains to the love of God. At any rate, the present instruction is one that was most apt for the occasion when he was expounding the precepts that pertain to singleness of heart. For there might be reason to fear that a person may have a double heart toward another, since the matters of the heart are hidden. But there is hardly anyone who would wish that others would deal double-heartedly with oneself. It is impossible for one to render service single-heartedly to another unless one renders it in such a way that one looks for no temporal advantage from it. And one cannot do this unless one is motivated by the kind of intention that we have sufficiently discussed earlier, when we were speaking about the eye that is single. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.22.75. [4]

[1] “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:37-38; see also vv. 39-40).

[2] Not by human beings only but also by God.

[3] Mt 22:39.

[4] PL 34:1304; FC 11:185-86**. Does this limited way of stating the maxim stand in tension with the other twofold (love of God and others) way of stating the maxim? This way of stating the maxim as pertaining primarily to human relationship does not contradict the other ways of stating the maxim as encompassing the love of God and the neighbor. No one can serve another with a single heart unless one renders that service in such a way that one looks for no temporal advantage, which one cannot do unless motivated by the love of God.