Continuing our quest for knowledge, and specifically, to
ascertain the defining characteristics of those that are “pure in heart,” who
are also those that will “see God,” we move forward in the sermon to the sixth
chapter. It is there that we will encounter the second and only other use
of “heart” in the course of this dissertation from the mountain. This
usage will prove to be quite beneficial in our quest. It will not only
impart knowledge, but also, along with so much else being said here, inform our
ethical, practical, and performance-related mandate in association with the
Christian’s charge to be the place where heaven and earth come together---God’s
will being done on earth as in heaven.
Interestingly enough, the “Lord’s Prayer,” from which these
words of God’s will, earth, and heaven are lifted, constitute a portion of the
preface to the second presentation of the heart. It is worth mentioning
that, just as Jesus’ sermon began with a mention of the kingdom of heaven
(5:3), so too does Jesus’ prayer include a mention of the kingdom of heaven
within its opening statements, as Jesus says “Our Father in heaven, may Your
name be honored, may Your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is
in heaven” (6:9b-10).
From there, we do not have to travel a great number of
verses before we hear the context for Jesus’ mention of the heart.
Beginning in the nineteenth verse of this same chapter we read “Do not
accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and
steal” (6:19-20). Given Jesus’ clear understanding that it is God’s
desire that His will be performed on earth as in heaven, and given the context
of the kingdom of heaven come to earth that is everywhere present in Matthew’s
narrative as well as the foundational structure for this particular sermon,
Jesus is not drawing a hard and fast dichotomy between the earthly realm and
the heavenly realm. Indeed, as it His intention to establish God’s
kingdom on earth, the seeming dichotomy between earth (usually conceived of as
the physical realm that we occupy) and heaven (usually conceived of as the
aspired for final destination of Christians) actually disappears.
It is paramount to hear Jesus speaking from within His own
culture and its conceptions, rather than from the position of a religious
culture that is overly and improperly defined by Greek (primarily Platonic)
thoughts of the separation of the physical from the spiritual. Given the
Jewish hope that God would establish His reign through His Messiah, restoring
His creation as an attendant feature of the establishment of His kingdom, we
would correctly hear Jesus speaking of earth and heaven in terms of past and
future. Treasures on earth would be linked to the old world and the old
way of doing things prior to the coming of God’s kingdom that is heralded by
the presence of Jesus, whereas treasures in heaven are linked to the new way of
doing things, in association with the recognition of God’s rule having come to
earth.
It is following this talk of treasure, and its earthly
(pre-kingdom of God) usage versus its heavenly (kingdom having come) usage,
that we hear Jesus speak of the heart. He says “For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also” (6:21). Yes, the disposition of our
treasure reveals the disposition of our heart. Clearly then, purity of
heart is linked to the accumulation and disposition of treasure in ways that
are commensurate with the establishment and extension of the kingdom of
heaven. With this in mind, Jesus goes on to explain that “The eye is the
lamp of the body” (6:22a). The eye, of course, having primacy in the
building of our desires to accumulate treasure and our recognition of the most
appropriate, kingdom-minded ways to liquidate that same treasure (treasure
being primarily money and possessions, though time must certainly be under
consideration). If we have that thought in mind, it is understandable to
hear Jesus continue to speak about treasure and its proper place, as He goes on
to say “If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light”
(6:22b). A healthy eye views the world through the lens of the kingdom of
heaven, while the call of God’s people, historically and for all time, to a
light to the nations, does not drift too far from our conscientious
consideration. With these thoughts in mind, we hear Jesus continue on to
say “But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light in your is darkness, how great is the
darkness!” (6:23)
Now, how can we be sure that Jesus is connecting His
thoughts as presented in verses twenty-two and twenty-three with the thoughts
of treasure and the heart in verses nineteen through twenty-one? Well, we
are assured of this when we reach verse twenty-four, which says that “No one
can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or
he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God
and money” (6:24). Clearly, money (treasure and that which we use to
acquire possessions) is an issue of the heart. One who is pure in
heart---the one who will see God---is one that rightly uses their money in
service of God’s kingdom purposes.
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