Introduction to The Hebraic biography of Y'shua

(Tina Meador) #1

You will recall that it was largely for economic (and political) reasons that the Jewish leadership rejected
Y‘shua as their Messiah (John 11:47-48). We are told that it was the high priest who actually owned the
business venture operating within the Temple precincts. For the Jew, the pursuit of financial gain and the
practice of righteousness were thought to be synonymous. Y‘shua said they were opposites. One must serve
either YHWH or money. One will ultimately become your master, the other your slave. They used ̳religion‘ to
further their own personal and economic interests. Such also was the case of Judas the betrayer (John 12:4-
6).


On the basis of these principles, Believers have been cautioned about viewing their material possessions as
a means of ensuring comfort and security in this earthly life. Instead, we should invest in eternal things, for
such an investment is secure and the benefits are everlasting.


The question, which is not answered here, is, ―How?‖ How do you lay up treasure in heaven? We need to
realise that Y‘shua is probing into men‘s motives rather than prescribing specific practices during this
sermon. From other portions of Scripture (e.g. Luke 16) and in Matthew, I would suggest that this involves
supporting the proclamation of the Gospel and caring for the physical needs of the helpless (Matt 19:21,
Acts 2:45; 4:32-35).


6:25-31 Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat...


―(25) Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet
for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (26) Behold
the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto
his stature? (28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil
not, neither do they spin: (29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. (30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast
into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (31) Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?‖ (Matt 6:25-31)
Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 48b: ―He who has what to eat today, and says, "What shall I eat on the morrow?"
has little faith‖.


Due to the unfortunate rendering of the King James Version, ―Take no thought‖, it would be well to begin by
defining what we mean by ̳worry‘. Y‘shua is not discouraging the use of our minds here. Faith is not contrary
to sound thinking; rather, it is to be rooted in thought. In fact, Y‘shua is urging us to use our heads and not to
panic. We are to consider the birds of the air (verse 26) and the flowers of the field (verse 28). We are shown
that worry is both illogical and unprofitable; in fact, it actually is sin because it lacks faith.


―The word which is used is the word merimnan, which means to worry anxiously. Its corresponding noun is
merimna, which means worry. In a papyrus letter a wife writes to her absent husband: ―I cannot sleep at
night or by day, because of the worry (merimna) I have about your welfare‖. A mother, on hearing of her
sons‘ good health and prosperity writes back: ―That is all my prayer and all my anxiety (merimna)‖. Anacreon,
the poet, writes: ―When I drink wine, my worries (merimnai) go to sleep‖. In Greek the word is the
characteristic word for anxiety, and worry, and care‖. (Barclay, Matthew, I, pp. 258-259.)


Worry is not to be confused with thinking and planning to meet future needs. Worry is not to be confused with
genuine concern. Rather, worry is the preoccupation and dissipation of our mental and physical powers with
things that are future, hypothetical, and beyond our control. Worry is the antithesis of faith. Faith perceives
potential problems with a view to the infinite power and fatherly concern of the Father Who has saved us.
Worry sees only the obstacles (actual or imaginary) and meditates on all the possible disastrous possibilities,
while neglecting the fact of the Father‘s divine care and control in our lives. In verses 25-32, Y‘shua outlined
the reasons why worry is both foolish and faithless.



  1. Worry is a distortion of values and a reversal of priorities, verse 25. ―Is not life more than food, and
    the body than clothing?‖ (Matt 6:25b).


Most scholars inform us that this is an argument from the greater to the lesser. If Elohim is our Creator and
He has given us life, will He not also provide the incidentals such as food and clothing? This is the kind of
argument Paul employed in Romans chapter 8: ―He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for
us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?‖ (Rom 8:32; cf. 5:10).


Certainly this is a valid argument, but I am not convinced that this is the main thrust of Y‘shua‘s words. It
seems to me that Y‘shua is focusing upon the issue of priorities. Materialism, at its base, is a reversal of

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