Matthew 7:24 (NASB)
[24] Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus used three main metaphors; gates, trees, and a rock.
That brings us to our text for today, found in Matthew 7:6-12.
Matthew 7:6-12 (NASB)
[6] “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Prayer and the Golden Rule
[7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
[9] “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? [10] “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? [11] “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
[12] “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Modern translation of the Bible divide the original text up into chapters and verses, I am sure you know that the Bible was not originally written that way. Most modern translations also divide the Bible text into appropriate sections. In most cases Mt. 7:6 is included with Mt. 7:1-5, with the heading, "Judging Others".
In my study this week verse six just did not seem to fit with the verses on judging others. As I studied and thought about this verse on not giving what is holy to dogs, or casting pearls before swine, it seemed to me that it fit better with Mt. 7:7-12. I think verse six is an important lead-in to verses 7-12, which talk about giving and the golden rule. In fact I think it can be compared to the top piece of bread that helps hold a sandwich together.
A sandwich, until a few years ago, always had some good stuff like meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and some kind of sauce, surrounded on top and bottom by some kind of bread. Today many people are allergic to glutton, and many others avoid carbohydrates for diet purposes, so sandwiches are made with lettuce instead of bread. The good stuff in the middle of the sandwich could be many different combinations of different kinds of things. You might have had some of these concoctions:
I think most would admit that when they think of a sandwich they think of some kind of bread to hold things together and some good stuff in between. The bread gives the sandwich boundaries or guides if you will. Our text today is like a sandwich. Jesus is teaching about the giving but it is sandwiched between a warning or caution, and an admonition or advice about how to treat other people. So we have a natural outline for our text today.
Be Cautious About Your Giving:
Matthew 7:6 (NASB)
[6] “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Verse 6
- Perhaps it means giving only to those who want what one offers, as God does (Mt 7:7-11); in this case the text returns to the idea of giving and of reciprocity in verse 12. (BBC)
Over the years I have had lots of experience in dealing with people asking for one thing or another. Very rarely do people ask for what they really need. Usually people are asking for the thing that will meet their immediate short term needs. Over the years I have learned from the Holy Spirit how to deal with this, what is usually a con game. When you will not give them what they want they usually will turn very agitated and angry at you.
God offers us what we really need and then leaves us to accept what He offers or walk away from Him and His resources.
Meeting the needs of others:
Matthew 7:7-8 (NASB) [7] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [8] “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Verses 7-8
- The boldness with which this text promises answers to prayer is quite rare in ancient literature. (BBC)
Boldness in asking for prayer is expected and encouraged by God. But boldness must not be interpreted as confidence in God giving me whatever I want to fulfill my personal selfish desire. Rather this boldness comes in a belief that God knows what I need and I am bold to surrender to His will.
Matthew 7:9-11 (NASB) [9] “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? [10] “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? [11] “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Verses 9-11
- Jesus directs that boldness in prayer in a couple of ways to clarify the intention of His statement about boldness in asking.
- - It is directed toward real needs, bread and fish, food necessary for life
- - It is also directed toward the receiving of real needs not things that are not really needed, like stones and snakes.
- - Then He makes it clear to them that God will give what is good to those who ask. Can I ask you what the ultimate good is? I believe it is eternal life, but I also think this can be taken in a physical way. The ultimate good in the meeting of the physical is to have our basic needs met. I believe it goes beyond food but Jesus boils it down to one of the things that if we don't have it we will die - food, bread and fish.
The Golden Rule: (In our giving we should treat others like we would like for them to treat us.)
Matthew 7:12 (NASB) [12] “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Verse 12
- The Golden Rule; treat people the way you would like them to treat you. This goes beyond just meeting needs. It includes interactions with others in our speech, attitude, and giving in many ways.
- This also relates back to verse 6 which carries the idea of giving to others only when they want what you have to offer and in the context here giving real needs.
One thing we have discovered is that Jesus never just preached about something and then left everyone to figure it out on their own. In fact God could have communicated all that Jesus taught, through prophets. But one of the reason Jesus came to this earth was to be a holy example of how to live out the Word(s) of God.
He gave us an example of this idea about cautious giving of real needs in
Matthew 15:21-28
As we read it, look at the similarities between these passages.
- - Reference to not giving something holy to that which is unholy
- - Reference to dogs
- - The inference to real needs
Matthew 15:21-28 (NASB)
[21] Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. [22] And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.”
[23] But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” [24] But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [25] But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
Remember, Jesus did not need to go through this exercise of refusing this woman's request at first. He did it to teach both her and His disciples some important lessons about being cautious about giving to others to meet their real needs and to make sure that they really want what He had to offer.
The disciples were not concerned about Jesus meeting this woman's needs. They were concerned about their own peace of mind. They wanted Jesus to send her away because they were bothered by her persistant and disterbing cries for help. dgb
[26] And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” [27] But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
[28] Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.
What about you and I today? How does this teaching apply in the 21st century?
NASB - New American Standard Bible (NASB). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2002