MT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.
MT 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you
will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body
more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable
than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to
his life?
MT 6:28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the
lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet
I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was
dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the
grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown
into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What
shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans
run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows
that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own.
This is a very familiar text to us. But how should we handle
this text? It looks very simple to the readers at the outset.
But I afraid most of the time, we miss the “covenantal”
(or Suzerain Treaty) background of this text. If we do
not read it in the context of Covenant of Grace, then
it will surely falls into a moral exhortation.
In the Old Testament period, after Moses brought out the
Israelites from Egypt, God entered a covenant relationship
with them. This relationship is called Suzerain Treaty.
What is Suzerain Treaty? It is a covenant offered by the
Suzerain King (Great King) to the vassal king (defeated
king). In this treaty, one could find the following
contents: 1) Preamble; 2) Historical Prologue; 3)
Stipulations on the vassal king; 4) Deposit of treaty in
the temple; 5) List of Witnesses; 6) Blessings and Curses.
1) In Preamble, the Suzerain King will announce his
great name. 2) In Historical Prologue, the King will
explain the historical relationship with the vassal
king, or details all the accounts that render help to
the vassal king. 3) In Stipulations, the Great King
demands obedience of the vassal king by offering silver
or gold. 4) In Deposit of treaty, each party will deposit
it in their temple, and have to rereading the content
year after year. 5) In List of Witnesses, they call upon
the various gods in the universe to be their testimonies.
6) In Blessings and Curses, if the vassal king does not
keep the stipulations, he will be put to death. If he
does, then he will inherit blessings from the Suzerain King.
In the book Deuteronomy, we see this format of Suzerain
Treaty. Deut Chapter 1-4 is the historical prologue.
Chapter 5 is the giving of Stipulations (Ten Commandments).
Chapter 17 and 27-28 is the public reading of the treaty.
Chapter 27-28 lay out the blessings and curses. In
Chapter 11:13-15, it reads, “So if you faithfully obey
the commands I am giving you today--to love the LORD your
God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your
soul-- 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season,
both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in
your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide grass in the
fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”
But we know that all the Israelites failed to keep the
Stipulations. Therefore what they deserved is curses from
the Lord Almighty. The Israelites has to work very hard in
order to obtain the blessings. Therefore we also called
this kind of Suzerain Treaty a Covenant of Works.
In Gospel of Matthew, when the True Israelite comes to the
Palestine land, he finally succeeds in keeping the
Stipulations given to the Old Testament Israelites.
And who is this True Israelites? He is Jesus of Nazareth!
In Matthew 5:17-18 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have
come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth,
until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law until everything is accomplished.” And
because of his faithfulness to the covenant of works,
Jesus comes to the sinners with The Beatitudes Sermon.
He begin preaching, "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the
meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3-10)
This is a sermon of blessings, not of curses!
Because of Jesus’ faithfulness to keep the Suzerain
Treaty/Covenant of Works, he is qualified to reverse the
fate of Israelites/believers. Jesus has fulfilled the
demands/works of Deuteronomy 11:13-15, that says “So if
you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today--to
love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart
and with all your soul-- 14 then I will send rain on your land
in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may
gather in your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide
grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and
be satisfied.” And since Jesus has fulfilled this covenant
of works, God the Father is glad to continuously to pour
out His blessings ( what we eat, what we drink, what we wear)
upon us despite our sinful nature and sinful deeds. Oh,
how blessed it is for those who put their trust in this
Covenant of Grace! Amen.
Posted on April 3, 2007
