(Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 12:44 PM)
“And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.”
Matthew 10:40-42 is a very interesting pericope. The four "sequences" included in it are far less obvious than their familiar sound may lead to believe.
First of all, let's look at them, once again. I will adopt the NETBible translation, because the way it renders the critical Greek expression εις ονομα (eis onoma + genitive) with "in the name of" is the most literal, and, at the same time, faithful to the sense of the original.
Two easy pieces
The two "sequences" at v. 41 are quite evident, because they follow the same pattern:
41a,b Whoever receives a X1 in the name of a X2 will receive a X3 ’s reward.
[where: X = prophet, righteous person; Xi = occurrences of X , with i= 1,2,3]
So, the form of the sentence is evident, but what does it actually mean? Let's try to apply it to a term which is definitely more familiar, in our lives, of either "prophet" or "righteous person". Let's apply it to: X = friend.
Then we have
[friend] Whoever receives a friend1 in the name of a friend2 will receive a friend3’s reward.
Sounds like normal English, at least, but what does it mean?
Well, suppose that there is a person, a person that you do not know particularly well (Whoever=W) and that you send to this person a friend of yours (X1 = friend1) hoping/trusting that W will receive (=r) X1 (=rX1)"as a friend", "in the name of friendship", "because he is a friend [of yours]" ...
OIOW: in the name of a friend=> in the name of a friend2 (and, formalizing and generalizing) => nX2; where n= "in the name of a ..."
Surely the welcoming attitude (=r) of this person (W=Whoever) towards a friend of yours (X1 = friend1), in the name of friendship, because he is a friend of yours, "in the name of a friend" (=nX2) would be appreciated, and what better reward could he receive? Why, whatever befits a friend: he will receive a reward [worthy of] friend3 (g friend3=, and, generalizing gX3).
So, now, not only the form is clear, but also the sense is clear. It can be easily seen that, [41a], [41b] and [friend] can be written in the same form:
Ah, so far, so good, but how are we going to apply this formalism to [40] and, even more so to [42], which is the verse we are really interested in?
It is clear that neither verse contains an evident sequence, with the same form an the same repeated "variable" (X).
A not so easy piece
Let's try and tackle [40], first. What do the Apostles and Jesus have in common, that would fit the form of the verse? They are both sent! They are both envoys (the Apostles by Jesus, Jesus by God, the Father Almighty).
So, now, we have, tentatively, X = envoy, or, to be more accurate, Xi = envoyi (i= 1,2)
Can we extend this to X3 = envoy3? And, more important, would it have some sense? Let's try (like we have done, previously, with X = friend). This time, X = envoy. Applying the same formalism, to [40] we have:
[envoy] Whoever receives an envoy1 in the name of an envoy2 will receive an envoy3’s reward.
Does it make sense? What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying that:
Whoever receives an Apostle [=Jesus' envoy] in the name of Jesus [=God's envoy] will receive a reward worthy of an envoy.
And what would be the "reward worthy of an envoy", in this case? Why, the envoyer Himself: God,
A tough nut to crack
Now that we have (quite) easily sorted out [41a=prophet] and [41b=righteous person] and with some more difficulty, [40= envoy], let's try and tackle what seems to be the toughest nut of them all, [42].
Let's start with the easy parts. Of course:
Let's now follow the same approach that we have followed for [40], asking if and what may there be in common between "one of these little ones" and a "disciple".
Well, sometimes in life it is necessary to be daring, and this is one of them: I surmise that what "one of these little ones" and a "disciple" have in common is that they are both poor:
So, now, we have, tentatively, X = poor, or, to be more accurate, Xi = poori (i= 1,2)
Can we extend this to X3 = poor3? And, more important, would it have some sense? Let's try (like we have done, previously, with X = friend, envoy ). This time, X = poor. Applying the same formalism, to [42] we have:
[poor] Whoever receives a poor man1 in the name of a poor man2 will receive a poor man3’s reward.
Does it make sense? What is Jesus saying? I surmise that Jesus is saying that:
Whoever receives one of these little ones [=destitute] in the name of a disciple [=poor in spirit] will receive a reward worthy of the poor.
And what would be the "reward worthy of the poor"? Why, this is the answer ...
... the very first of the Beatitudes. And the reward is no less than the Kingdom of Heaven!
“And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.”
Matthew 10:40-42 is a very interesting pericope. The four "sequences" included in it are far less obvious than their familiar sound may lead to believe.
First of all, let's look at them, once again. I will adopt the NETBible translation, because the way it renders the critical Greek expression εις ονομα (eis onoma + genitive) with "in the name of" is the most literal, and, at the same time, faithful to the sense of the original.
Rewards
40 Whoever receives you [Apostles] receives me [Jesus], and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me [God].
41a Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.
41b Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.
42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, he will never lose his reward.”
Two easy pieces
The two "sequences" at v. 41 are quite evident, because they follow the same pattern:
41a,b Whoever receives a X1 in the name of a X2 will receive a X3 ’s reward.
[where: X = prophet, righteous person; Xi = occurrences of X , with i= 1,2,3]
So, the form of the sentence is evident, but what does it actually mean? Let's try to apply it to a term which is definitely more familiar, in our lives, of either "prophet" or "righteous person". Let's apply it to: X = friend.
Then we have
[friend] Whoever receives a friend1 in the name of a friend2 will receive a friend3’s reward.
Sounds like normal English, at least, but what does it mean?
Well, suppose that there is a person, a person that you do not know particularly well (Whoever=W) and that you send to this person a friend of yours (X1 = friend1) hoping/trusting that W will receive (=r) X1 (=rX1)"as a friend", "in the name of friendship", "because he is a friend [of yours]" ...
OIOW: in the name of a friend=> in the name of a friend2 (and, formalizing and generalizing) => nX2; where n= "in the name of a ..."
Surely the welcoming attitude (=r) of this person (W=Whoever) towards a friend of yours (X1 = friend1), in the name of friendship, because he is a friend of yours, "in the name of a friend" (=nX2) would be appreciated, and what better reward could he receive? Why, whatever befits a friend: he will receive a reward [worthy of] friend3 (g friend3=, and, generalizing gX3).
So, now, not only the form is clear, but also the sense is clear. It can be easily seen that, [41a], [41b] and [friend] can be written in the same form:
W rX1 nX2 gX3
Ah, so far, so good, but how are we going to apply this formalism to [40] and, even more so to [42], which is the verse we are really interested in?
It is clear that neither verse contains an evident sequence, with the same form an the same repeated "variable" (X).
A not so easy piece
Let's try and tackle [40], first. What do the Apostles and Jesus have in common, that would fit the form of the verse? They are both sent! They are both envoys (the Apostles by Jesus, Jesus by God, the Father Almighty).
So, now, we have, tentatively, X = envoy, or, to be more accurate, Xi = envoyi (i= 1,2)
Can we extend this to X3 = envoy3? And, more important, would it have some sense? Let's try (like we have done, previously, with X = friend). This time, X = envoy. Applying the same formalism, to [40] we have:
[envoy] Whoever receives an envoy1 in the name of an envoy2 will receive an envoy3’s reward.
Does it make sense? What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying that:
Whoever receives an Apostle [=Jesus' envoy] in the name of Jesus [=God's envoy] will receive a reward worthy of an envoy.
And what would be the "reward worthy of an envoy", in this case? Why, the envoyer Himself: God,
“... and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”
A tough nut to crack
Now that we have (quite) easily sorted out [41a=prophet] and [41b=righteous person] and with some more difficulty, [40= envoy], let's try and tackle what seems to be the toughest nut of them all, [42].
Let's start with the easy parts. Of course:
"gives only a cup of cold water to ..." = "receives [kindly and helpfully]"
"I tell you the truth": a formula to call the attention of the listener to what follows
"he will never lose his reward" = "he will receive an adequate reward"
Let's now follow the same approach that we have followed for [40], asking if and what may there be in common between "one of these little ones" and a "disciple".
Well, sometimes in life it is necessary to be daring, and this is one of them: I surmise that what "one of these little ones" and a "disciple" have in common is that they are both poor:
• "one of these little ones" in the obvious sense of being poor and destitute, of being "thirsty".
• "disciple" in the sense
of recognizing in himself poverty, another form of poverty, spiritual
poverty, and not being ashamed to admit his poverty, and his "thirst"
for the spiritual "water" offered by Jesus (John 4:13-15)
Can we extend this to X3 = poor3? And, more important, would it have some sense? Let's try (like we have done, previously, with X = friend, envoy ). This time, X = poor. Applying the same formalism, to [42] we have:
[poor] Whoever receives a poor man1 in the name of a poor man2 will receive a poor man3’s reward.
Does it make sense? What is Jesus saying? I surmise that Jesus is saying that:
Whoever receives one of these little ones [=destitute] in the name of a disciple [=poor in spirit] will receive a reward worthy of the poor.
And what would be the "reward worthy of the poor"? Why, this is the answer ...
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:3)
... the very first of the Beatitudes. And the reward is no less than the Kingdom of Heaven!
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