Bev Franco Essay - San Francisco Theological Seminary

Beverly Franco
Treasuring Heavenly Treasures
In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus warns his disciples to beware the demon of
materialism. In Matthew’s elegant structure, Jesus contrasts three sets of opposite
priorities in nearly perfect parallel. We can treasure treasures on earth, or treasure
treasures in heaven. We can have generous eyes full of light, or greedy eyes full of
darkness. We can love God and hate materialism, or we can despise God and be devoted
to materialism. No middle ground is offered. Three times he gives the same message:
love of God and obsession with material things cannot exist in our hearts together. We
must make a choice.
Like the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, this pericope is carefully structured in
groups of threes. Each of the three separate units consists of two parts: a contrast between
opposing values followed by a warning. Each contrast is a “perfect antithetical
parallelism,” 1 using repetitive phrasing. The only difference in structure between the
three units is that the second and third have brief opening statements (“The eye is the
lamp of the body” in 6:22a and “No one can serve two masters” in 6:24a) while the first
unit does not.
The careful structure of the pericope serves three purposes. First, by structuring
this section, as well as the rest of his gospel, in sets of three, the author of Matthew
makes it easy to memorize. 2
This would have been important in mostly illiterate first
century Palestine. Second, the redundant messages give emphasis. Three separate times
1 Dale C. Allison Jr. Studies in Matthews: Interpretation Past and Present (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2005): 188.
2 Allison, 199-206.
1

we are warned to choose God over materialism. In addition, there are redundant word
choices within each set, which also creates emphasis, 3 such as the use of θησαυρίζετε
µ ν θησαυρο ς, literally, “Treasure for yourselves treasures.” This repetition,
according to Betz, “signifies the mindless piling up of such treasures.” 4
Third, the
placement of these three units together links where our hearts find security, what our eyes
focus on, and who owns our loyalty, our hearts, eyes and service, encouraging us to be
people of integrity, not the hypocrites Jesus so often condemns.
It is unlikely that the author of Matthew’s Gospel was the Apostle Matthew.
Most scholars agree that the book of Mark was the first gospel to be written and that
Matthew and Luke used parts of Mark, along with an additional source called “Q” that
was common to both Matthew and Luke, but missing from Mark. It seems unlikely that
an eyewitness such as the Apostle Matthew would use Mark, who was not an apostle, as a
source. The Gospel of Matthew was probably written in about 85 or 90, which would
have made the Apostle Matthew quite old. In addition, the Gospel of Matthew uses the
word τελώνης (tax collector) almost as a pejorative (11:19, for example). Would the
Apostle Matthew, a former tax collector, have used the word in such a derogatory way 5
It is possible, however, that the Matthean church to which the gospel was addressed was
founded by or associated with the Apostle. 6
But, as Werner G. Marx claims, it is clear that the gospel was written by someone
with a solid understanding of money matters and taxes. Matthew makes 44 references to
3 Hans Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount Including the
Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3 – 7:27 and Luke 6:20-49) (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995): 428.
4 Betz, 433.
5 Werner G. Marx, “Money Matters in Matthew,” Biblioteca Sacra 542 (April – June, 1979): 150 (Arguing
for the opposite. His reasoning is not convincing).
6 Jack Dean Kingsbury. Matthew as Story, 2 nd Edition, Revised and Enlarged (Philadelphia:Fortress Press,
1988): 159.
2

money in his gospel, while Luke has 22 and Mark only 6. In the story of the Pharisees’
question about paying taxes to Caesar, Luke uses the native Greek word φόρον (20:22),
while Matthew uses the Roman term for poll tax, κ νσον. (22:17) Only Matthew tells the
story of the temple tax in which Peter, on Jesus’ instructions, miraculously pulls up a fish
with a coin it its mouth. The writer called the coin a στατ ρα, a “stater,” exactly the
amount needed to pay the temple tax for two people (17:24-27). 7
If the author of Matthew was interested in money, the community seems to have
been also. Based on clues within the gospel and writings from the outside, Jack Dean
Kingsbury theorizes that the Matthean Community was prosperous (as evidenced, for
example, by the use of many denominations of coinage in the gospel), and urban (as
evidenced by the frequency of the use of the word “city” in contrast with the other
synoptics). 8
Urbanization meant prosperity, as the economy would be changing from
agricultural to trade based. Urbanization meant that Matthew’s community was likely
moving from “an ethnically homogeneous constituency that was largely unlearned,
relatively poor and of low social status to an ethnically heterogeneous one that included
people more educated, more financially secure and successful, i.e., persons of higher
status.” 9 Therefore, it is not surprising to find these warning against materialism in the
middle of the Sermon on the Mount. The same message is given in other parts of the
gospel. Jesus says in the Parable of the Sower, “but the cares of the world and the lure of
wealth choke the word” (13:22). The Rich Young Man goes away grieving because he
7 Marx, 148-157.
8 Kingsbury, 152.
9 Michael H. Crosby, House of Disciples: Church, Economics and Justice in Matthew. (Maryknoll,
NY:Orbis Books, 1988): 39.
3

loves his possessions too much to give them away and follow Jesus (19:22). Jesus
astonishes the crowd when he tells them, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (19:23), and when
speaking of those who will not deny themselves in order to follow him, asks “What will it
profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life” (16:26)
Matthew’s Jesus does not, however, suggest a total repudiation of wealth. Rich
men like Joseph of Arimathea (27:57) are considered disciples. Jesus accepts the
hospitality of the rich (26:6, 18). Unlike in Luke, where Jesus orders, “Sell your
possessions, and give alms.” (Luke 12:33), Matthew’ Jesus says only, “Whenever you
give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you” (6:2). “Rather than make a futile and
misplaced call to his community to be poor, Matthew’s gospel offered a challenge for it
to be just toward the poor …While Luke’s has been called the gospel of the poor,
Matthew’s has often been called the gospel of justice.” 10 In the Mediterranean world, it
was accepted that there would be both poor and rich people. Jesus even says, “For you
always have the poor with you” (26:11). According to the parable of the sheep and the
goats (25:31-46), we are to be judged on how we treat the poor, not on whether we have
renounced worldly possessions.
“The parables of Jesus, so many of which have as their major characters
landlords and landowners, masters and stewards, slaveowners and slaves, never once
engage in polemic against the injustices of the economic system. So Jesus did not,
apparently, set himself to abolish private property or to redistribute wealth.” 11 It is not
10 Crosby, 42.
11 W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison. The Gospel According to Matthew, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1988): 644.
4

wealth or wealthy people that Jesus condemns, but idolatry of material things and a lack
of generosity that lead to oppression of the poor and needy.
Jesus warns us sternly, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate
the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and Mammon” (6:24). Mammon, μαμων , is not a Greek word, but
Aramaic. 12 It originally meant anything of value, but later came to mean profit,
especially unjust profit. In rabbinic sources and in each of the four times it is used in the
New Testament, Mammon has a pejorative sense. 13
Because it is perceived as a force,
the best English translation is materialism.
The ancient world knew that the pursuit of money and possessions was a form of
idolatry, and turned Mammon into a “pseudo-deity.” 14 By keeping the Aramaic term in
the passage, Matthew personifies “Mammon” and gives it an almost demonic character.
This was probably intentional. Like false idols, materialism is a powerful force that leads
us away from God and down paths of greed, self-indulgence, and addiction. Our
possessions begin to control us. By likening materialism to a demonic power, Jesus is
clear about its threat.
We need to be threatened, because materialism is insidious. In the prosperous
world of the Matthean community and in modern America, there is a danger that instead
of owning our possessions, our possessions begin to own us. In a survey of college
freshmen in 1966, 44% thought it was important to be well off, but that number had risen
to 73% thirty years later. It is probably even higher today. In 1966, 83% of the freshmen
thought a “philosophy of life” was important, but only 42% did in 1996. In modern
12 Christoffer H. Grundmann. “Mammon – It’s Biblical Perception.” Mission Studies 12 no. 2 (1995): 157.
13 Ibid. 158.
14 Betz, 458.
5

America, as was probably true in Matthew’s community, people think amassing
possessions will make them happier, but companionship and family are what actually do.
“Materialistic personalities” are more anxious, depressed, alienated, and aggressive. The
quest for material goods is competitive, and competition eventually erodes trust. 15
We
believe in the myth that wealth will makes us free, but instead find ourselves chained by
mistrust and jealousy. According to John C. Haughey, materialism “is a kind of illness
that has discernable symptoms. One of these is having an unshakable, low-grade anxiety.
If my trust is not deeply rooted in God, I have to conduct my life as if I were a sovereign,
since it all depends on me.” 16
Why can’t we balance both God and Mammon Obviously, in spite of what Jesus
says, it is possible to serve two masters. We can have two parents, two or more
employers, serve both our country and our church. If the two masters are in agreement,
all is well. The problems begin when our two masters are opposed. One parent says yes,
the other no. Both bosses need us to be at meetings at the same time. Our country asks
us to shoot and kill, but our church teaches reverence for life. Then we must
compromise, negotiate, or fail in our service to one of our masters.
But the word Matthew uses here, δουλεύειν, can mean both service and slavery. 17
We are to consider who owns us. God is no ordinary master, who will allow us to
negotiate a compromise when demands collide. “God, who demands self-sacrifice,
commands an exclusive allegiance and obligation which must transcend all other
15 Julian Edney, “Materialism, a Deepening Shadow,” www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish
/article_910.shtml (June 15, 2006).
16 John C. Haughey, “God and Mammon.” Living Pulpit 6 no.3 (July – September, 1997): 6.
17 Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W.; Arndt, William F.; and Gingrich, F. Wilber. A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3 rd ed. (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 2000): 259.
6

claimants for a person’s soul; while mammon, once it has its hooks in human flesh, will
drag it where it wills, all the time whispering in to the ear dreams of self-aggrandizement.
The marching orders of God and of mammon are in entirely different directions.” 18
There can be no compromise or sharing of loyalty between God and Mammon as
there can be between two employers. Instead, we will love one and hate the other. In
Jewish thought, “love” and “hate” can have emotional connotations, or they can indicate
choice. In the parallel phrase, Matthew uses νθέξεται, to cling to, and καταφρονήσει,
to despise or scorn. To love and to cling to is to prefer; to hate and despise it to turn
away. God acclaims Jesus, “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness”
(Hebrews 1:9a). Jesus warns the disciples, “Those who love their life lose it, and those
who hate their life in the world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Jesus tells the
disciples, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). In
these cases, love and hate do not indicate emotion, but choice. Jesus is asking to make a
simple choice: God or materialism. We can only serve one.
Haughey also tells us, “Another symptom of mammon illness is that we become
so taken up with self-provision and invested in the immediate objects of our trust that we
become unaware of others and their needs. One in fact becomes neighbor-numb, not
necessarily because of any intentional callousness but because there is so little time to
attend to anything or anyone else except our own objects of trust and ourselves.” 19
Materialism changes the way we look at the world.
18 Davies, 642.
19 Haughey, 6.
7

Jesus tells us, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your
whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full
of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Jesus is
speaking about being generous. He is making the observation that “what one does with
one’s eyes (a common vehicle by which desires enter into one’s life) colors one’s entire
self.” 20 The ancient association of eyes with lamps means that the eye gives off its own
light. “Pre-modern people tended to believe that the eyes contain a fire or light, and that
this fire or light is what makes sight possible.” 21 A lamp does not reflect or absorb light
from other sources, but shines from within. “The body is understood as something like a
vessel that is dark inside unless it is illuminated; the eyes serve as the instruments of such
illumination.” 22
In other words, eyes display the quality of light within the body.
Matthew contrasts two types of eyes here, πλο ς, which means “being
motivated by singleness of purpose so as to be open and aboveboard, single, without
guile, sincere, straightforward, i.e. without a hidden agenda,” 23 and πονηρ ς, which can
mean either wicked, evil and vicious, or unhealthy. 24 Thus, some have interpreted this
verse to be a contrast between the healthy and unhealthy eye, some between the good and
evil eye, and some between the generous and envious eye. This last is based on the use
of φθαλμός πονηρ ς (evil eye) in 20:15, where the landowner of the vineyard tells the
20 Craig L. Blomberg, “On Wealth and Worry: Matthew 6:19-34 – Meaning and Significance,” Criswell
Theological Review 6 (Fall, 1992): 78.
21 Davies, 635.
22 Betz, 451.
23 Bauer, 104.
24 Ibid. 851-852.
8

workers who felt cheated, literally, “Is your eye bad because I am good” meaning, “Are
you envious because I am generous”
In Greek Jewish literature, such as The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs,
πλο ς “denotes the ideal of the pious person who is devoting his life to the perfect
fulfillment of God’s will.” 25 Such a one is “a person of integrity… who resists the
world’s temptation; there is no duplicity in that person’s acting and thinking … that
person does not grudge one’s neighbor or pay attention to one’s defects…The true
person’s life is directed toward one goal: to love God and every human being.” 26
Hence,
in the passage from Matthew, the contrast is between the eye of integrity and mercy and
the eye of corruption.
The concept of an “evil eye” was prevalent in the ancient world. It could mean
anything from jealousy to a magical device for evil. According to Allison, “a bad eye …
is a selfish, ungenerous, miserly spirit, the companion of inner darkness.” 27
The evil eye
“comes from the ethical vocabulary of Judaism. It expresses the antithesis of generosity
– selfishness, covetousness, an evil and envious disposition, hatred of others.” 28 Because
of the location of the unit on the eyes in the center of two passages about devotion to
money, it seems that the best interpretation of the φθαλμός πλο ς and the φθαλμός
πονηρ ς are generous and greedy eyes, which, as lamps of the body, show forth the
generous or greedy characters within.
But eyes, of course, do more than reflect our characters. They focus our vision on
the things we find important and let the less important fade out. Materialism narrows our
25 Thomas Zockler, “Light within the Human Person: A Comparison of Matthew 6:22-23 and the Gospel of
Thomas 24.” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 no. 3 (Fall, 2001): 489-490.
26 Ibid. 490.
27 Davies, 640.
28 Allison, 143.
9

focus. We only see our own needs – the things we have that must be protected from
decay and theft, and the things we want and need. Those whose loyalty belongs to God,
on the other hand, are focused outwardly and are aware of the needs and sufferings of
others. Just as we can choose to focus either on things near or far when looking out at the
world, we can choose whether our spiritual focus is on the wide world or strictly on our
material possessions.
In this passage, Jesus also contrasts light and dark bodies. Light is a quality of
God. “O Lord my God,” the psalmist sings, “You are very great. You are clothed with
honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment” (Psalm 104:1-2). “For the Lord
will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (Psalm 60:19). Darkness
is the absence of God, which is why Hell, in spite of its fire, is a dark place. 29
If our eyes are generous, focused on the needs of the world, our bodies will be
filled with light. If our eyes are greedy, focused on our own or others’ material
possessions, the light is removed, and our bodies are dark. As Jesus laments, if the light
of God goes out in us, how great is the darkness! It is the difference between heaven and
hell.
We focus on and give our hearts to the things that we think will bring us security.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and
where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
moth and rust do not consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6:19-21).
Treasure can be anything valued, loved and protected. In this passage, however,
because the earthly treasure can be eaten by insects or stolen by thieves, it clearly refers
29 Allison, 144.
10

to material possessions. Jesus warns us not to treasure material things for two reasons:
they are temporal and can be destroyed or taken away from us, and storing them up keeps
us from storing up spiritual treasure. We are given an either/or choice. Our hearts can
only be in one place.
Materialism blinds us to the ephemeral nature of earthly possessions. Betz says,
“Everything on this earth is subject to perishability. This is a fact of life and everyone
should know it, but people are normally ignorant or defiant, thinking that they alone can
escape from the destiny awaiting all material goods.” 30 The Psalmist warns that we can’t
take it with us. “Do not be afraid when some become rich, when the wealth of their
houses increases. For when they die they will carry nothing away; their wealth will not
go down after them” (Psalm 49:16-17). Belief in the security of material things is folly.
Fine fabrics draw moths, money corrodes, riches are stolen away from us. “‘Take care!
Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the
abundance of possessions’” (Luke 12:15). Jesus then goes on to tell the Parable of the
Rich Fool who stored up his abundance of grain and said to himself, “‘Soul, you have
ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to
him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you
have prepared, whose will they be’ So it is with those who store up treasures for
themselves but are not rich toward God” (Luke 19-21). The rich fool is not an evil man,
just a fool who thought extra material things would keep him safe. 31
Seeking security in earthly possessions keeps us from seeking security in God.
When our time, talents and money are given over to earning and protecting things, we
30 Betz, 433.
31 Barbara Brown Taylor, “Treasure Hunt: Luke 12:13-21” Review & Expositor 99 no.1 (Winter 2002):
101.
11

lose our focus on God and are easily led astray. The author of First Timothy says, “Those
who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful
desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). We should “strive first for
the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (6:33), because those who strive first to store
up possessions can find everything wiped out in a single moment. If we try to find
security in material things, we are tempted by pride, idolatry, greed, and selfishness. We
can then be tempted to cheat others, steal, falsify records, and lie to the authorities.
Sabbath rest is given over to the making and spending of money, and we begin to judge
people solely by their wealth. We must be on guard against the “love of money” which
steals our loyalty.
Jesus does not explain what treasures in heaven are, other than they are beyond
the threat of destruction and theft. Because of the location of the pericope, it is likely
Matthew considered treasuring treasures in heaven to be doing deeds of righteousness:
giving alms, fasting and prayer, which were discussed in the previous triad of the Sermon
on the Mount. Fasting helps us realize what (and how little!) we truly need, and leads us
to a spirit of gratitude. Prayer keeps us humble, as we recognize and submit to the power
of the Holy One and keep ourselves focused on God. Almsgiving especially fits, because
it has the dual advantage of reducing earthly treasure while depositing acts of piety in
heaven. The Book of Tobit says, “If you have many possessions, make your gift from
them in proportion; if few; do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. So
you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. For
12

almsgiving delivers from death and keeps you from going into the Darkness” (Tobit 4:8-
10). In Acts, Cornelius is told by an angel, “’Your prayers and your alms have ascended
as a memorial before God’” (Acts 10:4). Jesus tells The Rich Young Man that if he sells
his possessions and gives the money to the poor, he will have treasure in heaven (19:21).
Jesus promises heavenly rewards to those who perform acts of mercy. At the last
judgment, those who take care of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick,
and the imprisoned (the “least of these who are members of my family”) will “inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (25:31-46). Those who give
up houses or family for Jesus “will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life”
(19:29-30). The issue is not whether we should expect a reward for our deeds, but
whether the reward will be earthly or heavenly. 32
The heavenly reward, however, as Allison tells us, is “in no way calculable.” 33
The basis for our reward is love, which cannot be quantified or balanced. How can we
hope to love enough to match the love of God In The Parable of the Workers in the
Vineyard (20:1-16), those who worked only an hour received the same pay as those who
had worked all day, which tells us that God is unexpectedly generous (although our first
inclination is to shout, “That’s not fair!”). We often receive much more than we deserve.
“Despite his words about reward and punishment, Jesus discouraged people from
measuring their religious achievements and calculating divine rewards.” 34
According to Betz, the verses about treasure are concerned with abundance and
with the Golden Rule of treating others as we would hope to be treated. “Abundance, to
the extent that it is available, is there to be shared. Its purpose is not to be hoarded as
32 Ibid. 634.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
13

useless treasures. The faithful disciples, therefore, will share in what God provides, and
that means they will partly use it and partly pass it on to others.” 35 Our excess goods are
not to be stored up and hoarded. They are to be given away. “One is to accept God’s
generosity in the spirit of human generosity, and in turn it will generate more generosity;
this increase in generosity will not only assure survival in the present circumstances but it
will also amount to ‘treasures in heaven.’” 36 As an illustration, my church supports Heifer
International, a charity group that provides young female cows, goats, chickens and other
animals to villages in Africa and throughout the world. The idea is that the animal will
provide milk or eggs to the village, and then be bred so that another young female can be
given to another village. A simple act of generosity leads to abundance which can then
be shared. As Betz would say, the villagers give their surplus animals away so that their
generosity can generate more generosity. Through their giving, the villagers store
treasures in heaven.
Jesus expects us to be people of integrity, whose security and focus and loyalties
are all in accord and oriented in the same direction: serving and loving God by being
open-hearted and generous to all of God’s people. Matthew has placed three parallel
sayings about money together to reflect three ways of doing so: trusting in the long-term
reward of heaven over the transient rewards of earthly possessions, having a generous
focus that is aware of the needs of others instead of a selfish focus that only sees our own
desires, and avoiding the enslavement of materialism. We should serve instead to our
loving, merciful and gracious God, for only then will our souls be filled with light.
35 Betz, 432.
36 Ibid.
14

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allison, Dale C. The Sermon on the Mount: Inspiring the Moral Imagination. New York:
Herder & Herder, 1999.
Attridge, Harold W. ed., The HarperCollins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version.
San Francisco: HarperCollinsSanFrancisco, 2006.
Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W.; Arndt, William F.; and Gingrich, F. Wilber. A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian
Literature. 3 rd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Berry, George Ricker. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament with Lexicon and
Synonyms. Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1990.
Betz, Hans Dieter. The Sermon on the Mount: A Commentary on the Sermon on the
Mount Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3 – 7:27 and Luke 6:20-
49). Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995.
Blomberg, Craig L. “On Wealth and Worry: Matthew 6:19-34 – Meaning and
Significance.” Criswell Theological Review 6 (Fall, 1992): 73-89.
Boice, James Montgomery, The Sermon on the Mount: An Exposition. Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan, 1972.
Crosby, Michael H. House of Disciples: Church, Economics and Justice in Matthew.
Maryknoll, NY:Orbis Books, 1988.
Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison. The Gospel According to Matthew, Vol 1.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1988.
Fleer, David and Dave Bland, editors. Preaching the Sermon on the Mount: The World It
Imagines. St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2007.
Grundmann, Christoffer H. “Mammon – It’s Biblical Perception.” Mission Studies 12 no.
2 (1995): 157-163.
Haughey, John C. “God and Mammon.” Living Pulpit 6 no.3 (July – September, 1997): 6.
The Interpreter’s Bible: The Holy Scriptures in the King James and Revised Standard
Version with General Articles and Introduction, Exegesis, Exposition for Each
Book of the Bible, Volume VII, New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1951.
15

Kingsbury, Jack Dean. Matthew as Story, 2 nd Edition, Revised and Enlarged.
Philadelphia:Fortress Press, 1988.
Marx, Werner G. “Money Matters in Matthew.” Biblioteca Sacra 542 (April – June,
1979): 148-157.
Overman, J. Andrew. Church and Community in Crisis: The Gospel According to
Matthew. Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1996.
Sahi, Jyoti. “Mammon and Myth: The Market Pictured as a Monster.” Mission Studies
13 no. 1-2 (1996): 268-280.
Taylor, Barbara Brown. “Treasure Hunt: Luke 12:13-21” Review & Expositor 99 no.1
(Winter 2002): 97-104.
Zockler, Thomas. “Light within the Human Person: A Comparison of Matthew 6:22-23
and Gospel of Thomas 24.” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 no. 3 (Fall, 2001):
487-499.
16