The previous article suggested that the Beatitudes are an outline-in-reverse for the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. By recognizing that structure, we are able to keep the whole Sermon in mind, at least its topics and the order of those topics. This article discusses another technique that Jesus uses in the Sermon to help us ‘remember his teaching in detail.
Let’s begin with a little quiz. Can you complete the following sayings of Jesus? “Render unto Caesar…” “The harvest is plenteous, but…” “Wheresoever the carcase is, there…” Of course you can. How is it that we can remember so many of Christ’s sayings? Because they are poetry. They have rhythm. Jesus uses easily recognizable parallels and contrasts. He repeats words and phrases. He uses the same simple structures over and over. In short, Jesus speaks poetry. Not like our rhymes, but like the Old Testament prophets. This article attempts to show that the Sermon on the Mount is filled (to the brim) with such poetic sayings.
Four-part paradoxes
The most basic rhythm that Jesus uses is the four-part paradox. Four-part paradoxes have four key words arranged in two pairs. They may convey two parallel or two contrasting ideas.
Following are two Old Testament examples of this rhythm.
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” (Jer. 13:23).
“He looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry” (Isa. 5:7).
The Sermon on the Mount has many examples of four-part paradoxes.
“Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also” (Mt. 5:39).“And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
let him have thy cloke also” (Mt. 5:40).“Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy” (Mt. 5:43).
“Love your enemies,and pray for them which persecute you” (Mt. 5:44 RV).“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Mt. 7:6).“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Mt. 7:15).“Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Mt. 7:16).
Furthermore, there are four-part paradoxes back-to-back.
“If therefore thine eye be single,
thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness” (Mt. 6:22-23).“Either he will hate the one,
and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one,
and despise the other” (Mt. 6:24).“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread,
will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish,
will he give him a serpent?” (Mt. 7:9-10).
And the parable of the mote and the beam (Mt. 7:3-5) consists of three parallel four-part paradoxes back-to-back.
Repetition to aid memory
Jesus uses crisp repetitions to make sayings memorable. Repetition is Jesus way of emphasizing words and phrases, just like our use of italic and bold-face type Such emphasis makes an impact on our minds, so we can remember the lesson longer.
Some examples are:
“Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Mt. 5:37).
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11).
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Mt. 6:12).
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself” (Mt. 6:34).
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. With what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged” (Mt. 7:1-2).
“Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord. ..Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord…” (Mt. 7:21-22).
“For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt. 6:32-33).
The Greek word translated “commit adultery” occurs four times in Mt. 5:27,28,31-32. And the Greek word translated “take thought” (be anxious, RV) occurs six times in Mt. 6:25-34.
Parallels
Parallels are similar to repetitions. Whereas repetitions emphasize key words and phrases, parallels tend to provide or depend on structure.
“Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time…
Whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
But I say unto you,
That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement:
and (it was said to them?)
Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but (I say to you?)
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Mt. 5:21-22).“Swear not at all;
neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
nor by the earth; for it is his footstool;
neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Neither shalt thou swear by the head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black” (Mt. 5:34-36).“Be hallowed thy name. Be come thy kingdom. Be done thy will” (Mt. 6:9-10 from the Greek).
“Have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Mt. 7:22).
In addition, Jesus gives the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-10), the example of God (Mt. 5:45), the exhortation on almsgiving, prayer, and fasting (Mt. 6:1-6,16-18; 7:7-8), and the parables of “The Fowls of the Air” and “The Lilies of the Field” (Mt. 6:26,28-30) each in parallel form.
And the six occurrences of “Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time…But I say unto you…” determine the structure of Mt. 5:21-48.
Contrasts
Jesus also uses contrasts to make his points memorable. Like repetitions and parallels, sharp contrasts stick in our minds.
“I came not to destroy, but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17 RV).
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:19).
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Mt. 6:19-20).“Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Mt. 7:17-18).
There are also examples of extended contrasts.
“Enter ye in at the strait gate:
for wide is the gate,
and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it” (Mt. 7:13-14).
Brackets
Another structural technique that Jesus uses is to bracket a section by repeating the same word or phrase at the beginning and end of the section. For example, “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3,10), “Your father which is in heaven” (Mt. 5:45,48), “No man can serve two masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 6:24), and “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Mt. 7:16,20 RV) are each brackets enclosing their respective sections.
Two stanzas with a chorus
One of the more elaborate rhythms that Jesus uses has two stanzas, which can be either parallels or contrasts, with a chorus that is repeated at the end of each stanza.
“And if thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Mt. 5:29-30).“For if you love them that love you,
what reward have ye?
do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others?
do not even the Gentiles the same?” (Mt. 5:46-47 RV).
Mt. 6:19-20 is another example. See also Mt. 24:40-41 and Mk. 8:19-20 for the same pattern.
The rest of the techniques that we will look at are not as common in the Sermon on the Mount. In each case, we’ll give an example and some other references.
Anticipatory prohibition
“Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets”
(Mt. 5:17 RV; cp. Mt. 3:9; 6:7-9; 6:13; 10:5-6; 10:28; 10:34).
Where…there…
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”
(Mt. 6:21; cp. Mt. 24:28).
A paragraph closer
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Mt. 6:35; cp. Mt. 10:10; 10:36; 11:19 for the same pattern).
Inverted parallelism
“(a) Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,
(b) neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
(b) lest they trample them under their feet,
(a) and turn again and rend you” (Mt. 7:6).
Concluding comments
The components of the parallels and contrasts go together naturally: heaven/ earth/world, least/great, kill/angry, Raca/fool, adversary/judge/officer, heaven/ earth/Jerusalem, heaven/throne, earth/footstool, Jerusalem/city, white/black, yea/ nay, coat/cloke, neighbor/enemy, sun/rain, evil/good, just/unjust, publicans/Gentiles, almsgiving/prayer/fasting, moth/rust/thieves, single/evil, light/darkness, life/ food, body/clothes, holy/pearls, dogs/swine, ask/seek/knock, receive/find/opened unto, bread/stone, fish/serpent, gate/way, wide/strait, broad/narrow, destruction/ life, many/few, sheep/wolves, grapes/figs, thorns/thistles, good/evil, tree/fruit, prophesied/cast out demons/wonderful works, wise/foolish, rock/sand.
In the Beatitudes Jesus provides an outline-in-reverse for the Sermon on the Mount so we can remember its general structure. His use of poetry helps us to remember the specific sayings in the Sermon. Recognizing both of these teaching techniques, we should be able to remember the entire Sermon of our Lord. Without doubt, this is what Jesus, the Word made flesh, would have us do.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One