We are studying Matthew 6:19-34 for Sunday, June 6. The text presents part of Jesus’s teaching, in particular the teaching on not being anxious about material things and the future. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to consider or discuss in class:
In verses 19-21, Jesus tells his audience not to “treasure up treasure” on earth, but rather in heaven. What do we think it means to treasure up or lay up treasure “in heaven”? What would be an example or two of that? What gives us that idea?
What do we mean by “treasure”?
How do our examples connect with Jesus’s observation about “where your heart is”?
How would or could the light within a person be darkness?
[More personal] How confident are we that the light within us is light rather than darkness? Why?
What does it mean to “strive first for the kingdom [of God] and its/his righteousness”? What would be an example or two of doing that? What gives us that idea?
Jesus uses birds and flowers as examples of not being anxious about the future. In what ways are people similar to birds and flowers? In what ways are they different? Do these similarities and differences have anything to do with humans’ anxieties, do we think? How?
Why do we think Jesus thinks we do not need to be anxious about food, drink, and clothing? What does Jesus’s attitude tell us about how he understands reality?
[More personal] Do we share Jesus’s perception of reality? Why is that, do we think? Could we, do we think? What would need to change? How would or could that happen, do we think?
Image: “The Conversation,” Arnold Lakhovsky, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Matters of Interpretation 