Matthew 7:7a, 9
"Ask, and it shall be given you...what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread will he give him a stone?"
The "ask and you shall receive" thing can easily, of course, be read wrongly. It can be understood (common sensically) that what is not meant is that God will grant you whatever you ask for as though He were a genie in a bottle. Or an ATM machine. But wouldn't we like an ATM? Or a genie? There is a strong desire for that unfettered access to great power and wealth. Therefore, there is a desire to bend the words just a little.. Why? Do we think God will take our understanding of the words, slap his forehead, thank us for showing Him the light, and give us whatever we ask for however poorly it fits our needs or His plans? Seems unlikely.
Instead, Jesus sets a limit to this proposition immediately. He compares this relationship to the father/child relationship. If your child asks for fish will you give a serpent instead. Clearly not. Of course, those who want to see this set of verses as stating that God will give whatever we ask can point again and say "See? If I ask for a million dollars, He won't give me measles." But what Jesus has to say in verse nine can easily be read in the converse manner as well. That is, of course if you ask God for bread, you won't get a stone, but what if you ask God for a stone or a serpent? What if you ask for something bad for yourself? Will He put aside eternal wisdom, throw up His hands and give what you ask? Well, if your child were to ask for a rattlesnake, would you give it?
Generally, when children ask their parents for bad things - drugs, alcohol, "please mom, can't we host an orgy in our living room? You'd be the coolest mom on the block..." and their parents hand them over, we think they are bad parents. God's goodness is found in what He gives AND what He witholds. We would all agree that this is true of human parents, but it is no less true of the Almighty.
The "ask and you shall receive" thing can easily, of course, be read wrongly. It can be understood (common sensically) that what is not meant is that God will grant you whatever you ask for as though He were a genie in a bottle. Or an ATM machine. But wouldn't we like an ATM? Or a genie? There is a strong desire for that unfettered access to great power and wealth. Therefore, there is a desire to bend the words just a little.. Why? Do we think God will take our understanding of the words, slap his forehead, thank us for showing Him the light, and give us whatever we ask for however poorly it fits our needs or His plans? Seems unlikely.
Instead, Jesus sets a limit to this proposition immediately. He compares this relationship to the father/child relationship. If your child asks for fish will you give a serpent instead. Clearly not. Of course, those who want to see this set of verses as stating that God will give whatever we ask can point again and say "See? If I ask for a million dollars, He won't give me measles." But what Jesus has to say in verse nine can easily be read in the converse manner as well. That is, of course if you ask God for bread, you won't get a stone, but what if you ask God for a stone or a serpent? What if you ask for something bad for yourself? Will He put aside eternal wisdom, throw up His hands and give what you ask? Well, if your child were to ask for a rattlesnake, would you give it?
Generally, when children ask their parents for bad things - drugs, alcohol, "please mom, can't we host an orgy in our living room? You'd be the coolest mom on the block..." and their parents hand them over, we think they are bad parents. God's goodness is found in what He gives AND what He witholds. We would all agree that this is true of human parents, but it is no less true of the Almighty.
posted by Steven at 2:21 PM
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