ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς: Matt. 7:11; ΜΚ 11:25. τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν oupavoîs: Matt. 5:45.

But in the Lukan passage it reads thus:

ὁ πατὴρ [ὁ]ι ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἅγιον.

It ought therefore to be translated: "How much more shall the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." If the second article be omitted, as in Sinaiticus, it should be read: "How much more shall the Father give the Holy Spirit out of heaven to them that ask him." But as the omission is an easy oversight, it may be concluded, perhaps, that the intended phrase is "the heavenly Father." The qualification of "Father" by è oupavoû in this passage apparently has its basis in the desire to use phrasing which should distinguish the "Father" meant in the latter part of the saying from the natural father. It seems to be the purpose of Jesus to find in the conduct of a natural father toward his son the guarantee of the kindly disposition of his Father, the Father of mankind, toward all men. Since it is a setting of father beside Father, it may be that, in referring to God as Father at this time, Jesus intended the distinction suggested by the phrase, è ovpavoû. If so, this forms the single case in the above thirteen passages where "heaven" or "heavenly" is assuredly attributable to Jesus as a part of his designation of God. And here he does it not in the fixed formulae of the Matthaean tradition, but by e oupavou. But, at the best, it will be felt that § oúpavov is an exceedingly difficult phrase to interpret as meaning that the Father resides in heaven.

ἐξ

Attention may now be directed to the nine passages where Matthew cannot be checked by a parallel. Naturally in these passages, beThis ò is omitted by Codex Sinaiticus and some other MSS.

cause of the absence of parallels, there can be no conclusive evidence adduced as to the source of the phrase. At the most, one must rest satisfied with reasonable conjecture as to probabilities in these passages. Prominent among these is

DOCUMENT M §27

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, the heavenly (ò oúpários). Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, the Christ.

It will probably be concluded from any careful study of the reputed references of Jesus to himself as the Christ that it is unlikely that Jesus here said "the Christ." It is believed, on the basis of such study, that he went no farther than the assertion, "for one is your master." Similarly, it may be urged, on the ground of results already attained, that he did not here add "the heavenly," but said simply, "for one is your Father." His three successive assertions probably

and it is seemingly not his intention that any of them be applied to himself. He is directing the mind of his disciples to the fact that they and he are the associated servants of the one God in a ministry of service to men, and that for them as for himself there is one law of attainment to the dignity involved in the religious titles, “teacher," "father," "master":

But be not ye called Rabbi . . . . but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and

whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.

The concluding verse in the parable of the Unforgiving Servant belongs to those reputed portions of the parables which have to do with their more or less extended exposition:

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So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.

The study of these explicative conclusions for the determining as to whether they are a part of the parabolic method of Jesus would be an extended investigation in itself, and will not be entered upon here, except to suggest the need for closely examining each of them independently as to its probabilities. That done with reference to the present verse, there results the conviction that it is an unsatisfying

application of so notable a parable. It apparently represents God in the attitude of a wrathful overlord delivering men to the tormentors because they have not been forgiving. It was enough, it seems, to accept the obvious meaning of the parable standing alone, and to leave the deduction of Jesus' thought to the individual hearer or reader in his turn. It ought to be observed, further, that both in source and sense this expository verse apparently belongs with Matt. 6:14, 15, derived by Matthew from document MK 11:25; and that the considerations advanced in the above discussion of MK 11:25 have validity as explanatory of the appearance of the phrase in the present verse.

Yet another passage is involved in the decision whether the "even so" was a part of that which Jesus felt to be necessary to the effectiveness of his figurative teaching:

DOCUMENT M 82B

Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Of course, it will be had in mind constantly that, should the decision be favorable to the verse as a whole in any case, this does not necessarily carry with it the originality of "which is in heaven,” for the passages are all quite complete without passing beyond "Father."

No more striking exhibit of the satisfying completeness of the simple term "Father" may be found than is to be seen in document M §§10-12, where it occurs five times. Yet within the general exhortation by which those sections are introduced there has come to be added to "Father" the customary "which is in heaven," thus:

DOCUMENT M 89

Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father which is in heaven.

It is precisely this contrast between "men" and "Father" which is carried out in detail in the succeeding verses; yet "which is in heaven" is not again added to the oft-recurring "Father."

It is not a question as to the original nature of the verse as a whole,1 but only of the special phrase, in such a passage as

2 On the occurrence of the phrase in Matt. 18:10, see pp, 359-72; in Matt. 18:14, see pp. 266, 267; in Matt. 18:19, see pp. 334-39.

This study of the occurrences of "heaven" and "heavenly" in connection with "Father" as the designation of God has been made because of the very large number of times it is credited to Jesus by Matthew, and because of the tendency of that trend in usage to give a definite localization to God in heaven, as at least the center and primary scene of his presence and activity. For such a conception has its bearing upon the idea of "heaven" as a future abode of the blessed.

It should be observed at this point, however, that as yet there has not come under review any passage in which "heaven" has appeared with any future signification. By going back of the inquiry just concluded, it will be noted that the first considerable body of passages referred to "heaven" simply as the counterpart of earth in the universal whole, Nature. Following these are several uses which have a more or less supramundane meaning, in the sense that they give recognition to "heaven" as something more than that which complements the earth. But the most that could be inferred from them was that in "heaven" there are beings capable of doing the will of God and devoted to that activity. If it is to be surmised that God also is there, that must be a deduction from the fact that his will is there supreme, or must be a conclusion from the passages containing "Father which is in heaven" or "heavenly Father." But it is of importance to hold clearly in mind that, whatever be one's judgment as to the worth of the preceding critical suggestions in this study of "heaven" as used by Jesus, this judgment is being exercised upon passages no one of which has any direct reference to the future. The justification for this extended study of passages which lie outside the precise scope of the present investigation is to be found in the implications of these passages as supporting or as giving denial to the present-day popular thought as to the mode of Jesus' use of "heaven." It is the negative aspect of an inquiry which, it may be supposed, has also its positive side.

Among those passages which are taken to indicate with greatest clearness the positive meaning of "heaven" as a future place of abode for the righteous are the several which speak of "treasure in heaven."

MATTHAEAN P §26

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

In this exhortation that antithesis of earth and heaven is basal, as the complementary parts of the universe, which is seen in so many of the instances of Jesus' use of “heaven":

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth"

This nature reference is, however, only the substratum of the saying, the original contrast. As superior in position, the heaven came to stand for the superior in quality, as found especially in moral and religious valuations. Presently "heaven" stood as the symbol of good and God. It is from this stage in the development of the signification of "heaven" that the saying of Jesus comes. To lay up for oneself treasures in heaven is to devote oneself to the good and to God so completely that one's powers will not be spent upon the accumulation of treasures upon earth, to devote oneself so completely that growth in treasure attackable by moth and rust will always be subsidiary to growth in character which neither moth nor rust can consume nor any thief break through and steal. This treasure in heaven is not meant by Jesus, it seems, as a future inheritance, but as a present possession. Even in the days as they pass, it becomes the actually realized substitutionary possession for the treasures upon the earth to the laying-up of which one might have devoted oneself.

If this is the correct interpretation of the thought of Jesus here, then the saying gives no support to a future content for "heaven," no support to the position that "heaven" is a place of future abode, toward the assuring of which contribution is made by turning aside, in the present, from the pursuit of riches to the pursuit of that which will yield a different type of riches at a more distant period and location. Happily, the meaning of Jesus here is made independent of present-day judgment upon these words by another saying in which one member of the antithesis is the same as here, that is, "treasures upon the earth." The other member corresponds, therefore, to that idea which he here covers by the phrase "treasures in heaven." This illuminative saying stands as the conclusion to the parable of the Foolish Rich Man:

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So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.