Greater and Lesser Attitudes

When sage advice is given, sometimes it is presented in phrases that at first glance seem somewhat paradoxical. Consider this line from Frank Herbert, the author of Dune: "Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty." Another funny thing about a lot of these modern aphorisms is that, in many cases, the ideas they express have long since been written; many of them are found in the Bible. This one from Mr. Herbert is very similarly stated in 1 Peter 2:15-16.

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

Here's another from Mark Twain: "Good judgment is the result of experience and experience the result of bad judgment." Statements such as these strike a chord because they seem almost contradictory on the surface, which makes them more impactful when they are understood. Consider one such saying spoken by Christ Himself: "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him" (Matt. 13:12).

Now that seems a rather out-of-character statement for the Son of God, doesn't it? Someone who already has enough will receive more, and someone who does not have enough will have even what little he possesses taken away? The initial reading comes off as downright oppressive. It stands in stark contrast to the statements Jesus made at the opening of the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (Matt. 5:3-6).

Those first four beatitudes can be very roughly summarized as, "Those who are in need will be given relief." That principle seems like the opposite of what He says later in Matthew 13:12. Moreover, Jesus also demonstrated by His actions that He came here to serve those who are poor and oppressed, as evidenced by His curing the sick. The blind and the lame, for example, are among those who have little.

It seems even more contradictory when we also consider that He frequently rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees (i.e., those who had much). In light of these things, the question must be asked: "How do we reconcile the statement in Matthew 13:12 with Jesus' other teachings?"

Consider first the verse when taken out of context. Is it true that those who already have will tend to get more, and those who don't will tend to lose even what they do have? It's a generalization; so, there are exceptions, but it is usually true. From a monetary perspective, it is much easier to obtain greater wealth when one is already wealthy, as opposed to someone stricken by poverty, for whom it is incredibly difficult to get out of. Does this have to do with what Jesus meant? To find that out, we must do what ought always be done to determine the meaning of God's Word—look at the context.

At the start of Matthew 13, Jesus relates the parable of the sower to a multitude so large that He had to get in a boat and push off slightly from shore in order to better address them (v. 2). After finishing the parable, His disciples (the apostles) asked Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He answered and said to them:

"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand" (13:10-13).

They asked a good question. Why did Jesus speak in parables? Why not just make things as obvious as possible? Jesus answers that the difference between others and His chosen disciples: the mysteries would be explained to the latter, but not the former. Why? He expounds further in verses 14-15 by quoting Isaiah 6:9-10. In that quote, He says the people will see and hear, but won't understand or perceive because their hearts have grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing.

He's saying, in other words, the Israelites have become lazy and don't care about understanding and obeying God's will; so, therefore, He's not going to make it easy for them to understand. It was a rebuke to their lack of attention and understanding of God's Word, which Israel had had for centuries at this point (and this generation had the Law and the Prophets both in the original Hebrew and the Septuagint). It was also a fulfillment of prophecy, given that Jesus just quoted the passage from Isaiah that predicted the scenario that transpired in Matthew 13.

There, then, is the meaning of Matthew 13:12—that those who have much (in this case, His disciples) would be given even more (i.e., further explanation regarding Jesus' message). But those who had little (in this case, the immediate crowd, but more broadly, all of Israel) would have even what little they did have taken away. That is to say, they already didn't respect God enough to keep His commandments; so, Jesus wasn't going to make it easy for them to get out of their spiritual poverty—at least, not yet. He then immediately makes good on His word and explains to the apostles the meaning of the parable of the sower in verses 18-23.

The Second Passage

However, there is more. Jesus repeats Matthew 13:12 almost verbatim in 25:29—"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." The context is a bit different, though it still involves parables. This time, it is that of the ten virgins, followed by the talents recounted in verses 1-30.

In both of them, Jesus indicates who will be saved and who will be lost. The saved are those that are diligent in keeping God's commandments, looking forward to Jesus' coming, and not squandering the time and blessings we're given in this life. The lost are those that are lazy, prideful, and/or foolish, failing to use their time wisely and not taking the gospel seriously. The saved will, like the wise virgins and the 5-talent and 2-talent man, be rewarded in addition to what they already had. The lost will, like the foolish virgins and the 1-talent man, be cast, "into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v. 30).

Notice the parallel? Those who have much will be given more, and those who have little will lose even that. Both times that Jesus states the aphorism under discussion, it is in regard to one's faith and humility. Therefore, Matthew 13:12 and 25:29 do not contradict Jesus' teachings; it perfectly aligns with them. Moreover, it is in keeping with God's wisdom that had already been written down for centuries by the time Jesus restated it. It came first by the hand of Solomon in Proverbs 3:34, and is quoted in James 4:6: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Reflect again on Matthew 13 and how that verse applies to it. Jesus was resisting the proud (the Jews of His day) and giving grace to the humble (those who were willing to follow Him). The two parts of Proverbs 3:34 perfectly mirror Matthew 13:12 because both of them have to do with greater and lesser attitudes.

God resists the proud (those who have little) and will take away what little they have. These people are too self-absorbed to humble themselves—not even for their Creator. That is contrasted with those who are humble before God—those who already have at least some degree of the proper attitude, for whom Jesus said He would make it even easier to know and obey God's will.

Perhaps the most obvious and earliest demonstration of this principle in action is found in Genesis 4; Cain and Abel exemplify each end of the adage—Cain representing him who has little (and for whom it will only get worse) and Abel, who has much and will receive yet more honor. Both men started at the same position, receiving God's commandment regarding the required sacrifices. Abel, having the greater attitude, character, and integrity, submitted to God and made the proper sacrifice. God then reciprocated Abel's respect (Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11:4).

Cain, possessing the lesser character, flouted God's commandment. He brought to God what he desired to bring rather than what was commanded. God then reciprocated Cain's disrespect (Gen. 4:5-7; Heb. 11:4), and it only got worse for him when he acted on his jealousy and murdered his brother (Gen. 4:8-14).

A poignant example in the New Testament (that happens to be in the same chapter as the main verse under consideration) would be when Jesus returned to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue there. The Jews there derided Him as merely being the son of Joseph, a lowly carpenter. They were offended at His teachings, which they pridefully interpreted as presumptuousness—when in fact they were the ones guilty of such.

Notice the end of that passage: "Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matt. 13:58). This is a very good demonstration of verse 12 in action. God, and therefore Jesus, is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). But He refused to perform miracles even in His hometown because doing so would unequivocally prove His words. Again, why not just make it obvious? "Because of their unbelief." They already had little regard for the Scripture which Jesus surely used when He was teaching them (Matt. 13:54). He therefore did not deem them worthy of further miraculous explanation.

This theme is found throughout the Bible; Matthew 13:12 is merely the most succinct articulation of it. It is certainly still true today. To apply it, we must ask ourselves: "Is my behavior / attitude like that of the crowd, with dull hearts? Or is it like the apostles, who gave up their lives and left everything to follow Him (Matt. 19:27)?" Are we acting like Abel? Or are we acting like his recalcitrant brother? Are we like the 5-talent and 2-talent men—or like the one who prospered his master nothing? All Christians must aspire to have the greater, humbler attitude, and resist the lesser, prideful attitude.