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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 7

1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.⁠ 2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive.⁠ 3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own?⁠ 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.⁠ 6 Do not give what is holy to dogs⁠ or throw your pearls before pigs;⁠ otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.⁠ 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;⁠ knock and the door will be opened for you.⁠ 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.⁠ 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!⁠ 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you,⁠ for this fulfills the law and the prophets.⁠ 13 “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.⁠ 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it! 15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.⁠ 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?⁠ 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit.⁠ 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.⁠ 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’⁠ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.⁠ 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’⁠ 24 “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.⁠ 25 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed—it was utterly destroyed!” 28 When Jesus finished saying these things,⁠ the crowds were amazed by his teaching,⁠ 29 because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law.

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Compare Matthew 7:8 and Luke 11:10 and Gospel of Thomas 94

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

In Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells people to ask, seek and knock because the Father answers them. In the Gospel of Thomas, only seeking and knocking remain, keeping the promise of discovery without the direct instruction to pray.

Passages

Matthew 7:8

New Testament
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Luke 11:10

New Testament
9 “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

Gospel of Thomas 94

Nag Hammadi
93 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, lest they throw it on the dung heap. Do not throw pearls to pigs, lest they… [trample it].” 94 Jesus said, “Whoever seeks will find, and whoever knocks, it will be opened for him.” 95 Jesus said, “If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to one from whom you will not get it back.”
135–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Thomas

References

“... Non-canonical parallels shed only limited additional light on the question. The non-canonical parallels to the ‘seeking’ sayings in Mt 7:7-8 par are numerous (cf. OxyP 654:2; GThom 2, 92, 94; GTr 17:3-4; GMary 8:20-1; DialSav 126:7-10, 129:15-16; GHeb 4). Crossan distinguishes the ‘seeking’ sayings, however, from the ‘asking’ trajectory. He follows Koester in suggesting that Q was not the source for the ‘seeking-finding’ sayings and that these were not originally directed towards general assurance about one’s prayerful requests. Originally the ‘seeking’ sayings were along the lines of the saying about ‘seeking the kingdom’ in Mt 6:31-3/Lk 12:29-31. [...] The parallels with Lk 10:21-4 par in any case apply mainly to part of Mt 7:7-8 par and not at all to Mt 7:9-11 par, so the theme of ‘revelation’ is hardly dominant in Mt 7:7-11 par. As the collection in Mt 7:7-11 par now stands, ‘asking’ is the most prominent theme, and ‘seeking’ is clearly subsidiary. ...”
Ronald A. Piper, Wisdom in the Q-Tradition: The Aphoristic Teaching of Jesus, SNTSMS 61 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 23–24.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 7:8 and Luke 11:10 and Gospel of Thomas 94

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