Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 12, Jesus defines his family by obedience to his Father; in Luke 8, by hearing and obeying God. The preacher in 2 Clement mixes Matthew's language with Luke's sentence structure, likely using an earlier, traditional blend of the sayings.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 12:50
New Testament
45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!” 46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and brothers came and stood outside, asking to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.” 48 To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 49 And pointing toward his disciples he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Luke 8:21
New Testament
16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light. 18 So listen carefully, for whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” 19 Now Jesus’ mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not get near him because of the crowd. 20 So he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” 21 But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
2 Clement 9:11
Early Christian
5 If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became flesh and so called us, then in the same way, in this flesh we shall receive our reward. 6 Let us therefore love one another, that we may all enter the kingdom of God. 7 While we have time to be healed, let us place ourselves in the hands of God the physician, offering Him a return. 8 What return? Sincere repentance from the heart. 9 For He foresees all things and knows what is in our heart. 10 Let us therefore give Him praise forever, not only from our lips but also from our heart, that He may accept us as children. 11 For the Lord also said, “These are my siblings, who do the will of My Father.”
Date: 130-160 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... It is widely agreed that 2 Clement here reflects a harmonized version of the saying that appears in the (now) canonical gospels, agreeing in part with both Matthew’s and Luke’s adaptation of the saying in Mark 3. 35. [...] It seems very unlikely that Matthew and Luke here are doing anything other than redacting Mark’s version. Thus the version in 2 Clement presupposes the redactional activity of both Matthew and Luke, and hence presupposes their finished gospels. On the other hand, we may also note the presence of a similar harmonized version of the saying in the Gospel of the Ebionites, and in Clement of Alexandria (see above). Hence it may well be that 2 Clement is dependent here on a separate source that had already harmonized the different versions of the saying in the synoptics into its form here. But this source seems to be part of a post-synoptic development which presupposes the finished gospels of Matthew and Luke. ...”
Gregory, Andrew F.
The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers
(pp. 270-271) Oxford University Press, 2005
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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