Prayer and Image of God, Mt 7,7-11

Abstract

The objective of this study is the exegetical analysis of the pericopes formed by vv. 7 to 11 of the seventh chapter of the gospel of Mateo. This short text, barely seventy-four words, is identified usually as a teaching about prayer. However, the focus of our attention, as we move through the reading or listening to it, is moving towards the image of God that Jesus wants to transmit: starting with an exhortation and reflection on the the believer's request comes to the presentation of the way the Father can give. Such a shift is made through an argumentative sequence which starts from the initial imperatives, continues with two rhetorical questions and leads to a final declaration which in turn states an observation from the world of the listeners. We are therefore interested, in order to make an exegetical contribution, in showing that this shift constitutes a real thematic shift, that is, that the text, although it begins with an invitation to listeners about the request, aims to present a theological teaching in relation to divine behavior. In order to make evident such a theological charge in the text, we will try two methodological approaches to it. Firstly, based on the results of the historical-critical method, we will present a first comment exegetical general. Secondly, we will approach it from another point of view that allows us to deepen the path of the argument that Mt proposes, putting the focus on the indicated leap of experience humane to the Father's behavior.