How Christ Teaches Us Optimism

Mat 7:9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

It is interesting the the terms for "bread," artos, and "stone," lithos, are both used in the Gospels as metaphors for Christ. The "fish," ichthus, also later became a metaphor for Christ, but the "serpent" ophis, was used both as a metaphor for wisdom (Mat.10:16) and, of course, an evil cunning.

However, the third verse is more interesting because the term translated as evil is poneros primarily means burdened and full of hardship. It is not kakia, (Mat 6:34) which has a more malicious sense of evil. Poneros also means physically bad, like we would use the term handicapped, which is I think what Christ is saying here. We cannot give our children what God can because we are limited not because we are malicious.

This idea is extended in the next part of the phrase. Christ points to other differences between the good people give and the good that God gives. In the Greek, people give "good" (agathos) "gifts" (doma), but God gives "good"(agathos) without any related noun, which is why the translator adds "things." Why is this important? First, the term doma, means "gifts" but it also means "payment." which is consistent with all the economic terms Christs uses to describe human interactions. Second, agathos has a slightly different meaning when applied to things and people. When it is applied to things, as it is for the gifts we give our children, it means everything from "serviceable" to "morally good," but when agathos is applied to people, it also means being of virtuous character. The missing noun would indicate that it can be applied in both senses to God's giving. God gives us both good things, but he also gives us gifts that improve our character, which our earthly parents cannot do.