I was once a part a white elephant gift exchange game that involved trading humorous unwrapped gifts. Someone had brought a collection of canned sardines, and everyone had no trouble recognizing that the sardines were easily the worst gift. So, even if the framed picture of Ryan Reynolds and plastic sunglasses were not necessarily enticing on their own terms, they both fared much better in the trading frenzy than the sardines. We all knew a good (or bad!) gift when we saw it.

Although I did not realize it at the time, this gift exchange illustrated one of the principles behind Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:7-11). 

Shortly after the teaching, “Ask and it will be given to you,” Jesus demonstrates his point with an example from everyday life. “Which of you,” Jesus asks, “if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9). 

As in English, the Greek of the New Testament could be written to imply the expected answer to a question that was asked. In this case, we might best capture the nuance of the Greek text by translating the question as, “You wouldn’t give him a stone, would you?” The question implies the answer: Of course not!

Following up on this question, Matthew 7:11 begins, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children . . .” Different translations change up various elements of this verse, but the majority use the phrase “know how to give good gifts.” This puts the emphasis on the skill of gift-giving — a knowledge of how to give good gifts.

However, a more literal translation suggests Jesus is emphasizing not knowledge of the process of giving but knowledge of the quality of the gifts themselves. This translation might be “know good gifts to give.” 

In other words, Jesus seems to be suggesting that most people — like my friends at the white elephant gift exchange — know a good gift when they see it.

Ultimately, though, Jesus’ point is not to discuss how much humans know about the quality of gifts. Rather, his larger argument takes the form of a technique in ancient Jewish debate “from the lesser to the greater.” 

Human knowledge about good gifts is the “lesser.” Jesus even bluntly identifies humans as “evil.” The “greater” element, then, is “your father in heaven.” 

Thus, the logic runs that if evil humans know a good gift when they see it, the heavenly father is even more capable of providing good gifts.

This text does not stop with the question of how to identify a good gift. It also invites its audience to ask for good gifts.

This point becomes apparent when the text takes an interesting turn halfway through Matthew 7:11. The first half of the verse identifies the beneficiaries of human gifts as “your children.” We might expect, then, that the second part would identify the recipients of God’s gift as God’s children. 

Yet, Jesus breaks what would have made for a tidy parallel between the two parts of his teaching. Rather than identifying the beneficiaries of God’s gifts as children, Jesus instead indicates that God gives these good gifts “to those who ask him.” 

In some social circles, asking for a particular gift might be viewed as crass. However, in the divine gift-giving economy Jesus describes, such requests are lauded.

My own family has moved to a tradition of providing one another with Christmas gift lists, and these lists are their own sort of gift. That is, when my husband gives me a Christmas list, he gives me the gift of an opportunity to contribute to his happiness. He knows a good gift when he sees it, and so his request for gifts is actually a gift for me.

Perhaps Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7-11 point to something similar. Rather than seeing requests to God as selfish demands, Jesus invites his audience to see such requests as gifts to God that provide an opportunity for God to lavish good things on the one who asks.

This text leaves me reflecting about what is on my “Christmas list for God” this holiday season. What are the desires of my heart that perhaps felt too presumptuous to request? What good gift can I request from God that might actually be just as much of a good gift back to God?