Matthew 5:42

5:42 Give to the one who asks you, ¹  and do not reject ²  the one who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 7:7-9

Ask, Seek, Knock

7:7 “Ask ³  and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door ⁴  will be opened for you. 7:8 For everyone who asks ⁵  receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 7:9 Is ⁶  there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Matthew 27:58

27:58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁷  Then Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

[5:42]  ¹ sn Jesus advocates a generosity and a desire to meet those in dire need with the command give to the one who asks you. This may allude to begging; giving alms was viewed highly in the ancient world (Matt 6:1-4; Deut 15:7-11).

[5:42]  ² tn Grk “do not turn away from.”

[7:7]  ³ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

[7:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.

[7:8]  ⁵ sn The actions of asking, seeking, and knocking are repeated here from v. 7 with the encouragement that God does respond.

[7:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “Or is there.”

[27:58]  ⁹ sn Asking for the body of Jesus was indeed a bold move on the part of Joseph of Arimathea, for it clearly and openly identified him with a man who had just been condemned and executed, namely, Jesus. His faith is exemplary, especially for someone who was a member of the council that handed Jesus over for crucifixion (cf. Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51). He did this because he sought to give Jesus an honorable burial.