Kingdom Justice Series

A mother ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream. She found his two-year-old sister pulling his hair. She gently released the little girl's grip and said comfortingly to the boy, “There, there. She didn't mean it. She doesn't know that hurts.” He nodded his acknowledgement, and she left the room.

As she started down the hall the little girl screamed. Rushing back in, she asked, “What happened?”

The little boy replied, “She knows now.” (Joke a Day Ministries Group; www.PreachingToday.com)

When somebody hurts you, it’s only natural that you want them to feel your pain. Like somebody once said, “I don’t get mad; I get even.” “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” After all, that’s what justice is all about, isn’t it?

Well, is it? What does Jesus have to say about how to treat those who hurt you? If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, where Jesus talks about “justice” in His Kingdom.

Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ (ESV)

That’s what the law said, which protected the guilty from excessive punishment. In a time when government authorities would capriciously impose outlandish penalties, God introduced this law 1500 years before Christ to limit those penalties to the equivalent damage caused by the offender.

However, in Jesus’ day, people used this law, meant to limit government overreach, to administer their own revenge against those who hurt them. Instead of letting the government impose justice, they took matters into their own hands and sought to impose their own justice. The ancient scribes allowed for this interpretation of the law, but Jesus strongly disagreed.

Matthew 5:38-39a You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. (ESV)

In other words, don’t take matters into your own hands.

DON’T RETALIATE.

Don’t be hostile towards the evildoer. Don’t set yourself against the one who has harmed you. Wow! That’s hard, because our natural tendency is to get even, but Jesus says, “Let it go.”

Earlier this month (October 2, 2019), a Dallas County jury sentenced former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger to serve 10 years in prison. A year earlier, she shot and killed an innocent man when she entered his apartment, believing it was her own.

The sentence appeared to initially disappoint the family of the victim, Botham Jean, who had hoped for far harsher punishment for Guyger. Several members of the family broke down in tears, shaking their heads as if in disbelief of the jury's decision.

But Botham’s 18-year-old younger brother, Brandt Jean, took the witness stand and spoke to Guyger, saying, “I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you.”

“I love you just like anyone else and I'm not going to hope you rot and die,” Brandt Jean told Guyger. “I personally want the best for you. I wasn't going to say this in front of my family, I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's exactly what Botham would want for you. Give your life to Christ. I think giving your life to Christ is the best thing Botham would want for you.”

Brandt Jean then asked Judge Kemp if he could give Guyger a hug, a request the judge granted.

He stepped off the witness stand and met Guyger in front of the judge's bench and embraced as Guyger broke into tears.

Moments later, Judge Kemp spoke to Guyger privately. She also hugged Guyger and gave her words of hope, along with her own personal Bible, which she had retrieved from the judges chamber.

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot described the compassion Brandt Jean showed to Guyger as “an extraordinary act of healing and forgiveness.” He said that in 37 years of practicing law, “I never saw anything like that.” (“Extraordinary act of mercy: Brother of Botham Jean hugs and forgives Amber Guyger after 10-year sentence imposed”, ABC News, October 2, 2019, 6:47 PM ET).

It was a powerful moment and a beautiful picture of what Jesus is talking about when he says, “Do not resist the one who is evil.”

Jesus Himself did not resist when evil people nailed Him to a cross. Instead, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He prayed for your forgiveness and mine, because it was OUR sins that put Him there!

How do you treat those who hurt you? Kingdom justice says, “Don’t retaliate.” Specifically, don’t return insult for insult. Don’t repay rudeness with rudeness. Just let the backhanded comments go, and...