I had a difficult decision to make this week. I had to choose between continuing my series on the Sermon on the Mount, or take a break to preach on Palm Sunday. But the more I looked at the passage for this week, and meditated on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem that long-ago Sunday afternoon, the more I realized that there was no conflict.
Because Jesus was simply practicing what he preached. Of course, he always did, but this time it was underlined by the clear fulfillment of prophecy and by the shouting and waving of the crowds. I’ve talked before about acted parables; that is, where someone performs an action which illustrates the point God is trying to make. Sometimes words go along with the action, but as often as not the action alone is enough to make people stop and think.
So let’s stop and think for a minute.
What is happening here?
The cheering crowds line the streets leading into Jerusalem. This was common during Passover week; crowds would shout encouragement and welcome to all the pilgrims who came up to the city to celebrate their deliverance from Egypt. But now something different is happening. Jesus is surrounded by followers who throw their cloaks and branches on the road in front of him, and the crowds begin to recognize him as the radical preacher and healer who has been making such a stir around the countryside. The crowds catch the excitement and join in, hailing him as the son of David, the long- awaited king, the savior of Israel. But wait ... This king isn’t wearing fancy robes or a gold crown or riding on a fiery, mettlesome war-horse. He’s dressed simply, in everyday clothes, on a humble donkey.
This is an acted parable. The entrance that Jesus made announced, without words, that a new kind of kingdom was at hand. This would be a kingdom that would not rule with economic or military power.
But somehow they missed that part. And of course you all know how the story ends; the cries of “Hosanna!” ringing out on that spring afternoon become “Crucify him!” before the week is out. And I think - along with most other scholars - that what turned the people vicious was their disappointment, their unmet expectations. The Jews - understandably - wanted to be free from the Romans, free from ruinous taxation and disrespect for their traditions and general
intimidation. They expected the Messiah to provide those things for them. And once they had acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, in a sense they felt that he owed them, that he had an obligation to deliver on their expectations. And then they felt betrayed, and justified in turning against him.
Now, mind you, it wasn’t wrong to want those things - freedom from tyranny and oppression and injustice. But the people’s response when disappointed was a problem. Having been betrayed, as they thought, they felt justified in betraying in return. That’s what we do, don’t we? An eye for an eye, you hit me, I’ll hit you back - even harder, if I can get away with it.
Preacher David Hoke tells a great story about a weary truck driver who pulled his rig into an all-night truck stop late one summer evening in Broken Bow, Ne. He was tired and hungry. The waitress had just served him when three tough looking, leather-jacketed Bikers of the Hell's Angels type decided to give him a hard time. Not only did they verbally abuse him, one grabbed the hamburger off his plate, another took a handful of his french fries, and the third picked up his coffee
and began to drink it. The trucker didn’t respond as you might expect. Without saying a word, he rose, picked up his check, walked to the cash register at the front of the room and gave the check and his money to the waitress, who watched him through the door as the big truck drove away into the night. When she went back to the bikers’ table, one of them said to her, "Well, he's not much of a man, is he?" She replied, "I don't know about that, but he sure isn't much of a truck
driver. He just ran over three motorcycles on his way out."
Most of us are probably thinking, "Good for him!” That’s the natural human response - to retaliate when we’ve been wronged. As the old saying goes, "Don't get mad, get even!" The problem is, that most of us don’t want to stop there. We really prefer, "Don't just get even, get on top!”
With the current showdown going on over our 24 officers and crew being unlawfully held by the Chinese government, many of us want to get tough, flex our muscles, show the Chinese government who’s boss. Well, at the moment, of course, they’ve got the upper hand, because the lives of our servicemen are of paramount importance to us, and they know it. So we have to bite our tongues
and smile when what we really want to do is pull a Rambo, freeing the good guys and giving the Chinese a black eye at the same time. Well, at least that’s what my gut wants. Maybe you’re more patient.
So we wait and speak soft words and God willing the crew members will come home soon and ... then we can zap ‘em! We’ll make ‘em sorry they ever messed with us, right?
Wrong. Retaliation - tit for tat - is an old and cherished practice. But it doesn’t get us anywhere. Just look what is happening in the Balkans, what has happened in Northern Ireland for centuries, the current carnage in the Middle East. Getting even has been the goal of human beings since the beginning of time. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is a really satisfying code. The only problem is that most people want extra damages for pain and suffering. Emotions always take control. The hurt done to me always looks bigger than the hurt done to you. Each action provokes a bigger reaction, and so the spiral begins.
And contributing to that cycle of anger is diametrically opposed to everything Jesus had been teaching his disciples - and us; contrary to what he had modeled for them - and us; contrary to the kind of behavior that is required of the citizen’s of God’s kingdom. God’s people do not return evil for evil.
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.... No, 'if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." [Romans 12:17-21]
Yes, people have a right to justice. As citizens of this world we are called to seek for justice, and fight for justice. But not when it’s our own rights that are at stake. When it’s personal, Jesus calls us - as citizens of God’s kingdom - to opt out of the world’s system.
He begins the lesson by quoting from the Old Testament, “You have heard that it was said, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." [Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21] That is the principle of exact justice. The punishment must fit the crime precisely. Exodus is explicit: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise"; Leviticus adds "fracture for fracture."
But it’s important to note that each of these passages deals with civil justice. A person charged with a crime would be brought to the civil authorities, tried, and punishment would be ordered. There were two reasons: first to reduce crime, and second to assure fair punishment. Scholars point out that this was a significant improvement over practices in other cultures, both of having punishments which were wildly out of proportion to the offense, and also the common practice of punishing people differently according to their social status. But this law also checks the human desire to take matters into our own hands; it explicitly disallows personal retaliation. But of course people then and now quote it to justify their own actions.
In this text, Jesus moves away from our sins, the Ten commandments that we spend so much time trying to weasel out of. Now we’re looking at how we deal with other peoples’ sins, especially the ones which impact us. And instead of urging us to respond to those sins with justice, he urges us to act with grace. Not just mercy - mercy responds to pain. Not just forgiveness, either. You can forgive someone without going out of your way to help them. Grace includes mercy and forgiveness, but it goes beyond them. What is grace? It is a favor which is completely undeserved. It’s a present - not for an occasion, not when it’s expected, but just because, out of the blue, out of love. Out of imitation of God.
Responding to sinners with grace imitates God’s own treatment of us. As Paul pointed out in his letter to the Romans, God didn’t wait for us to be sorry for what we had done, or to clean up our act; “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” [Rom 5:8] It’s the only way to get out of the destructive spiral that seeking revenge sets in motion.
Jesus sets out another approach, a completely different attitude: "if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” [v. 39] Understand that Jesus is not forbidding self-defense. He is forbidding retaliation. Revenge is not about preventing future wrongs, it’s about getting even for past wrongs. And, too, the issue at hand here is not a life-threatening situation, but only a slap on the cheek, the kind of common insult and aggravation typical of daily life in an occupied land. And so Jesus suggests that the way to make peace - remember, peacemakers are God’s children - is to act according to Kingdom norms instead of according to the world’s.
I know that some of you may be thinking, "That’s easy for you to say. You don’t know the people I have to deal with. In the real world, if you don’t strike back people will just take advantage of you."
That may be true. But consider the cost of living with your guard up, ready to defend yourself against all wrongs - real or imagined. What eventually happens is that you develop a cynical attitude, a negative filter that automatically views other people with suspicion. And that’s a soil in which nothing good can grow. There’s a better way.
And that other way is neither naive nor unrealistic. Jesus never asks anyone to flinch from the reality of evil in the world. The alternative that Jesus advocates isn’t to float dreamily through the world, believing good of everyone, never ready for disappointment, always taken by surprise when people fail to live up to your
expectations. Jesus calls us to meet injustice squarely, head on, and turn it into an occasion for grace. You can't be taken advantage of if you are giving the advantage away for free.
There are three key ingredients to being able to carry this out in practice.
The first, as I just hinted at, is to be realistic about the human condition. Those who expect perfection are doomed to disappointment, since, as Scripture reminds us, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Rom 3:23] Gracious people understand that human beings are prone to sin and selfishness and all sorts of evil and they make allowances for that fact. They expect people to be imperfect, to be inconsiderate or selfish or forgetful or even sometimes
dishonest or cruel. That doesn't mean they approve of it. They just have the wisdom to disengage their sensitivity monitor. And if you want to know how to do that, just take a good look in the mirror.
Because the second key to practicing grace is having a deep understanding of your own imperfections. Later on in this gospel Jesus says,
"Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." [Mt 7:3-5]
When you start looking at your own faults honestly and comparing them to everyone else's, frankly, there usually isn't a whole lot of difference.
There are a lot of people out there who've made some really bad choices - sinful choices - in their lives, and do you know what? I have too. Of course I’ve repented and changed my ways, but I can’t forget or disown the person I used to be. The predisposition to sin is just as strong in all of us. They may be different sins, or grace may have kept you from acting on them, but we are none of us pure enough to point the finger at anyone - except Jesus.
The third key is trusting God. Getting even is God’s job, because he is the only one who can see all the issues in the right perspective. That is why Paul wrote “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." [Romans 12:18-19] Remember a couple of weeks ago we mentioned that only God can carry out precision bombing? Well, here we are again with the same lesson.
Okay, now we have our three keys: Be realistic, be humble, and trust God. We’re now ready to walk through the door into God’s kingdom, and of course the door is Jesus. Entering that narrow gate isn’t easy; he never said it would be. But we pray every week, “Thy kingdom come.” If we really mean it, we have to start living by kingdom standards, instead of the world’s. Jesus showed us what it meant, to live on God’s terms, and never more so than during this Holy week. As we greet his entry into Jerusalem with cheers and shouts and palm branches, remember the donkey. Remember the betrayal. Remember the cross. And remember the forgiveness.
"Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." [Phil 2:5-11]
