1. Today we’re covering one of the most counter-culture passages in all of the Bible. Really it’s the teaching that separates Christianity from everything else. In Matthew 5:38-48, Jesus has the nerve, the audacity to command us to let go of our need for revenge and to love our enemies. I’ve got to confess as a Jesus-follower myself, I don’t like this one.
2. My name is Justin, which literally translates one who loves justice. I love Justice. Revenge; payback. My favorite movies are always movies where someone Dies Hard w/ a vengeance. I have Rambo memorized from childhood. B/c it’s always sweet to see the bad guy get what’s coming to him. It feels good. (Maybe I should’ve been born in the OT but I love justice.) Well for those of you like me, the teaching Jesus gives us in Matthew 5:38-48 challenges us to a whole new level of living.
3. You’ve all heard the eye for an eye / tooth for tooth thing, right? It’s in the OT Mosaic law. It’s most likely the oldest form of Lex Talionis, the principle of exact retribution. As you do it, it gets done to you; you get what you deserve. It’s about the closest thing to true justice you could possibly have on this planet. You take an eye, you lose an eye. This was God’s early legal code that He used to govern a rebellious and difficult people. It was sometimes harsh, yes, but clearly curbed a lot of crime. Not only would Lex Talionis keep people from getting away with crimes, but it helped keep people from being over-punished. It’s about justice, fairness.
4. For the Jews, this principle had become more than just a legal code, it was their moral and social code and they used it even in their relationships. Beyond the intention God had w/ an eye for an eye as a means to curb crime, the Pharisees and teachers of the law had pursued this kind of justice to the letter of the law. If you did anything to me, I would pursue you to the full extent of the law. Much like in our society, frivolous law suits were constantly being filed. If the coffee they served in the temple was too hot, and you spilled it on your lap, you could get a lot of drachma or denari.
5. The legal code that was intended to guide them had become a moral code that the people used to justify hatred and use revenge as a way of life. Jesus says, that’s what you’ve heard, that’s what you know, but I tell you that you can put an end to it by learning to let go and love. No matter what people do to you or what your rights are…to be truly free, you’ve got to learn to let go and love no matter what.
6. He gives 4 illustrations of this principle. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, let it go, let them strike the other cheek. Jesus is most likely referring to a back hand slap – a sign of major insult. If someone embarrasses you or insults you, let it go. If someone tries to take something from you legally, wants to sue you – let them have it. In other words, if you suffer injustice, let it go. Not that you never file a lawsuit or let the justice system do its job, there are times when it’s appropriate to use legal recourse, that’s Biblical, but in your heart, you let it go.
7. If someone forces you to walk one mile- (Roman soldiers could literally order people to carry their armor for exactly one mile. And the Jews had created mile markers on their roads so that they would only carry one mile, not a step more.) Jesus says instead of asserting your rights, if someone inconveniences you, let it go…go the extra mile. When people beg from you or want what’s yours, that’s not fair, but don’t turn away, give to them. He’s dealing with the inequities of life; he says, let it go. As my followers, when you deal with insult, injustice, inconvenience and inequity, let it go. But it’s so tough to do.
8. ILL. (During a family Bible time on this passage, one of my kids shared about a kid that bullies him. I was like, Give me the kid’s name. And I was pretty much ready to go start something with a 7 year old. I backed down; paid a neighbor kid to take care of it.)
9. As Humans, we naturally desire justice. It’s part of the Divine order. God made us to want it. What Jesus is calling for is not an end to justice, but the ability to trust God for it. He’s not telling us to be doormats or to never involve the law, but to have a heart that trusts God to repay, reward and reconcile all things.
10. Romans 12:17-21. I love this passage. Echoing the teaching of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount, Paul says, when somebody insults you, injures you, inconveniences you or hurts you, betrays you…whatever. In those situations, Let God do His job. His job is to judge, correct, control and give consequences…justice is His job. Let God do His job and you focus on doing your job, which is always to love people!
11. This teaching is almost impossible to live out, but really it comes down to this: How much do you trust God? The entire Sermon on the Mount pretty much has one theme – trust God w/ your life. And Jesus breaks it down into every aspect of life. Head issues, heart issues, speech issues, financial, relational, physical. In this passage Jesus says how much do you trust God for justice in your life?
12. And really His call gets a lot more radical as the passage unfolds. B/c Jesus isn’t JUST calling us to radical non-resistance and non-retaliation, but He’s calling us to proactively love our enemies. He calls us to be both passive and aggressive. To be passive in terms of retaliation. And to be aggressive in our love for everyone, even our enemies. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” In the KJV, it says, But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you:
13. Let’s think about enemies for a minute. It’s a strong word. And I think some of us may be tempted to think “well, I really don’t have enemies, per se.” Who are our enemies? (the Greek word here is ekh-thros, adversary, someone who is against you). Who is it that for whatever reason doesn’t like you? Who’s hurt you? betrayed you? insulted you? slandered you? Taken advantage of you?
14. Maybe a former business partner who stuck it to you. A GC took your money but didn’t build your house. A spouse left you. A parent abandoned you or abused you. An employer who fired you. Maybe another church member / Christian brother let you down. (As a Pastor, I’ve been hurt more by people in the church than from outside the church.)
15. We all have enemies. We all have people we don’t like or that don’t like us. But what do we do with them? Well, normally, it’s easy -we hate them. Just like Jesus says, you’ve heard it said, “hate your enemies”. That’s natural. We hate people who do us wrong. And according to our personality, that hate takes different forms…For some, we try to get them back. We find ways to exact revenge. But some of us just give them the silent treatment or shut them out. Hold a grudge. Avoid them. Jesus says, try loving them. Not just forgiving them or letting it go, but Jesus calls us to go beyond non-retaliation and he calls us to proactive love. Specifically, what does he tell us to do for our enemies? Pray for them.
16. Now how many of you in here have ever prayed for your enemies? I have – I’ve prayed for them to get what’s coming to them. For wild animals to eat them. All kinds of OT things to happen to them. But Jesus calls us to pray for their well-being. For their good. For God to work in their lives. To maybe change their heart. And you know what happens when you start praying for someone? If you’ve ever done it, you know.
17. But so often what happens is, as I pray for my enemy, as I bless them and do good to them, my heart begins to change toward them. I begin to see them like God sees them. I begin to understand them and have compassion on them. And what started out as hate b/c of hurt, becomes the life-changing power of God released through me to that other person!
18. You’ve heard it said -The best way to defeat an enemy is to make him your friend. That’s kind of what Jesus is teaching here. When I start praying for my enemy, all of the sudden the thing I could never do by hating, happens by loving. I release my enemies into the hands of God. And as I release them to him, he releases me from my need for justice and revenge and rewards me with peace and blessing.
19. Jesus closes this section by saying, Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. He’s saying be “telios” complete, mature in your love. Be like God in your love. Don’t just love the people who love you (that’s what we usually do? Think about the people you love; Scott Shulman),
20. Don’t just love people who love you, but learn to see everybody how God sees them. As His child. As His creation. As His work in progress. Somehow, someway, God loves everybody. It’s hard for me to remember and realize when I’m hating the heck out of somebody; that God loves them. I’m hating one of his kids. I can just tell you right now, I love you, but if you’re actively hating one of my kids, I’m probably not liking you too much.
21. I love my kids. So does God. I think that’s why He tells us that we can’t really love him if we don’t love other people. 1 John 4:20, 21. John says you can’t claim to love God, but not love people. It doesn’t work. B/c God loves everybody!
22. Following Jesus is all about learning to LOVE. We think of love in terms of feeling. The love that Jesus calls us to is active. It’s about motion, not emotion. Notice Jesus never says, feel love for your enemies and desire to pray for them. He says JUST DO IT! Feelings follow actions. Jesus isn’t asking us to feel a certain way, but to let our actions lead our feelings and no matter how we feel – no matter how badly we’ve been hurt, to learn to let go and show the love of Christ.
23. Story of Alex. A Columbian man whose church bus was pulled over by guerrillas. While singing to Jesus, he was shot in the face, hacked with a machete. Left for dead. Didn’t die. Years later he meets the man who shot him while volunteering in a prison. The soldier who ordered him killed, Ismael, was there serving a 32 yr. sentence. Instead of revenge, Alex becomes his friend, shows him the love of God and became his disciple in the Lord. He said, “It was not hard to forgive Ismael b/c I had already forgiven him in my heart…my greatest joy was that I could teach him, and I want to teach by example.”
24. Who are your enemies? Where are you at in your heart with those people? Are you holding onto your hate and your need for revenge or are you learning to love like God? This isn’t just something Jesus told us to do, it’s what He did for us.
25. Peter reminds us who we’re following in 1 Peter 2:21-23. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly (there it is, it’s about trusting God – how much do you trust Him?). 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
26. I want to leave you with an image. It’s a picture that breaks me down every time I see it. B/c it reminds me of me. Of how many times I’ve betrayed Jesus, of how my sin put Him on the cross, and how He still loves me. (Forgiven). I want this image to help focus our thoughts as we take communion and remember Jesus.
27. Jesus isn’t teaching us to do anything He hasn’t already lived out. But the truth is, while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us to make us his friends. He laid down his rights, he laid down his claim for justice and while we nailed him to a tree, He cried, “Father, forgive them”. As we hold the emblems together that represent Christ’s body and his blood, let’s remember what Jesus did for us on the cross and commit to follow Him.
