That's Not Fair

“That’s not fair”

Matthew 5:38-42

Here are some things we always see in the news:

There was a mass shooting

There was another bombing

A church fought and split over who got to be in charge

Cruel words were spoken, doors were slammed

Tears were shed, and bones were broken

Hearts were broken, children were abused

Anxiety and depression are on the rise

Homeless man beaten up and left for dead

We live in a world:

Where it’s easy to think everything is about what we want and how we feel

We ain’t gonna take nothing off nobody

It’s our way or the highway

We are a proud people, and we aren’t gonna let anyone disrespect us.

Nobody’s gonna take advantage of us, or play us for a fool

Our world is filled with hate and revenge:

If we all always demand our rights, we will always be warring with eachother

Jesus has a problem with that

Challenges us today to rethink how we respond to mistreatment

Don’t miss it:

Jesus is showing us a difficult road

Teaching us about His kingdom

How His kingdom is RADICALLY different than MOST THINK

Let the words of Jesus challenge your life!

Luke 6 records about the same message as Matthew 5, but Luke gives a “pre-lude”

We MUST learn to love our enemies:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28

When someone hurts me, or someone I love:

In my natural self, I don’t want to get even

I want total destruction

It’s not a thing I’m proud of but SOMETIMES:

I’m not looking to be loving

I’m not looking for “Justice”,

I’m looking for total annhilation.

I am not alone in this attitude:

WE are taught, if someone hits you, hit them back harder so they’ll think twice next time

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me….

And the thing is :Even if it feels right to seek revenge:

That is exactly the wrong attitude.

Jesus is looking for people who are willing to lay down their rights.

For people who will love others more than they love themselves.

Jesus corrects our wrong thinking:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’”

Matthew 5:38

Jesus is referring to the Old Testament Law:

That established JUSTICE in society

Injured parties compensated, and the guilty were punished

While simultaneously limiting punishment to fit the crime.

If your tooth was knocked out, or eye damaged

The court could determine the offender needed to pay with a tooth or eye

They might make financial restitution

But the price of the crime had limitations

Though many think an “eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth:

Allows for personal retaliation

The fact is that the courts determined the punishment

And the victim was not the one to balance the scales.

I was told a story recently connected to William Tyndale:

A man was caught stealing a loaf of bread

He was hungry and stole the bread

He was found guilty and the punishment was

He would be ‘drawn and quartered”

Arms and legs ripped off by horses

Then while he was still alive,

He was quartered, or cut open and had his organs removed.

How shocking:

All that over a loaf of bread

The punishment didn’t fit the crime

The Law made sure that the punishment never exceeded the crime

However people now think an “eye for and eye” means an obligation to retaliate

God’s intention was that the punishment would be just and limited.

Jesus raises the bar on our response to mistreatment:

How are we to respond to Personal INSULTS?

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

Matthew 5:39

The greatest insult in the day of Jesus was to slap someone on the face:

It was an act of disrespect and contempt

There was an element of violence, but mostly it was an insult

When slapped we are to turn the other cheek

What does “turn the other cheek” mean?

It doesn’t mean that we go looking for slaps in the face

It means when insult and injury comes that we do not retaliate

We don’t slap them back,

You might say “That’s hard! I can’t do that! That’s not fair!

I won’t lie, it’s hard to walk away when you’d rather punch someone in the nose!

It’s tough to suffer injustice, to choose to not fight back

Jesus led the way by suffering on the cross for us!

Jesus was innocent, but tried and convicted

Committed no crime, but he was arrested