The Truth About Loving Your Enemies - Part 1 Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We have traveled through an incredible section of the Sermon on the Mount, immediately following the paradoxes of the Beatitudes, Jesus gets right to the heart of the issue behind what is wrong with this world and it is not Satan or the guy down the road. So really the Sermon on the Mount has first of all a negative intent, and that is to show people that they come short of God's standard. He tells his listeners that you don’t have to look any further than your own heart to see where the worst of sin emerges. Murder begins with anger, adultery begins with lust, divorce begins with hard-heartedness, and lies begin with oaths.

Our relationships are broken because the human heart - our hearts - are broken and we need the supernatural power of God’s redemption to change it. Just a quick glance at the headlines of our day reveals how far we’ve degraded. Murders, violence, political hit jobs, child abuse, child abductions, shooting, and school shootings are all on the rise. The mantra of our society is retribution, cancel culture, and more hate.

What Jesus says in our passage today is not only is evil evil, but how we respond to evil is just as important. We live in a world that demands justice, we want to stand up for our rights and give back to someone what is due to them. Even if we don’t physically retaliate, we can find ways to find retribution through holding grudges, retribution, and giving the cold shoulder. Truth be told we’re smug with those who we look down on. None of these things are compatible with the Christian life.

This brings us to the fifth statement Jesus uses to illustrate this:

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your garment also. 41 “And whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38–42 LSB)

The term, “An eye and a tooth for a tooth” comes from the Old Testament writings of Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. It was not about revenge, but to set guidelines for judges when deciding appropriate punishment or remuneration during court cases. “Eye for an eye” wasn’t a literal command, but a measure to maintain fairness. The punishment should never exceed the crime. The cure cannot be worse than the disease.

The problem came when people started using “eye for an eye” to enact their own justice. We might call that ‘street justice’ today. Rake them over the coals for everything they got. There is something that is satisfying about getting some justice for those who wrong us.

One summer evening in Broken Bow, Nebraska, a weary truck driver pulled his rig into an all-night truck stop. He was tired and hungry. The tough motorcyclist gang members decided to give him a hard time. They taunted him, as 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.

How did this trucker respond? How would you respond? Well, this trucker did not respond as one might expect. Instead, he calmly rose, picked up his check, put the check and his money on the register, and went out the door. The waitress followed him to put the money in the till and stood watching out the door as the big truck drove away into the night.

When she returned, one of the gang members 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 of the parking lot.” (Credit: Jeffery Anselmi, Sermon Central)

Jesus never taught that we are to put ourselves, our rights, or our retribution first. In fact, look at verses 39 & 40:

“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your garment also. (Matthew 5:39–40 LSB)

Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. 9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who hope for Yahweh, they will inherit the land. (Psalm 37:8–9 LSB)