Justice and Mercy
The Gospel of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Connection:
Stereotypes aren’t always helpful. But most of the time they ring true, or else they wouldn’t be stereotypes. One such stereotype about Americans, God bless them, is that they are quick to sue people. They are trigger happy in lawsuits! It’s quite humorous actually! Americans lean toward justice, to the neglect of mercy. Canadians probably lean toward mercy, to the neglect of justice—true justice anyways. The reality is that we need both, in their proper place, and in their proper time. This is the title of my sermon this morning:
Theme:
Justice & Mercy
Need:
We need to properly distinguish the duties of strict justice, from the duties of abounding mercy.
Purpose:
To refute the Pharisee’s abuse of God’s Law regarding Justice; to call for gracious mercy in the private sphere of life; to point our eyes away from ourselves to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and to exhort Christ’s disciples to follow the example of Jesus in grace and love.
Recap:
Last Sunday we saw what our Lord had to say regarding swearing oaths and vows. We saw how the Pharisees were abusing oaths and turning them into flippant words (which Christ rebuked and forbid). And then we saw how Jesus called us to be men and women of faithful-integrity. Here we come to see how the Pharisees were abusing Public Justice and skewing it toward Personal Vengeance. This is one of the most famous and appreciated parts of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s also one of the most convicting and challenging. So in light of all of this, God help us! Open our eyes, that we might behold wonderful things out of your law—may it dwell in us richly this Lord’s Day.
Read Text:
Matt. 5:38-42 ESV
PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY
(1) The Pharisees turned Public Justice into Personal Vengeance - v. 38.
(1) The Pharisees turned Public Justice into Personal Vengeance - v. 38.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
(1) The Pharisees turned Public Justice into Personal Vengeance - v. 38.
(1) The Pharisees turned Public Justice into Personal Vengeance - v. 38.
As we saw last week, it isn’t immediately apparent how the Pharisees were abusing the Law of God. Thus, we had to turn to Matthew 23 to see how this was so. In our text for this morning, it’s not as clear how the Pharisees were abusing the principle of justice, the lex talionis: eye for eye, tooth for tooth. But given the purpose clause of the sermon on the mount: I haven’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, I haven’t come to abrogate it but to confirm it—and the warning against relaxing the commandments—and the call for our righteousness to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees … we know that Jesus is clarifying the true meaning of the law, freeing us from the Pharisees abuse of it, and calling us to true righteousness of the heart. Somehow the pharisees were abusing this passage from the OT:
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
This text is known as the lex talionis, or, the law of retaliation. It establishes a principle of justice and equity in civil dealings. This is the foundation of retributive justice: punishments must fit the crime. This comes from a few places in the OT:
“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
What does all of this mean? The punishment must fit the crime. If someone steals something, they aren’t worthy of death. But if someone murders someone, then they are. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life. This is God’s requirement of justice for the civil magistrate, for the civil government. All governments are under God and over the people—they are under God’s law and are called to rule justly according to the lex talionis: eye for eye, tooth for tooth. This is God’s way—and every nation that conforms to it, is abiding in the will of God for true & biblical social justice. Woke social justice denies retributive justice—biblical social justice requires it.
But the Pharisees weren’t woke. That wasn’t their problem. They were fine with eye for eye, tooth for tooth. So what was their problem? Well, it seems they were trying to take public matters of justice into their own personal hands of vengeance (Given how Jesus rebukes them in the rest of our text). Let me try and unpack this more. The lex talionis was given to the magistrates, to the judges, to the rulers of the land—not to the common citizen. Paul puts it best:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
God has instituted governing authorities. In their hands God has placed the sword of justice. In their hands God grants the permission to enact the lex talionis: eye for eye, tooth for tooth. But the Pharisees tried to take the sword from the magistrate, and put it into their own hands! They wanted to be the ones who took vengeance! If someone slapped them, they would slap back! If someone sued them, they would sue back with greater aggression! They tried to apply the lex talionis in a way that it was never meant to be applied. Think of it this way:
Imagine that Jim came into my office when he was cleaning the church and stole all of my books. If I abused the eye for eye, tooth for tooth passage, by taking matters into my own hands—then I would go and bust into his apartment, take my books back, and take just as many as he stole from me! What’s the problem? God hasn’t given me personal authority to enforce civil justice. My duty would be to contact the authorities, and to let them deal with it. Eye for eye is a governmental job—not a citizen’s job. But the Pharisees were trying to take matters of justice into their own hands. This was the problem. This was the abuse. They were using a passage that commanded public justice of the magistrates—and taking it as permission to pursue private & personal vengeance.
There is something called sphere sovereignty. It’s a biblical idea. God has instituted certain authorities with specific bounds and limits. He’s granted the government the sword of justice, he’s granted the family the rod of discipline, and he’s granted the church the keys of the kingdom. Each sphere of authority has limits and bounds put upon them by God.
In the OT kings and priests had distinct duties, and that’s why King Saul was judged for offering priestly sacrifices (1 Sam. 13:8-14). Give unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasers, and give unto God the things that are Gods (Matt. 22:21). And thus, in civic tyranny, there is a time to say with the Apostle’s: we have no King but Jesus, and we obey God, not man (Acts 17; 4-5). Authority is delegated from God, but is given specific spheres of jurisdiction.
The government has specific duties, and that’s why in Revelation the government that oversteps the bounds of God’s law and justice is called the Beast (Rev. 13:1-18). The church has specific bounds, and that’s why we’re told not to judge outsiders but only to judge insiders (1 Cor. 5). The family has specific bounds, and that’s why were told that in marriage a new authority-structure is made, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife (Gen. 2:24). The main point is this—know your lane, and stay in it!
So: who was given the authority to enforce civil penalties for the lex talionis: eye for eye, tooth for tooth? The civil government. The Pharisees erred by trying to take matters into their own hands. They erred by stepping outside their lane in a tyrannical use of power.
God’s law requires both justice and mercy—but the Pharisees tried to take the former without the latter. The law never permitted personal vengeance. In fact, it required love and mercy for your neighbour.
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Ross: Meekness and mercy were always meant to coexist with a civil code that demanded life for life [by the govn’t].
This was the failure of the Scribes and the Pharisees. Who added to, took away from, and relaxed the commandments of God—they outwardly appeared righteous to others, but within they were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt. 23). They had not learned to love their neighbour—rather—they were taking personal vengeance against their neighbours.
(1) The Pharisees turned Public Justice into Personal Vengeance - v. 38.
So in response to this, let’s see how Jesus Christ rebukes the Pharisees, explains the true meaning of God’s law for personal relations, and exhorts us to self-denial as we seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness:
(2) Jesus restored Personal Love and Mercy to our Private Duties - v. 39-42
(2) Jesus restored Personal Love and Mercy to our Private Duties - v. 39-42
But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
(2) Jesus restored Personal Love and Mercy to our Private Duties - v. 39-42
(2) Jesus restored Personal Love and Mercy to our Private Duties - v. 39-42
As we’ve seen over the last couple months, Jesus is drawing out the true spiritual depth of God’s law, and its implications for our hearts and lives. This portion of Scripture is most memorable, most misunderstood, and most masterful. So let’s look at each part of it, as Jesus is restoring our duties of personal love—in contrast to the Pharisees teaching on personal revenge:
39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil.
The Pharisees said—resist and retaliate against the one who is evil. Jesus says—do not resist him. Bear his reproach. bear his abuse. Bear his injustice. Bear his persecution.
James says this about an evil person who is persecuting the saints, and then notice how the Christian responds:
You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
Is there ever a time to resist an evil one? Yes. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist an enemy who is invading your home. Resist someone who is being taking to the slaughter. There is a time to resist. Jesus isn’t giving an absolute command here. But he is giving a command in the context of personal injustice. When someone commits a sin against you—don’t retaliate, don’t resist him, don’t avenge yourself. Do not resist the one who is evil. Don’t take matters into your own hands! Commit yourself to God who judges justly and to the govn’t as ministers of God’s justice.
This is the Paradox of the Kingdom of God. The world, the flesh, and the devil tell us to fight back with all our might, to stand on self-defense and self-rights. The Gospel requires: self-denial. Show that you are a changed man or women, being transformed by the Spirit of Christ, as a citizen of the heavenly Kingdom! Show grace, when you’re tempted to show revenge. Hasn’t God shown you grace when you deserved vengeance? Christ died for us, even while we were his enemies (Rom. 5). Beloved, let us imitate Christ even in the midst of injustice. Trust his promise of salvation, show mercy to others, and leave the rest to his coming justice.
Spurgeon: Our King would have private dealings ruled by the spirit of love, and not by the rule of law.
But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
What does this mean?
Doriani: Turn the other cheek? We would rather clench our fist. This teaching is so hard to accept that an old Scottish preacher once expounded it this way: “Jesus said, ‘If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ But the third lick, the third lick I say, belongs to you!”.
Well, old Scott, that’s not what Jesus is saying here! Indeed this is a hard saying, only for those who have ears to hear, and eyes to see.
First of all, Jesus is not forbidding all forms of self-defense. God’s law permitted self-defense in various contexts (Ex. 22:2-3; Ps. 82:4; 144:1; Neh. 4:16-18; Matt. 24:43; Lk. 11:21; Eccl. 3:1-8). Defending your family in a home invasion was permitted. The magistrate is equipped with the sword to punish evildoers. There is a time when inflicting pain is necessary. Jesus is not arguing for pacifism! But Jesus is saying that in personal injustice, that we ought not to retaliate. It’s the same point as before… If someone insults you by slapping you on the right cheek (which means it’s a backhand slap, which is even more insulting in their day), don’t jump up to slap him back! Turn to him the other also. This was also required in the OT itself:
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
You see, the Pharisees (in their abuse of the lex talionis), actually made laws that called for financial payment if you were slapped in the face. Jesus is saying: Do you really think you deserve money for being slapped? After you’ve slapped God in the face with your sins every day of your lives? Show grace and mercy. Bear the suffering for Christ’s sake. Take up your cross—and turn the other cheek. There’s a time to fight—but this isn’t it. The time to fight is not when your trying to save your ego and self-reputation. Jesus was silent as a lamb before the shearers, he bore reproach and insults. So let us learn to be submissive as we follow Him. Why? Because if we can bear insults without becoming filled with rage—then it shows that our identity rests in God’s promises and protection, and not in our self-reputation. Oh to be more like Jesus Christ—who was full of grace upon grace.
This attitude was actually prophesied of Jesus Himself:
I gave my back to those who strike,
and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face
from disgrace and spitting.
If we are trusting in the Man of Sorrows, we ought to joyfully follow Christ in our own Sorrows.
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
You can’t trust in Jesus for the resurrection, without also following Him in suffering and death. But if we follow Him in suffering, we shall certainly follow Him in glory—by grace alone, from first to last.
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Again, Jesus is making this powerful and piercing point: Christians, don’t be like those who think their personal rights are the be all end all. Don’t be trigger-happy for self-defense via the system of law. There is a time for love to cover a multitude of sins. There is a time, when someone comes in legal vengeance after you, to bear the cost, give him what he asks for, and go beyond it. If he sues you for your tunic, give him your cloak as well.
Now, remember the context. The disciples sitting here at the feet of Jesus, gathered at the bottom of the mount, had two garments on: a tunic and a cloak. And if they gave both of them away, they would have been naked. Jesus isn’t saying that we should go around naked! But he is saying that we should be willing to have even our best possessions plundered, showing that our citizenship is in heaven, that our home is in the world to come, that our kingdom is one that cannot be shaken!
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Brothers and sisters, let us not forget that we are but pilgrims, that our physical possessions are but a vanity of vanities, a vapor of vapors, so why should we act as if our possessions are our security? In giving our tunic and our cloak, we proclaim to the world that we have a better possession and an abiding one! The new heavens and the new earth.
Is there a time to pursue justice, the court, lawsuits, civil-rights, etc… Yes there is. In both the OT and the NT. But Jesus is saying here that it shouldn’t be your first instinct, and if done it should be rare. Our conduct should show that we show mercy in context of legal-pursuits: hasn’t Christ shown us everlasting mercy in God’s courtroom of justice? So when someone sues us for our tunic, a piece of fabric, we can sing with Martin Luther long ago:
Let goods and kindreds go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still—His Kingdom is forever.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
In Roman law, during the time of Christ and the Disciples—soldiers could legally force you to bear a burden on their behalf for up to a mile. They couldn’t require it for over a mile—but they could for up to a mile. The Pharisees were bare minimum men. If they had to do something they would do what they had do, and wouldn’t show any sort of sacrificial service.
But Jesus says, if you’re forced to go that first mile—then be willing to sacrifice—go the second as well. Show that you’re different. You’re to reflect the love of your Father who is in heaven, who is longsuffering, who lavishes with grace, who abounds in love, who overflows with care. Show to the world that you’re willing to go above and beyond, because you serve a God who gives mercy to the worst of sinners, who is superabounding in grace upon grace! Let us outdo one another in showing honour—let us live worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Greek word that’s translated here as: ‘forces’; is actually used later in the Gospel of Matthew when Simon is ‘compelled’ to carry the Cross of Christ:
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.
What a beautiful illustration. If we are compelled to go a mile, to carry the cross, to bear a burden—let us follow Jesus, and shine before the world, that we are a people who follow a Saviour……….
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Our Lord and Saviour denied himself, left the glories of heaven, denied his own divine-rights, took suffering humanity upon himself, bore the cross of divine wrath, suffered the pangs of death—all for us and for our salvation. He went the extra mile for us, who were dead in our sins and trespasses. So how can we not, out of gratitude bear our cross when we’re forced to, and go the extra mile for the glory of Him who has saved us? Take up your cross, and follow Him. For he who gains his life will lose it, but he who loses it, for his sake, will gain it!
Oh let us show sacrificial love, because Christ in love was sacrificed for us. And Jesus gives us one last call to our personal duties—as we learn to deny ourselves once more:
42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Give. Give your money. Give your time. Give your help. Give your goods. Give.
This is probably one of the hardest commands to obey. We are so accustomed to save, save, save—earn, earn, earn—grow, grow, grow ………. that give, give, give doesn’t sit right with us. Why? Because we have to submit to the fact that we are stewards not kings. Our wealth is given to us to lavish on others, not to spend in luxury. What did we read earlier from Psalm 37 about the righteous man?
He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.
Or from the Book of Proverbs?
Proverbs 21:26 (ESV)
the righteous gives and does not hold back.
Where your treasure is, there your heart is. We cannot serve two masters. Your Budget is sermon on your loves. Your tithes and offerings are a sermon on your allegiances.
Is Jesus saying we should never refuse someone? No. There is a time to hold back. We must be governed by the wisdom from above. The righteous man leavens an inheritance for his children’s, children—and Paul says if you don’t work, you don’t eat. If we are enabling someone to sin by our giving, we are sinning in our giving.
But the general principle remains: where there is true need, and we have true funds, we ought to give to those who beg from us, and not refuse the one who would borrow from us.
The Pharisees stored up treasure on earth—Jesus says to store up treasure in heaven by giving, giving, and giving.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
One of the chief ways that we follow Jesus, and show that we belong to the Kingdom, and that we have been saved and changed by grace through faith—is that we are abounding in good works of charity, mercy, and kindness. To whom much is given, much is required. God gives riches for both enjoyment, AND that we might help those who are in need. This is his call to those who money:
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
Give, give, give. How can we not be a giving and generous people when we hear the words of our Saviour at the Lord’s Table: This is my Body which is Given for Thee. Christ gave himself for us, to lavish us with eternal riches. So how can we not give ourselves to the poor, doing good to both body and soul—being rich in good works. We love, because he first loved us. We give, becuase he first gave to us. God give us wisdom that we might be faithful stewards of all that you have entrusted to us. And to not refuse the one who would beg and borrow from us (in the spirit of the wisdom of the Word of God).
Really, this whole passage is summed up by what Paul says in Romans ch. 12:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And above all, brothers and sisters, let us never forget that mercy triumphs over judgment—God’s mercy triumphs over the judgment due to us for our sins, as we are lavished by the Gospel of Christ as we believe in Him and repent of our sins—and thus our mercy ought to triumph over judgment when we are sinned against, that we might show the power of the Gospel in our lives. So let us follow Jesus in suffering—rejoice and be glad—and never forget that our reward is great in heaven above.
(2) Jesus restored Personal Love and Mercy to our Private Duties - v. 39-42
And in so doing, he both defended public justice, and private mercy—not neglecting or abusing either part of the law of God—and teaching us what it means to do justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Let us hold both justice and mercy in their proper place, and in their proper time. Hear our conclusion for this morning’s sermon:
(C) Retributive Justice is a Public Duty, not a Private One—So go show Love and Mercy, not Personal Vengeance.
(C) Retributive Justice is a Public Duty, not a Private One—So go show Love and Mercy, not Personal Vengeance.
Doriani: In the public sphere, the lex talionis is holy, righteous, and good (Rom. 7:12). Yet, as Jesus, Paul, and the prophets knew, we tend to distort the law. We twist it to our advantage or evade it, so we can do as we please. In public, the lex talionis is necessary justice. But in private, it can cover a vindictive spirit. Society needs justice, but we do not need to exact justice with our own hand. As individuals, we can entrust justice to God and the state, and act in mercy. Jesus doesn’t [entirely] prohibit the administration of justice; he will overthrow Satan himself one day and punish him! But, as God’s children, we share in his supreme righteousness when we stop standing on our rights, when we forgo revenge and do good to all [especially to the household of faith].
(C) Retributive Justice is a Public Duty, not a Private One—So go show Love and Mercy, not Personal Vengeance.
(C) Retributive Justice is a Public Duty, not a Private One—So go show Love and Mercy, not Personal Vengeance.
Amen? Let’s pray.
Discussion Questions:
(1) What does the lex talionis mean: An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And how did the Pharisees abuse it?
(2) When should we not resist the one who is evil when they attack us? And why? Use examples.
(3) When should we turn the other cheek when we are insulted? And why? Use examples.
(4) When should we give our possessions and go the extra mile? And why? Use examples.
(5) How does the Gospel of Christ give us power and motivation to obey these challenging commands?
[Bonus] Is there ever a time for self-defense, pursuit of justice, and withholding money from those who beg? Prove from Scripture.
