You Have Heard Part 3...
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
As we continue our study of the sermon on the mount we are going to look at the last two, You have heard but I say to you teachings from Jesus.
In all of these teachings Jesus is calling his disciples to a higher calling by bringing them back to the original intent of the law so that they can take comfort in knowing that Jesus is not going to do away with the law with all of his so called new teaching.
So with that lets look at Matthew 5:38-42.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
Let’s stop right here for a second. Jesus is pulling from a few passages but mainly from the teaching in Exodus 21:22-25
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 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.
When someone hurts you. Let’s say as we will see in a minute, that someone slaps you. What is our normal response as humans?
Normally it is to one up the person. If you slap me, I am going to punch you. When we read the teaching eye for an eye tooth for a tooth you may be like me and think that sounds pretty harsh and not what our God would want us to do.
What we need to realize is that this law was not put in place to approve or encourage retaliation, rather it was put in place to curtail retaliation. The law was not put in place to legalize revenge it was to limit revenge.
This law was put in place to limit the consequences of a crime. Because human nature is to one up a person this law prevents that from happening.
For example if someone kills your cow you can’t go kill their herd of cows. If someone kills your herd of cows you can’t kill the herdsman.
The punishment for a crime cannot exceed the crime. This seems like common sence but just the fact that it had to be a part of the Law of Moses reveals the character of man. Most people don’t just want to get even they want others to suffer more than they are suffering. Most people want others to pay more than what they should for the crimes that they commit. We want to one up the other person.
The point is God’s law was never encouraging retaliation it was making sure that the punishment for a crime never exceeded the crime. God would rather his people have mercy on others. And all throughout the law and the prophets God’s people are reminded that vengeance belongs to God.
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.
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.”
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.”
And so here in the sermon on the Mount Jesus is going to raise the standard of retaliation for the citizens of His kingdom. Let’s see what he says...
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.
In ancient culture all interaction with another person was done with their right hand. Your left hand was reserved for any dirty work. So it’s interesting that Jesus says here, if someone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him your other also.
So let me ask you, if I slap you with my right hand on your right cheek how must I hit you?
I have to hit you with the back of my hand. I am going to have to back hand you. In this time if you back handed someone it was a symbol of dishonor. This is how they would have hit a slave or someone of lower class.
So if someone hit you with the back of their hand they are looking down on you and so Jesus is not saying just let them hit you again but rather He says turn to them the other cheek as to say hit me like you mean it. Hit me like I am your equal. By doing this you are telling the one who hit you to respect your humanity enough to hit you like a fellow human.
By doing this you are pointing out the injustice for what it is without fighting back.
Many people take this teaching as we should do nothing when when someone hits us but when we understand how they understood the backhand slap in their culture what we realize is that Jesus is telling us to respond just not the way the world responds.
By turning the other cheek we are pointing out the injustice by declaring their insult to be meaningless. Turning the other cheek is a demonstration that your true honor is rooted in something deeper than your slapper’s evaluation of you.
Any thoughts on this?
What is another way in which we could respond in kind?
An example would be to respond with scripture or singing about Gods love...
And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Next, Jesus says that if someone sues you and takes your tunic (innergarment), don’t fight them, but instead give them your cloak (outer garment) as well. This is a shocking statement, because this represents all the clothing that a person would have on—if both the tunic and cloak were given up, the person would literally be naked!
Jesus’ statement would have seemed outrageous. Not only was public nudity horribly shameful in Palestinian Jewish society, the Old Testament also protected a man’s cloak from being taken away via lawsuit (Exodus 22.26-27; Deuteronomy 24.12-13).
If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Perhaps Jesus uses exaggeration here, but He does so to shock His audience into reflecting on the different values of His kingdom.
Once again Jesus is saying don’t fight back the way the world does but stand there and show the injustice for what it is. And let God provide the punishment. And just like the first example hopefully the one who is wronging you will be put to shame and recognize their wrong.
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
In first-century Palestine, Roman soldiers had the right to “enlist a member of the subject population for forced labor.” This same word for “forces” is used in Matthew 27.32 to describe the Roman soldiers forcing Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross.
Here, Jesus refers to the practice of forcing someone to carry equipment for up to a mile. This was an understandably frustrating practice for the Jews of Jesus’ day, but rather than resisting it, Jesus again commands the unthinkable: go an extra mile!
Once again we see that Jesus is telling them to do the unthinkable not to give in but to help point out the injustice.
After the one mile mark the Soldiers must take back their load or the Roman soldier could get in trouble.
And so once again Jesus says don’t just do nothing but rather once you get to the mile marker keep going and by doing so you will call out the injustice for what it is.
Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Giving alms to those who are genuinely in need was a standard feature of Jewish religious and moral thought, but even here, Jesus takes it further by not placing any limits on the giving. Disciples of Jesus are to be extremely generous, to the point that our concern is for the welfare of those who are in need rather than how the giving will affect us.
Discuss: Of these examples, which would be the hardest for you to live up to Jesus’ teachings? Which would be the easiest? Why?
In all of these examples, certain principles are emphasized repeatedly. In God’s kingdom, our actions are not to be determined by our own interests, but by the interests of others. At the same time, the point of this teaching is not that Jesus’ disciples are supposed to be doormats who are walked all over by the world because we are afraid to stand up for ourselves. Rather, we are to respond to oppressive behavior with the transforming love of God.
What I want us to see is that these four examples are not meant to be read and understood that a citizen of the Kingdom is just supposed to let others run all over them but rather we do these types of things in order to come up with creative ways to pursue justice.
What are some other creative ways to pursue justice.
Case study number 6
Alright we have one final case study and it deals with loving your enemies. So let’s see what Jesus says. Verse 43. Matthew 5:43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Does this saying of Jesus raise any red flags for you. Do you have a problem or at minimum questions about why Jesus said this?
If you remember Jesus in each of these case studies he is quoting or drawing from somewhere in the Torah. But where in the Torah does it say that we are to hate your enemies? It doesn’t.
The Law of Moses certainly taught the necessity of loving one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19.18), but the hating of one’s enemy was not in the Torah.
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.
For years and years people have had a problem with this saying because they couldn’t find record of anybody teaching this, until the dead sea scrolls were found. And in these scrolls they found the writings of the Essenes.
In the Essenes code of community, there was a reference that said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” Here’s a direct reference to Essene philosophy. You’ve heard it said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
The Essenes were a Jewish sect that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. They are known for their strict observance of Jewish law, communal living, and celibacy. The sect is often associated with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in Qumran, believed to be their library.
So you can see these people were a lot like the Pharisees the very people who Jesus is teaching against. The very people who made it difficult for others to follow Jesus. So the point is what Jesus says here might not have been a teaching of the Torah but it was a teaching of the religious leaders.
Ok so that is what the Essenes taught but what does Jesus want them to know about loving your enemies. Matthew 5:44-48
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Out of all the teachings of Jesus this for many is the most difficult. And maybe why he closes with this teaching. Essentially what he is telling his disciples is that out of all of these teachings this one right here is the one that will set you apart from everyone else. This teaching will identify you as members of my Kingdom.
Not only will this teaching set you apart from everyone else but it will make you like God. Because God loves his enemies, God loves everyone. John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Verse 45 says that God gives rain or sun to both the evil and the good. Those that Hate God, he gives them rain. Those that love God, he gives them rain too. It doesn't matter. God provides for all of his creation no matter what they have or have not done for him.
Jesus point is if you don’t love your enemies than you are no different than anyone else.
Everyone in the world loves those that love them. But God calls us to be different by loving those that love us and those that hate us.
As I think about these last two case studies one of the lessons for us to learn is to learn how to retaliate with Love. When someone hates you or hurts you or threatens you, don’t just do nothing but rather respond or retaliate with love.
On this subject Wes McAdams made a good point that we must never for get. He said:
The worst thing your enemy can do to you isn’t take something that belongs to you. The worst thing your enemy can do to you is make you like them. The worst thing your enemy can do to you is not hurt you but it is to change you so that you participate in evil just like them. So Jesus calls us to be different. We don’t just give in to evil but rather we retaliate with love.
Finally, to close out this his thought Jesus ends with this statement. Matthew 5:48
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
What do we do with this?
I have always struggled with this passage. How can we be perfect when we are told that it is impossible to be perfect. Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is about to tell his disciples to pray for forgiveness. Matthew 6:12
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
So what do we make of this statement?
The thing that helped me the most with this statement was when I realized that Jesus is pulling from Lev 19:2
“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
The idea of being perfect is not a Jewish idea. So I believe that his audience would have more clearly understood him to be saying be Holy as i am holy.
And when you think about it it fits right with what Jesus is trying to communicate in these six case studies.
Jesus ends by saying Be holy as I am holy or be set apart as I am set apart. Jesus is calling his disciples to be different.
Different in how they respond to anger, lust, marriage, oaths, retaliation and how they respond to their enemies.
So Jesus ends this section by saying be different.
How are you going to be different this week?
Its about loving people…
retaliate with Love.
