SF917 - I DON'T GET MAD OR EVEN (Matthew 5 38-42)
Matthew 5:38-42
Introduction
In our day the number of rights claimed has greatly expanded.
Inordinate concern for one’s own rights comes from selfishness and leads to lawlessness.
When self-interest dominates, justice is replaced by vengeance. (James 4:1-2)
When rights are first, righteousness suffers.[1]
Probably no part of the Sermon on the Mount has been so misinterpreted and misapplied as 5:38-42. It has been interpreted to promote conscientious objection to military service, lawlessness, anarchy, and a host of other positions that it does not support. The Russian writer Tolstoy based one of his best-known novels on this passage. The thesis of War and Peace is that the elimination of police, the military, and other forms of authority would bring a utopian society.
But Jesus already had made plain that He did not come to eliminate even the smallest part of God’s law (5:17-19).
Among the many unrighteous things that the religion of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20) included was their insistence on personal rights and vengeance. In His fifth illustration contrasting their righteousness with God’s, Jesus again shows how rabbinic tradition had twisted God’s holy law to serve the selfish purposes of unholy men.[2]
1A. The Law’s Way (5:38)
1B. The principle of the Mosaic law
The source of the text
Exodus 21:24-25 “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Leviticus 24:20 “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.”
Deuteronomy 19:21 "Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Ø This law reflects the principle of lex talionis, one of the most ancient law codes.
Ø It required that punishment match the crime.
The purpose of the law
Ø To curtail further crime.
Deuteronomy 19:20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.”
Ø To prevent excessive personal revenge.
The Mosaic Law was given to the civil government not to individuals.
Human vengeance is never satisfied with justice; it wants a pound of flesh for an ounce of offense.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord.”
2B. The perversion of the Rabbinic tradition
In no instance did the Old Testament allow an individual to take the law into his own hands and apply it personally.
Proverbs 25:21 “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;”
Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
Romans 12:20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink, for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
But, that is exactly what rabbinic tradition had done.
Ø Each man was permitted, in effect, to become his own judge, jury, and executioner.
Ø What God gave as a restriction on civil courts, Jewish tradition had turned into personal license for revenge.
Ø In still another way, the self-centered and self-asserted “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees had made a shambles of God’s holy law
2A. The Lord’s Way (5:39-42)
1B. Do not resist an evil person (5:39a)
We are not to take personal vengeance.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
We are to resist those who do evil against God’s Kingdom. (John 2:15)
We are to resist the Satan.
James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
We are to resist evil men within the church.
1 Corinthians 5:13 “… Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”
The government is to resist evil men.
Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“To lower God’s standard of justice is to lower God’s standard of righteousness—which Jesus came to fulfill and clarify, not to obviate, or diminish.” (MacArthur)
2B. Do not be easily offended. (5:39b)
Historical background
Ø To strike someone on the right cheek would be an act of great insult.
Ø Turning the other cheek symbolizes the nonavenging, nonretaliatory, humble, and gentle spirit that is to characterize kingdom citizens (cf. 5:3, 5).
Ø Jesus strongly resisted evil that was directed against others.
Ø But He did not resist by personal vengeance any evil directed at Himself.
Biblical principle
Ø When someone attacks our right to dignity, we too are not to defend that right by retaliation.
Ø We are to leave the protection and defense of our dignity in God’s hands, knowing that one day we will live and reign with him in His kingdom in great glory.
3B. Do not be overly possessive. (5:40)
Historical background
Ø The shirt mentioned here was a type of tunic worn as an undergarment, and the coat was an outer garment that also served as a blanket at night.
Ø The outer garment, the coat, that Mosaic Law required be returned to its owner “before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body” (Ex. 22:26-27).
Biblical principle
Ø The attitude of a kingdom citizen should be willingness to surrender even one’s coat, rather than cause offense or hard feelings with an adversary.
Ø If a legal judgment is fairly made against us for a certain amount, we should be willing to offer even more in order to show our regret for any wrong we did and to show that we are not bitter or resentful against the one who has sued us.
4B. Do not be strictly legalistic. (5:41)
Historical background
Ø Roman law gave a soldier the right to force a civilian to carry his pack for a milion, a Roman mile.
Ø This practice caused great inconvenience to civilians but was made even more despicable by the fact that the oppressed were made to carry the equipment and weapons of their oppressors.
Biblical principle
Ø When we are robbed of some of our cherished liberty, we should surrender even more of it rather than retaliate.
Ø In so doing we are obedient to our Lord and testify to His righteousness, knowing that in Him we have a dearer freedom that the world cannot take from us.
5B. Do not be selfish. (5:42)
Historical background
Ø We are selfish by nature.
Biblical principle
Ø We are only stewards, God owns everything.
Ø We are to be genuinely generous and seek to meet the needs of others.
Application
The only person who is nondefensive, nonvengeful, never bears a grudge, and has no spite in his heart is the person who has died to self.
It is impossible to live for self and for Christ at the same time.
George Mueller wrote, “There was a day when I died, utterly died to George Mueller and his opinions, his preferences, and his tastes and his will. I died to the world, to its approval and its censure. I died to the approval or the blame of even my brethren and friends. And since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.”
That is the spirit Jesus teaches in this passage, a spirit all men fail to possess apart from saving grace.
Abraham manifested when he gave the best land to his nephew Lot.
It is the spirit of Joseph when he embraced and kissed the brothers.
Is the spirit that would not let David take advantage of the opportunity to take the life of Saul.
It is the spirit that led Stephen to pray for those who were stoning him to death.
I DON’T GET MAD OR EVEN
Matthew 5:38-42
1A. The Law’s ______________________ (5:38)
1B. The principle of the Mosaic law
The __________________________ of the text
Exodus 21:24-25, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21
The ___________________________ of the law
Ø To curtail further crime. (Deuteronomy 19:20)
Ø To prevent excessive personal revenge. (Romans 12:19)
2B. The perversion of the Rabbinic tradition
In no instance did the Old Testament allow an individual to take the law into his own hands and apply it personally.
Proverbs 25:21, Matthew 5:44, Romans 12:20
But, that is exactly what rabbinic tradition had done.
2A. The Lord’s Way (5:39-42)
1B. Do not resist an evil person (5:39a)
We are not to take personal vengeance. (Romans 12:19)
We are to resist those who do evil against God’s Kingdom. (John 2:15)
We are to resist the Satan. (James 4:7)
We are to resist evil men within the church. (1 Corinthians 5:13)
The government is to resist evil men. (Romans 13:3-4)
2B. Do not be easily _________________. (5:39b)
Historical background
Biblical principle
Ø We are to leave the protection and defense of our dignity in God’s hands, knowing that one day we will live and reign with him in His kingdom in great glory.
3B. Do not be overly _________________. (5:40)
Historical background
Biblical principle
Ø The attitude of a kingdom citizen should be willingness to surrender even one’s coat, rather than cause offense or hard feelings with an adversary.
4B. Do not be strictly legalistic. (5:41)
Historical background
Biblical principle
Ø When we are robbed of some of our cherished liberty, we should surrender even more of it rather than retaliate.
5B. Do not be _______________________. (5:42)
Historical background
Biblical principle
Ø We are only stewards, God owns everything.
Ø We are to be genuinely generous and seek to meet the needs of others.
Matthew 5:38-42
Introduction
One element of the great American philosophy of life is that we all have certain inalienable rights. Among the most important privileges that our Declaration of Independence espouses are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In our day the number of rights claimed has greatly expanded. Movements have developed for civil rights, women’s rights, children’s rights, gay rights, prisoners’ rights, and so on. Never has a society been more concerned about rights.
Inordinate concern for one’s own rights comes from selfishness and leads to lawlessness. When our supreme concern is getting and keeping what we think is rightfully ours, then whoever or whatever gets in our way—including the law—becomes expendable. Since it is not possible for everyone to have everything he wants, to insist on our own way invariably tramples on the rights and welfare of others. Respect for law and for the welfare of others is always among the first and major casualties of self-assertion. When self is in the foreground, everything else, and everyone else is pushed to the background.
When self-interest dominates, justice is replaced by vengeance. Impartial concern for justice becomes partial concern for personal revenge. Concern for protecting society becomes concern for protecting self-interest. As James points out, that perversion is the source of wars and every other human conflict.
James 4:1-2 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel”
When rights are first, righteousness suffers.[3]
Probably no part of the Sermon on the Mount has been so misinterpreted and misapplied as 5:38-42. It has been interpreted to mean that Christians are to be sanctimonious doormats. It has been used to promote pacifism, conscientious objection to military service, lawlessness, anarchy, and a host of other positions that it does not support. The Russian writer Tolstoy based one of his best-known novels on this passage. The thesis of War and Peace is that the elimination of police, the military, and other forms of authority would bring a utopian society.
But Jesus already had made plain that He did not come to eliminate even the smallest part of God’s law (5:17-19), which includes respect for and obedience to human law and authority.
Among the many unrighteous things that the religion of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20) included was their insistence on personal rights and vengeance. In His fifth illustration contrasting their righteousness with God’s, Jesus again shows how rabbinic tradition had twisted God’s holy law to serve the selfish purposes of unholy men.[4]
1A. The Law’s Way (5:38)
1B. The principle of the Mosaic law
The source of the text
Exodus 21:24-25 “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Leviticus 24:20 “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.”
Deuteronomy 19:21 "Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
Ø This law reflects the principle of lex talionis, one of the most ancient law codes.
Ø Simply put, it required that punishment match the crime.
The purpose of the law
Ø To curtail further crime.
Deuteronomy 19:20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.”
Ø To prevent excessive personal revenge.
The Mosaic Law was given to the civil government not to individuals.
Human vengeance is never satisfied with justice; it wants a pound of flesh for an ounce of offense. That is one reason why God restricts vengeance to Himself.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord.”
2B. The perversion of the Rabbinic tradition
In no instance did the Old Testament allow an individual to take the law into his own hands and apply it personally.
Proverbs 25:21 “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;”
Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
Romans 12:20 “BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.”
But, that is exactly what rabbinic tradition had done.
Ø Each man was permitted, in effect, to become his own judge, jury, and executioner.
Ø What God gave as a restriction on civil courts, Jewish tradition had turned into personal license for revenge.
Ø In still another way, the self-centered and self-asserted “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees had made a shambles of God’s holy law
2A. The Lord’s Way (5:39-42)
1B. Do not resist an evil person (5:39a)
We are not to take personal vengeance.
Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord.”
We are to resist those who do evil against God’s Kingdom.
John 2:15 “And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables”
We are to resist the Satan.
James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
We are to resist evil men within the church.
1 Corinthians 5:13 “But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.”
The government is to resist evil men.
Romans 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”
“To lower God’s standard of justice is to lower God’s standard of righteousness—which Jesus came to fulfill and clarify, not to obviate, or diminish.” (MacArthur)
2B. Do not be easily offended. (5:39b)
Historical background
Ø To strike someone on the right cheek would be an act of great insult.
Ø Turning the other cheek symbolizes the nonavenging, nonretaliatory, humble, and gentle spirit that is to characterize kingdom citizens (cf. 5:3, 5).
Ø Jesus strongly resisted evil that was directed against others.
Ø But He did not resist by personal vengeance any evil directed at Himself.
Biblical principle
Ø When someone attacks our right to dignity, we too are not to defend that right by retaliation.
Ø We are to leave the protection and defense of our dignity in God’s hands, knowing that one day we will live and reign with him in His kingdom in great glory.
3B. Do not be overly possessive. (5:40)
Historical background
Ø The shirt mentioned here was a type of tunic worn as an undergarment, and the coat was an outer garment that also served as a blanket at night.
Ø The outer garment, the coat, that Mosaic Law required be returned to its owner “before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body” (Ex. 22:26-27).
Biblical principle
Ø The attitude of a kingdom citizen should be willingness to surrender even one’s coat, rather than cause offense or hard feelings with an adversary. The court could not demand the coat, but it could be voluntarily given to meet the required debt.
Ø If a legal judgment is fairly made against us for a certain amount, we should be willing to offer even more in order to show our regret for any wrong we did and to show that we are not bitter or resentful against the one who has sued us.
4B. Do not be strictly legalistic. (5:41)
Historical background
Ø Roman law gave a soldier the right to force a civilian to carry his pack for a milion, a Roman mile, which was slightly shorter than our modern mile.
Ø This practice caused great inconvenience to civilians but was made even more despicable by the fact that the oppressed were made to carry the equipment and weapons of their oppressors.
Biblical principle
Ø When we are robbed of some of our cherished liberty, we should surrender even more of it rather than retaliate.
Ø In so doing we are obedient to our Lord and testify to His righteousness, knowing that in Him we have a dearer freedom that the world cannot take from us.
5B. Do not be selfish. (5:42)
Historical background
Ø We are selfish by nature.
Biblical principle
Ø We are only stewards, God owns everything.
Ø We are to be genuinely generous and seek to meet the needs of others.
Application
The only person who is nondefensive, nonvengeful, never bears a grudge, and has no spite in his heart is the person who has died to self. To fight for one’s rights is to prove that self is still on the throne of the heart. The believer who is faithful to Christ lives for Him and, if necessary, dies for Him (Rom. 14:8). It is impossible to live for self and for Christ at the same time.
George Mueller wrote, “There was a day when I died, utterly died to George Mueller and his opinions, his preferences, and his tastes and his will. I died to the world, to its approval and its censure. I died to the approval or the blame of even my brethren and friends. And since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.”
That is the spirit Jesus teaches in this passage, a spirit all men fail to possess apart from saving grace. It is the spirit Abraham manifested when he gave the best land to his nephew Lot. It is the spirit of Joseph when he embraced and kissed the brothers who had so terribly wronged him. Is the spirit that would not let David take advantage of the opportunity to take the life of Saul, who was then seeking to take David’s life. It is the spirit that led Elisha to feed the enemy Assyrian army. It is the spirit that led Stephen to pray for those who were stoning him to death. It is the spirit of every believer who, by the Holy Spirit’s power, seeks to be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect (5:48).
----
[1] MacArthur, John F.
[2] Ibid.
[3] MacArthur, John F. Jr., MacArthur's New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-7 (Copyright © 1985 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1997, Parsons Technology, Inc), Chapter 31.
[4] Ibid.