RETALIATION AND LOVING OTHERS
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
PRAYER father god thank you for our day Thank you for giving us this day to worship and praise you. help us to open our hearts and minds to your word. and may your word be praised for all time. amen
With the verses we are working with today, I think we have the christ centered biblically based covered. we will see how we do with the church community and hope for the future. so we have been looking at the sermon on the mount. Jesus starts with the ethic and disposition of kingdom people in the beatitudes. blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see god and so on. Jesus is describing people who belong to the kingdom of heaven. one commentator says
Jesus is looking at the inner disposition, the heart, as well as the outer action. The law is not the limit of obedience it is to be seen rather as the springboard for a life of devotion to Jesus and his father.
and that springboard comes with a better understanding of the law which Jesus is doing in his sermon on the mount. those of you who have been with us during the morning catechism, we went over the ten commandments and have seen how far reaching they really are.
Jesus goes on to say that we should be the salt and light of the world. a light that can not be hidden a light that attracts people to the glory of god. being holy people. christ did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He came to expand the law. not add to the law like the pharisees did. adding hundreds of laws and rules and regulations so they had a list they could use to check off. Jesus came to expand our understanding of the true nature of the law, the intention of the law, the spirit of the law. this is why Jesus says in verse 20 that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
from here Jesus gives us six examples of the greater righteousness he is talking about.
ANGER Jesus equates this to murder in verse 22 he says but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement …whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. now there is always room for repentance here but it is talking more of intense continuing anger. control what is coming from your heart. is your first reaction to something anger and annoyance or love and kindness
LUST verse28 but I say to you everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. here Jesus is talking of sexual purity and ethics. it is worth enormous sacrifice to protect oneself from it. whatever it is that is causing you to sin cut it out of your life. get it out of your heart
DIVORCE God hates divorce Malachi 2:16 we live in a sinful fallen world and thus there are extreme reasons for divorce such as abuse. no matter who is at fault nobody gets out clean. Pastor Gino did a wonderful job with this last week
OATHS Jesus is not saying never take an oath but to not use his name as authority for what you are saying to make it true. we should be people whose lives and words are full of integrity that others need no formal assurance of their truthfulness. verse 37 let what you say be simply yes or no.
In all of these examples Jesus uses the formula of, you have heard it said, but I say ...and he uses this formula again in the final 2 examples of retaliation and loving your enemies. Jesus uses this formula to show his authority and gives less authority to the scribes and pharisees by saying “ you have heard it said “ he doesn’t say as it was written. he is diminishing the things they said and asserting is authority... he is the messiah and as such has the authority to explain and expand our understanding of the law by getting to the heart of the law and the heart of His kingdom people ...believers....christians. Jesus continues to show us this greater righteousness in these 2 examples. He is not only showing us how to act but how our attitudes should be not by the letter of the law but by the heart of the law. Jesus is trying to get us to perfect... and that will be our task today. We will talk about how these laws were established in the old testament. what they meant then. What they mean now. I will give you a hint. they mean the same then as they do now. we will talk about our attitudes. what it means to call ourselves christians and try to get us to perfect.
Let us go ahead and read the passages
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 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.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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.
may god bless the reading of his word.
ok verse 38 you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
let us look at this law and see if it means what we think it means. it does but it doesn’t. we find this law in exodus , lev , and deut… and they each talk about it in the same way as for a judge or a magistrate or a hearing
the law is talking about punishment from judges not individuals not immediate retaliation...and is also talking about the rights of individuals who are injured. where did these judges come from and how do we know this is their role.
The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
Jethro moses’ father in law visits him and sees he sits from morning till night to judge the people. Jethro tells him to find godly men make them chiefs over thousands and over hundreds and over fifties and over tens of people Moses is to teach everyone the laws and statutes so they know how they are to act and the rights they have and then these chiefs can judge over the people. they can handle the small things and moses can handle the greater matters. the judges will impose the punishments. ..and the people will know their rights and can bring their case to the judges. ok so this is not individual retaliation but is it really eye for an eye? not necessarily. It is telling the judges that the punishment should fit the crime
deut 19:18-21 the judges shall inquire diligently and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. so you shall purge the evil from your midst. and the rest shall hear and fear and shall never again commit any such evil among you. your eye shall not pity. it shall be life for life eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot.
this is someone who has been a false witness. He did not even hurt anybody and this is where the verse is used. remember this is the punishment the judges are to rule on not the individual. So the crime this person lied about that punishment should now be put on the liar. Equal punishment for the law broken. It is not a life for an eye, or an eye for a foot .
there is an example of this being used literally, in judges Judah defeats a king named adoni-bezec and cut off his thumbs and big toes and this is what he says in
And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
so I think the law could be used that way but the intention is for the punishment to fit the crime. there was also a way to pay monetarily for an injury
Where do we see an exaggeration of justice. In gen 34 Simeon and Levi’s sister Dinah was raped by this guy Shechem, they deceived the whole city by agreeing to live as one people with them if they were all circumcised. So the people did and as they were healing Simeon and Levi went and killed all the men in the city. That was not justice that was hatred and anger and vengeance.
deut 32:35 God says vengeance is mine
simeon and levi’s punishment came in the way of jacob’s blessings to his children in
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
so they were punished for the anger and wrath
by the time of Jesus ....the pharisees had added many more laws and rules and regulations... that they were going by the letter of the law and were encouraging people to deal out there own punishment or the right of retaliation. This is not what the law was for.
A commentator on this verse eye for an eye says it was designed not to justify retaliation but to limit it. It was not permissive legislation but restrictive. and once again Jesus takes that restrictive tendency of Moses deeper into the very attitudes of his followers. private revenge is not to be a part of their lives at all. the christian community must not act according to the principle of retaliation in asserting legal rights. this attitude surpasses the spirit of legal codes but does not supersede them. Jesus is not talking about global pacifism or the abolition of police or the rights and wrongs of war. He is not talking about the responsibilities of states. He is prohibiting for members of the kingdom the attitude that says, the so and so has cheated me. wait till I get even with him. it might be Natural but wrong. this takes us to verse 39
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.
we should follow Jesus’ example
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
we dont have to be afraid of those who are evil
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.”
Jesus is getting to the attitude or the heart of the christian . Forgiveness mercy love. As christians we should have lives that leave other people in amazement in how we handle difficulties, problems, harassment disrespect, injuries, sickness. people should wonder what it is we have in our life that we can be pleasant, patient, hopeful, kind, faithful and at peace. That is when we can tell them of Jesus and the fruit of the spirit… that is a loving christian. let me be clear Jesus is not saying we don’t defend our lives or are family’s lives. what he is saying is
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
this reminds me f something I read in Matthew Henry’s commentary. he says It is the 2nd blow that makes the quarrel. This is something I never really thought of before because I think like me most of us think that the person that strikes the first blow or says the mean thing starts the fight. but there is no fight or quarrel if there is not a negative response. ..... I think we tend to think if someone did something to us first than we have a right to respond and in most cases you probably do, but if you call yourself christian, than your right is to act christ like not to act like everyone else
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
here are some ot verses of turn the other cheek
let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
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.
But the Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
instead of searching the scriptures and finding the heart of the law........the heart of god they went with the letter of the law and the rules and regulations they themselves could put on the law.... there is sometimes a confusion of the god of the ot as mean and ruthless and the god of the nt as only love . but the description of god by Jonah, is god
And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
this is god. this has always been god. he is a god of grace and mercy and love for all people not just the jews. God saved Nineveh the enemies of the jews. The jews are his promised people that were to be the light for all other people to come to know god. they were the protecter of the word of god for all to enjoy. and we are to be the same.
And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
now this is similar to turn the other cheek. that was more physical or emotional disrespect or injury. this is now dealing with your property. it is the same kind of concept if it is not much trouble to you, and you can be without it, is better to be forgiving and give grace. now we can do that individually ....but if the law and society deem there should be punishment and they follow up on it, so be it. we can and should forgive.... societal rules may not be so forgiving. if you are in an accident and break your leg you can forgive that person of all damages, if you want, but if that person is drunk the police are taking him to jail if you forgive or not. Jesus is trying to get us to be people who are not so worried of our own comfort but the possible salvation of others by our love and kindness
but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
we should be holy
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
ok so there was this law the romans had that if they needed help with something they could just grab someone off the street and make them do the work needed. to haul something or whatever. the jews of that time would have understood this and understood that Jesus was asking them to do more than was asked of them. an example of this is in
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
simon is coming in from the country maybe he was traveling maybe he had been working out there i don’t know but he is coming in and they just pick him out and say carry this cross for this guy. He can’t say no so he does. this is just an example of this law the romans could use. they way most of us would think of this is going the extra mile. right . Doing more than is expected. As christians if we are made or forced do to something we did not want to do , we should not do it with spite or anger , we shouldn’t be grumbling our way through it. Jesus again is getting to the heart. we must not do these things with a bad spirit. we work for the lord
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
ultimately god is our boss not any human. If our work is pleasing to god it will be pleasing to any human. Joseph is a good example of this . as a slave, as a prisoner, he works hard, does what is right for god and is respected for the work he does. going the extra mile does not have to be big things. they can be small things like letting someone change lanes in front of you, taking someones shopping cart back to the store. it is a matter of the heart . are you doing it because this crazy person might hit you or you think they are going to leave their cart in the middle of the road or is this kindness and love for others…putting others before ourselves
Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
as christians we should have a spirit of generosity. just as god has been generous with us. if we have the ability we should give to those in need, to those who ask. also if we know that someone has a need but they are to bashful to ask, we should be willing to offer them the kindness of fulfilling that need. how would we know someone’s need? it could be a neighbor, family member, friend or our church family. someone who is close to you. this is one reason to be involved in a local church. not only to be blessed to bless others with our own talents and capabilities. it is important to be involved, have conversations with people to learn the hearts of each other so we can better serve and be served by each other. it is important to come together as a church community and we have many opportunities to do this. one of the best ones is the camping trip coming up soon. it is an opportunity to get to know each other outside the church walls and have those conversations to get to know each other better and learn the hearts of our brothers and sisters. another one is at 6;00 -6;30 on wed night prayer time. pastor Bill was not here to promote it so there you go.. ok let us get to verse 43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
one commentator says, the ot had been clear on this,(in lev 19:18) it says you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord ... because he is like that, we must be like that. and of course neighbor was to be taken in the broadest possible sense of other person like the neighbour in the good samaritan. but that was too tough for many of the scribes. It was unrealistic to understand neighbour so broadly. so they added yet another of their escape clauses... and hate your enemy . that command appears nowhere in the ot. it is a concession to human frailty invented be the scribes.
so the scribes and the pharisees could not or would not understand that neighbor would mean anybody other than the jewish people, so added on hate their enemies. a good example of this is Paul in
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
he is telling them his credibility as a good Jew. born a jew, educated by a great teacher, a pharisee , zealous for god, persecuted the way to death, imprisoned men and women. these were all considered good things to be a good jew. hating your neighbor with zeal was a good thing .
in the ot it is true that god appointed them to destroy the 7 nations in canaan but that was for the purpose of getting Isreal into the promised land. it was not so they would continue to fight with their neighbors. which, again is shown in Jonah by god saving ninevah..... by confusing these things purposely or not they could define hating their neighbor anyway they wanted. in this they were willing to infer what god never designed. even though there were expressed laws to the contrary
“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.
these were definite enemies to Isreal at the time. and they weren’t supposed to hate them
“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
these verses say don’t hate your enemy. in fact if your enemy needs help or lost his property you should help him out. in other words love your enemy which is our next verse
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
ok so it all comes down to this LOVE.....god has been showing us how to be kingdom people, christian. if we want to call ourselves christian this is how we should be. we got to get our hearts right and know what love means. Jesus has a lot more to say in this sermon on the mount, but we got to get this part right. from the beatitudes to love. the beatitudes are our disposition merciful, pure at heart, righteous..we are to be the salt and light to the world, jesus fulfills the law and our understanding of the law....and hits us with anger lust oaths divorce retaliation. what makes your thoughts or actions good or bad? it is not by the letter of the law but your heart. if we want to be called christians we have to have hearts that the first thing that comes forth is love and kindness... the love and kindness of jesus... we stand firm on his word and stand firm for jesus.. all in love. what kind of love? here is what one commentator had to say
the word love is significant. the ancient world knew about philia, friendship, it knew about eros, sexual love it knew about storge, the love that binds families together but agape was something very different . that is why the word is practically unknown before christ the commodity itself was in such short supply for agape means a love that gives itself for the good of the recipient it means love that springs from the nature of the donor rather than from the real or fancied worthiness of the recipient. of course we cannot like our enemies. but we can love them in this sense of agape love. we can desire and work for their highest good. we can regard them as those for whom christ came an died and who are therefore intensely valuable to him at least we can begin to move in that direction if we ourselves have been magnetized by the love of the god who treats us like that and it is nothing less than that for which jesus looks in his disciples like father like son and daughter
i liked this because he talks about love in the same words we talk about Jesus which stands to reason because god is love.
we talked about love and hate on wed night bible study in Malachi where it says I have loved Jacob but esau i hated… this was talking about love and hate in a different way. it is not agape love it was a covenantal, a promised, a salvific love…jacob was the son of covenant, the son of promise, the son where salvation would come from not esau. there are 2 types of people saved and unsaved
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.
because we are adopted into the family of god we are to be christ like if we are to be sons and daughters of god we should love as god does. man is made in the image of god so all life is to be respected as such. as it says god sends the sun and rain on everyone. god controls all. i picked 2 places were this is shown. 1 there was no rain on the earth until Noah built his ark. then god sent the rains to flood the world. god is in control. 2
They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
during the 12 plaques in Egypt god sent darkness to the egyptians and Israel had light. god controls nature and all things. so if god gives good things to all people then we should have the same outlook.
everything we talked about in these passages today 38-48 christ has done, when they struck him, he let them strike him again. when they came to arrest him he did not resist the evil and we all know he had the power and every right to resist all they did to him for he did nothing wrong in
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
believe me jesus could have resisted ...... he let them take all of his clothes was forced to walk to the hill after being beating severly , he gave grace and salvation to the thief on the cross who asked, he prayed for his enemies god forgive them for they do not know what they do and he did all this to obey the father in heaven
it says in luke 12:48 everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required. and god gave us everything his life for our sins, mercy, grace, forgiveness, love, eternal life. If we are to be called christians much is required much more than the unsaved
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?
we are to be kinder, more forgiving, more loving than the outside world..what is more loving than showing people a holy and righteous life and sharing god’s word to them
...our lives should be completely different from unbelievers that they would want to know why, we are kind; joyful and peaceful. jesus was able to do everything on the cross because he was the perfect unblemished lamb of god paul says in
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
that is our goal. we press on because Jesus made us his own we strain forward for sanctification in the hope of being with god for eternity.... be merciful even as your father is merciful, he who called you is holy you also be holy, be righteous as he is righteous
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
and because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we can all be perfect in the eyes of our father above............AMEN
lets pray
father thank you for your word thank for our lord and savior jesus christ. we are so grateful for his sacrifice for us that we could be washed clean and be holy in your sight. please bless us all as we make our way home bless our week until we can meet again. amen go in peace