Sermon on the Mount: Revenge
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Sermon on the Mount – Revenge
Matthew 5:38-42
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 the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
1. Introduction – They is an innate feeling that everyone has…the feeling of exacting revenge whenever we are wronged.
a. To look out for good old number one…to let someone have it…
i. To wrong a person that has wrong you.
1. The Law that we come to today deals with this very subject.
a. Revenge is a natural human tendency…has been ever since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden.
ii. And much like we have seen in previous weeks – the law we are looking at today was put in place to curb excess.
1. The reaction humans have is to make someone pay…
a. To escalate the situation by exacting revenge to a higher degree than what was originally done.
b. The passage we are looking at today is absolutely and radically counter-cultural.
i. It flies in the face of natural human instinct…
1. It flies in the face of popular teaching in our world.
a. Nothing of what we’ll look at today can be done through natural human strength.
i. If you think you can turn the other cheek…give up your rights to your possessions…
1. Give up your rights to your time and freedom and be open handed with your money…
2. If you think you can do any of those things on your own and in your own power…you’ll sadly mistaken…delusional even.
a. None of what Jesus speaks of in the passage before us is natural.
i. If we can turn the other cheek, give up our possessions, go the extra mile…it is supernatural.
1. Not because of anything we do, but because of the Jesu’s power working in us.
c. These are probably the hardest words in the SM so far.
i. But remember, these are Jesus’ words and he wouldn’t have said them if he didn’t think it was possible for his followers to do them.
1. Hear God’s Word – Matthew 5:38-42.
d. So again this week, we’ll follow a similar pattern to previous weeks.
i. We’ll start by looking at God’s original intent for this law.
1. What did God mean when he said, “An eye for an eye…”
a. Next, we’ll look at how this law was being misinterpreted and misapplied in Jesus’ day.
i. And, we’ll look at Jesus’ very difficult illustrations, there’s 4 of them.
1. We’ll see how these examples really hit home.
2. God’s Intent – This famous law – and eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – is written about 3 times in the OT.
a. In Ex. 21, Lev. 24 and Deut. 19.
i. What was God’s intent with this law?
1. Well, again this law was given in order to put boundaries in place.
a. As much as it prescribed what could be done…this command also restricted what could be done.
i. It was a tool used to eliminate blood feuds and intertribal war.
b. Here’s what was happening in Israel and why God instituted this law.
i. Say there was a disagreement between 2 parties…and 1 person ended up breaking the other person’s nose.
1. And the natural bent of the wrong person is retaliation…so in doing so…maybe immediately, maybe later…
a. The person with the broken nose went and broke the other person’s ar….
i. But it didn’t stop there – the person with the broken arm, now went and broke the other person’s legs…or worse, dragged another family member into their dispute.
ii. And the person with the broken nose, broken leg and a hurt family member would then up the ante and seek even further revenge…
1. And so on and so on…the escalation in retaliation would continue…and get worse…and it wouldn’t even stop at death…it would simply continue on with more people dying
a. Where would this cycle of retribution and revenge stop?
c. Well, if instead of an escalating cycle of violence and retribution…instead, if the initial act of violence was met with reprisal in precisely the same kind and degree…that would end that matter right there.
i. So in the example if gave – the initial violence was a broken nose, so if the giver of the broken hose would then receive a broken nose…that’s the end of it.
1. It’s a restrictive command, thus far and no further. Making sure the punishment fit the crime…
a. Not taking a life over something as simple as a broken nose.
d. Secondly, what we have to understand about this law is that it was not designed to be used by individuals with personal vendettas.
i. And eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth – in the original context, it is clear that this law was given to the judges in Israel.
1. It was a law given – not as something each individual Israelite had a personal responsibility to adhere to…
a. It was something given to Israel’s judicial system…so they would know how to adjudicate the law in the young nation.
3. In Jesus’ Day – But by the first AD rolled around…the time Jesus was on earth…this law, like so many others, was being misused and misapplied. A few things were happening.
a. First – literal retaliation for damages had been replaced by monetary compensation.
i. So prices were put on various damages.
1. But the amin this that happened in Jesus’ day was that this law was taken out of the judicial system…where it belonged…
a. And was brought into the realm of personal relationships…where it didn’t belong.
i. This law was being used to justify personal revenge…even though the law expressly forbade it.
b. So this principle…this harsh but fair principle – this principle for just and fair judicial retribution was being used as an excuse for the very thing it was instituted to abolish…personal revenge.
i. What can I do to the other person…and still keep this law…that was the thinking in Jesus’ day.
4. What Jesus Teaches – So it is in to this world – where the law is being taking into individual’s own hands…
a. In to a world where personal retribution was running wild…
i. In a world where they were always looking out for number 1…wanting to defend their rights and collect compensation for it…
1. In to a world that was looking to get revenge of everyone who wronged them…
a. It is into this world that Jesus speaks…and what he says is radical…and the examples he uses are poignant .
b. And before we look at each example individually, here’s the point Jesus makes…
i. Jesus tells his followers that in a world that is focused on personal revenge and personal rights…his followers are instead to be focused on personal sacrifice.
1. That’s the overall message of this section – don’t be focused on revenge at all.
a. Don’t focus on what’s yours, or making the other person pay.
i. Don’t follow the way that the law retribution was being interpreted…
1. Instead, Jesus says, go out of your way to repay evil with good.
ii. Our immediate reaction when wronged is pay back…to get even.
1. But Jesus tells his followers that the righteous play by a different set of rules.
a. Righteousness looks different.
i. Righteousness has the needs of others in mind.
1. But we also have to know that righteousness doesn’t turn us into doormats either.
2. C.H. Spurgeon said we are to be ‘as the anvil when the bad men are the hammers.”
a. The examples Jesus’ uses depict not the weakling who offers no resistance…but rather the strong…one who is in control…and who’s love for others is so powerful that any and every conceivable form of retaliation is rejected.
iii. It takes great strength to put personal sacrifice above personal revenge.
1. It takes great strength to set out rights aside in order to first think of the other person.
a. Don’t get revenge, Jesus says…be more creative than that…be surprising with your response.
i. Personal sacrifice instead of personal revenge.
1. Quickly today, let’s look at the 4 examples Jesus uses.
c. First – Jesus speaks of a slap in the face.
i. Specifically, he speaks of a slap on the right cheek…what he is really talking about is a backhanded slap across the face…
1. It was one of the worst insults of his time.
a. It was an attack on your honour…and would have been a very shameful event…
i. And one could collect some serious compensation for it.
ii. And it is into a world far more concentrated on honour and shame they we are…that Jesus makes this first radical statement.
1. We know it well…offer the other cheek.
a. Jesus says – forgo the financial compensation that you are entitled to…don’t take what is rightfully yours…
i. Jesus says…accept the insult without responding.
2. Not fight, not flight…not compensation, but a third way…stay right there and do something surprising.
a. Such response follows the example of God’s Servant in Isaiah 50 – who gave his back to those who struck him, and his cheeks to those who pulled out his beard…
i. He didn’t hide his face from insult and spitting…personal sacrifice over person revenge.
d. Next, Jesus speaks of something that was thought of as an inalienable right.
i. If you are sued for your shirt, give your coat as well.
1. It speaks of the 2 main pieces of clothing they wore.
a. A shirt was worn close to the body, while a coat was an outer garment.
i. So important was the outer coat, that it explicitly says in the OT law that someone can’t be sued for it…for how could someone keep himself warm without it.
1. Having this outer garment was an inalienable right in Ancient Israel – much like the rights we have as Canadian citizens.
ii. But again, Jesus tells his followers to do something surprising.
1. Give up what you are legally entitled to – give your shirt…and then give up your coat too.
a. Do something surprising…something unexpected.
i. What your opponent could not have dared to ask for…something he legally could not ask for…the follower of Jesus is to offer freely.
1. Even at the cost of leaving him or herself exposed and vulnerable…
2. Personal sacrifice…even over defending personal rights.
e. Jesus third example use the idea of conscription…attack on your time.
i. In those days, the occupying Romans could conscript other people to carry their possessions for them.
1. Soldiers in particular could get regular citizens to carry various things for them. And if you were conscripted, you were legally obligated to carry it 1 mile.
a. There’s a biblical example of this…Simon of Cyrene was conscripted to carry Jesus’ cross.
ii. This practice was deeply resented and humiliating…but the people had no choice but comply.
1. But again, Jesus tells his followers that when you are presented with a situation like this…we are to do something surprising.
a. Volunteer for double duty.
iii. And we have to be careful when interpreting this command that we don’t turn to legalism…
1. Jesus isn’t commanding 2 miles and not a step further..
a. Jesus is speaking of an action that blesses someone else…
i. And action that lightens their load…action, that not only accepts the imposition, but does something surprising…something creative…
1. Repay the imposition put on you, with a blessing towards the person that put you in that position in the first place.
iv. To do this for a friend would be a remarkable feat…and would make a lasting impression on the friendship.
1. To do this for an enemy is unheard of.
a. But that’s what Jesus calls his followers to do.
i. Not looking out only for their own interest, but also for the interests of others.
v. Righteousness isn’t obsessed with my rights, my honour, my time…me, me, me…
1. Jesus says righteousness puts the other person firmly in view…
a. Righteousness is surprising…it turns the other cheek…
i. It gives up what legally couldn’t be asked for.
1. And here – it goes above and beyond what was required…no matter how inconvenient it is.
vi. The righteous seek personal sacrifice over personal revenge.
f. The fourth example is more of an everyday situation…a request for money or goods…whether from a neighbour or beggar.
i. Righteousness gives and lends cheerfully and willfully.
1. Not to the point of putting yourself in financial ruin, but a righteous person is not tight fisted…not a penny pincher.
a. When someone asks to borrow or is in desperate need…Jesus says, be creative, do something surprising.
5. Conclusion – This is not easy…you cannot do these things in your own natural power…you need supernatural power to turn the other cheek, to put your rights in the background…to go the extra mile and to be a cheerful giver.
a. Jesus says in his kingdom personal sacrifice displaces personal retaliation.
i. For this is what Jesus himself did when he went to the cross. The king of this kingdom gave us the ultimate example of personal sacrifice over personal revenge.
1. Jesus spoke of personal sacrifice over retribution…and then he exemplified it…and gave us all an example to follow.
b. Jewish police spat on him…blindfolded him and struck in the face…then the Roman soldiers followed suit.
i. They crowned him with thorns, clothed him in purple, gave him a sceptre, jeered at him, insulted him, knelt before him in homage…
1. They nailed him to a cross…pierced him a spear…and Jesus….
a. With infinite dignity, self-control and love held his peace.
i. He demonstrated a total refusal of retaliation by allowing them to continue their cruel mockery until they had finished.
ii. And he did so for us. He did so to pay the price for our sins, so we could be made right with God…
1. He did so, so we would have an example to follow…and he did it so we would have the strength to follow him in this path of personal sacrifice over personal retribution.