Scripture:
Matthew 5.38-48
Translation: 5.38You’ve
heard that it was said, “eye for eye” and “tooth for tooth.” 39But
I’m telling you don’t fight back against an evil person. Instead, whoever hits
you on your right cheek, turn the other one toward him too. 40And
for the person who wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat
too. 41And whoever forces you to carry his stuff for one mile, go
with him for two. 42Give to the person who asks you. And don’t turn
away the person who wants to borrow from you. 43You’ve heard that it
was said, “You will love your neighbor” and “you will hate your enemy.” 44But
I’m telling you, love your enemies and pray for the people who are persecuting
you, 45so that you can become sons of your Father in the Heavens,
because He causes His sun to rise over wicked people and good people, and He
sends rain on righteous and unrighteous people. 46You see, if you
love the people who love you, what reward do you have? The tax collectors do
the same thing, don’t they? 47And if you say hello to only your
brothers, what do you do that’s better? The pagans do the same thing, don’t
they? 48So, you will be perfect like your Heavenly Father is
perfect.
Intro:
1.
A lot of times in life, we
feel like we should be perfect, and a lot of us work really hard to become
perfect, but today Jesus is going to tell us how we can actually be truly
perfect like God is perfect, and that achievement, as it turns out, is possible
only when we live like God in the way we treat evil people and our enemies
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Don’t fight back, give
generously (5.38-42)
i.
Intro: Make sure they pay
for what they do
ii.
Commands:
1.
Generally: don’t fight back
2.
Examples:
a.
Turn the other cheek
b.
Give more than they tried
to take
c.
Go further than they demand
d.
Give if they ask
e.
Lend if they want to borrow
b.
Don’t hate, love everybody
(5.43-48)
i.
Intro: you think you should
love friends and hate enemies
ii.
Commands: love and pray
especially for those who are hostile towards you
iii.
Explanation
1.
God is gracious to all,
Godly and ungodly people, so shouldn’t you be gracious to all
a.
Gives everyone sun
b.
Gives everyone rain
2.
Even Evil people are nice
to their friends, so shouldn’t you do better than them?
a.
They love their friends
b.
They say hello only to their
family
iv.
Conclusions: be like God by
loving all people
2.
Themes
a.
Love
b.
Humility
c.
What was said
d.
Payback
e.
Evil people, hostile people
f.
God as our Father
g.
Grace to all
h.
Hate
i.
Jesus’ teaching
3.
Doctrines
a.
Common Grace: God gives
grace, broad love to all people, good and bad, because of Jesus, but without
saving all people
b.
Christians are others
oriented not self-oriented, moreover, they should be going beyond the
expectations of normal people in terms of how loving and humble we are
Applications
a.
When people are evil to
you: Don’t Fight Back, Give Back Grace
i.
If they hit you, don’t
fight back, let them hit you again
1.
This doesn’t mean however
that you should put yourself in dangerous situations, or that fighting in
defense of your life is never appropriate, or for example, if someone rapes you
once, you should let them do it twice
2.
Jesus is not talking about
super dangerous situations, He is talking about not retaliating, not total
pacifism, He is saying don't let hitting someone back be your first response.
3.
But look, if someone is
trying to seriously hurt you or rape you or abuse you, get out of that
situation, and that may mean acting to save your life with force
4.
You know the kind of
situation Jesus is talk about, where one guy overreacts and hits you, not when
some thug comes at you with a knife.
ii.
If they want to sue you out
of your money, give them more than they were expecting
1.
This doesn’t happen in the
same way anymore, but if someone is trying to sue you to get something, give
them more than they asked for. For example, maybe your grandmother dies and
leaves you and the other grandkids a bunch of her stuff, and one of your
relative sues you to get one of the things she left to you, just give it to
your relative and give that relative something extra on top of that
iii.
If they force you to work
for them, exceed expectations
1.
Back then, roman soldiers
could force you to carry their stuff for a mile, so Jesus says don’t fight them
on it, carry it for double what you have to
2.
Today maybe your boss
forces you to work an extra hour than you were scheduled, if you need to go
ahead and work two extra hours.
3.
Jesus doesn’t mean let
people walk all over you necessarily, just that you should exceed expectations
iv.
If they ask you for something,
give it
1.
This is pretty simple, if
you can give it, give it
2.
Honestly, I struggle with
what the limits of this would be, maybe Jesus means give people whatever they
ask for, in terms of stuff
3.
But I do know this does not
mean that you compromise your moral convictions, in other words, just because
your boss asks you to do something illegal doesn’t mean you should, nor should
you have sex with your significant other because they ask, or help them cheat
because they ask
4.
But if you can give
something to someone and still glorify God and accomplish the mission God has
sent you on, give it. People may at times take advantage of us, but following
Jesus sometimes means not prioritizing our interests above others—humility, or
giving our love rather than whether they deserve it
v.
If they want to borrow from
you, lend to them
1.
Sometimes we refuse to lend
money to people, because we think we’ll never get paid back, and Jesus says
basically, o well. Lend anyways. Being loving and humble is more important than
a guaranteed return on your investment
b.
When people are your
enemies: Don’t hate them, love them and pray for them
i.
Love your enemies
1.
Hate is the natural
response to hate, to hostility
2.
But love is the Godly
response
ii.
Pray for those who
persecute you
1.
Cursing and hatred is the
natural response
2.
But loving them by praying
that God would bless them and work in them to draw them to Him, that is the
kind of response God would make,
iii.
This is the response that
shows you really are God’s children, not that it makes you on an ultimate level
God’s children, but on a practical level you will have become God’s children if
you respond to hate and hostility with love and humility
c.
Why respond with humility
and love
i.
Because Jesus is telling us
a different kind of lifestyle than we have in the world
1.
Jesus is taking us beyond
the verses that were given to restrain sin
2.
Jesus is taking us beyond
the misunderstanding of love your neighbor as meaning love your friends and
hate your enemies
ii.
Because that is how we can
fully live into our relationship with God, how we can fully reflect God,
because God humbly and lovingly gives grace to all people, good or bad
1.
God gives the sun to evil
and good people—the sun is necessary for growing crops, but also for seeing and
working, and today for solar energy
2.
God gives rain to righteous
people and unrighteous people—rain is also necessary for growing crops, but is
also necessary for water in the desert and beauty in nature in general
iii.
Because we will be acting
like God by humbly loving our enemies,
1.
Because any human being can
love people who are nice to Him, even evil people, so if we want rewards in
Heaven, we have to go beyond that
2.
Because any human being can
be nice to his relatives, even atheists, so if we want to live better lives
than them, we have to go beyond that
3.
So becoming perfect like
God, means humbly loving everybody like God
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