Sermon on the Mount XI

Subtitle:  Correcting the Righteousness of the Hypocrites II

Matthew 6:5-9.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 18, 2024.

We continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus exposes, or corrects, the supposed righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, which he calls “hypocrites” in this section.

Last week we looked at the issue of charitable giving.  We now deal with the area of prayer.

Let’s look at our passage.

The way of Righteousness in prayer:

This section is expanded compared to the section on deeds of mercy (charitable deeds) and the coming section on fasting.  In fact, it has three sections: this first one that explains the teaching of Jesus regarding prayer (5-8), a model prayer (9-13), and then a last section that gives a further explanation (14-15). 

An explanation (v. 5-8)

This section does exactly the same thing with prayer that Jesus did with the section on charitable deeds.  It contrasts how the hypocrites pray with how Jesus wants his followers to pray.  It essentially boils down to wanting to be seen and heard by people versus wanting to be heard by God.

We should take this as a challenge to us from the master not only to pray, but to pray rightly.  Today, the Spirit of God helps us to sense that original challenge that Jesus gave to the people when he taught.  Do I pray?  And, how do I pray?

Just as the hypocrites did charitable deeds only to be seen by others, so they pray in order to be seen by others.  In fact, Jesus adds the descriptive word “love.”  They love to pray in the synagogue or on the street corner because people will see them.  They love the glory that people give to them for their apparent righteousness.  Yet, they neither love God, nor love others.  In truth, they pretty much love themselves.  They for sure do not love praying in secret.

If you are the kind of person that marvels at certain people when they pray- maybe their flowery language stirs your heart, then you should be careful.  Seek to become a praying person yourself, rather than marveling at the praying abilities of others.  In fact, when are We the People going to stop being so easily stirred up by the presentations of others, both for the good or for the bad?  We should stop being so easily amazed because we are atrocious at knowing whether the image that is presented is only skin deep, or whether it goes all the way to the bone.  When we are not in tune with the Holy Spirit through prayer, we do things like help out in stoning Stephen in Acts 7.

Jesus tells us that such praying receives the reward it wants, the glory of people.  God may be offended by such praying, but He lets them have what they want, the adoration of the people (at least as much as the people will give).

God is not offended like we are as humans.  Rather, He removes the restraints would have spared you great damage.  Humans were never designed to have the adoration of crowds, the worship of them as people do for Musicians, Actors, Athletes, etc.  If you look at the lives of people who reach the top of glamor and glory, their lives collapse under the weight of such false worship.

Of course, not everyone who prays in public is fake.  In fact, we could not even have a public worship service without praying, singing, preaching in public.  However, the point is not to put more value on such public acts than they are truly worth.  If public prayer does not have a foundation of secret prayer, then it is worthless, whether people know so, or not.

Thus, Jesus tells his followers not to love to pray like that.  Instead, we are to find a secret place to pray in.  The word for “room” in verse six is a word that was used for a storage closet.  They were typically small rooms in the middle of a structure that would not have windows.  His point is not so much the exact place, but that it is a place where no one will see you.  It could actually be translated “hidden place.” 

I know, I know.  Mom’s are saying right now that there is no such thing as a hidden place!  Of course, how much glory would you expect to receive from your child seeing you pray, or knowing that you are praying?  Jesus is not creating a law of prayer.  He is doing heart surgery here, and we should not become bogged down in snarky retorts. Jesus is pointing us to the intention of our prayer.  A person who only prays in public has a heart problem.  They are not in relationship with God, but seeking satisfaction somewhere else.

Jesus emphasizes that your (singular) Father in heaven is also in the secret, or hidden, place.  This phrase would have reminded them of the same phrase in the Old Testament, like Psalm 91.  David learned that,  even though God was in heaven, He was also in those hidden places when no one was looking.  David spent tons of time praying out in the field with the sheep.  God met him there. 

Even though God is everywhere, He recognizes that prayer done when no one is watching truly has the intention of relating with Him.  This private audience with the King of the Universe happens to also be a private audience with your heavenly Father.  Have you ever thought about the reality that our minds are the original secret place?  You can be in public, but meet with God in the secret place of your mind, and those in the place would never know.

Let me just point out that God as a Father is mentioned 17 times in the Sermon on the Mount.  One time it is “our Father” (The Lord’ Prayer, Matthew 6:9).  Also, Jesus refers to God as “My Father” one time in Matthew 7:21.  The other 15 times Jesus says that He is “your Father.”  Five of these are a singular “your/you.”  The other ten are plural.  Yes, God is individually your heavenly Father, but the emphasis is on us as a group.

Again, Jesus promises that secret prayer will have its reward in the open.  He doesn’t guarantee what that will look like.  In fact, the resurrection and being with Jesus is put forth as our ultimate reward.  We must be careful of thinking that if we pray alone enough, then God will have to give us some really cool things publicly.  Pray because you want to know God, not because you want stuff from Him.  He is your reward!

Jesus gives another warning in the practice of prayer in verse 7, but this time, he looks to the religious practices of the Gentiles, instead of the hypocrites within Israel.  The word translated “vain repetition” is hard to translate without more context.  It is clear though that it has to do with praying many words.  The point has to do with lack of true heart-content.  It is more about rituals, incantations, or techniques that are supposed to help gain the attention of the “gods.”

In Gentile spirituality, the so-called gods did not care for humans, so they had to learn techniques and formulas for drawing their help.  They would even hedge their bets by worshiping many different gods.  Surely one of them would come through for them.  We should not repeat phrases like a mantra over and over.  We should not speak a certain power syllable over and over.  There really is no end to the empty techniques that false religion will conjure for its acolytes.

The One True God in heaven, your heavenly Father, is not impressed by such empty tricks.  We cannot treat God like some sort of cosmic machine that we can put in the right amount of quarters, or pull the lever just right, in order to get what we want.  Instead, we are to speak to our Father simply, and clearly.

Can you imagine speaking to your earthly dad in such ways?   He would probably call the men in white coats to come and take you away, if you did.  God wants us to approach Him as a child to a Father.  He wants to have real relationship with us as that signals.

Jesus even tells us that our heavenly Father already knows what we need before we ask.  God is omniscient.  He knows what you need way better than even you do.  He is intimately aware of your needs.  He is paying attention to your life, regardless of what it seems like to you.  You think you are cursed because of your experience of life, but Jesus tells you that you are blessed (Matthew 5:3-12).  You don’t have to employ tricks and techniques to draw His attention.  You just have to really pray to Him in the hidden place.  Don’t pray rote prayers over and over again in particular sequences while making certain signs.  This is not what Jesus wanted our prayers to become.

A Model Prayer (v. 9-10)

Let’s look at the first part of this prayer.  It starts out with the words, “In this manner, therefore, pray.”  The emphasis is that this creates a template or model that we can use in our own praying times.  Yes, we can pray it, but it is not a mantra or incantation that “always works.”  If we will pay attention to the components of this prayer, then we will be instructed in how to pray, and in what to pray about.

I will lay the prayer out to demonstrate the structure of the prayer.

“Our Father in heaven,

          Hallowed be Your name.

          Your Kingdom come.

          Your will be done.

                  On earth as it is in heaven.”

The first line is the address.  Who am I addressing when I pray?  It is interesting that Jesus has made the point that God is “your (singular) Father.”  Yet, in this model prayer, he uses the plural concept of “Our Father.”  Think of it.  You are approaching God alone in a hidden place, and yet you address Him as a part of a group. 

There is an obvious lack of the concept of “I” and “me” in this prayer. I am reminded of the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18:12-14.  His prayer keeps repeating “I,” and when he does mention others, it is in contempt and derision.  Yes, the tax collector also uses the first person pronoun of “me.”  However, the prayer of repentance and humility is always heard.  This is not about never using first person pronouns.  Rather, it is recognizing that Jesus is signaling something important to us by their absence.  Perhaps my prayers are far to self oriented?  Do you think?

The key is not so much never using the pronouns, “I,” “me” or “mine.”  It is about being fully aware that your heavenly Father is also your brother’s heavenly Father.  We should approach God alone, but not as ones who are alone.  Even people who are not God’s child are desired to be so by Him.  He is bringing us into a larger community, His family.  And, He wants us to care for one another, even in our secret prayers.

This address is followed by three requests that focus on God and His purpose, rather than on me and my purposes.

Israel had fourteen centuries of wavering between focus on God’s purposes and focus on their own purposes.  At some point, we must become a broken person that realizes “our purposes” generally get in the way of God’s.  Also, His purposes are more beneficial to us and others than the purposes that we come up for ourselves.

We generally even pray for God’s purposes selfishly.  You can pray for God to bring in the Kingdom, but why do you do so?  Do you want the Kingdom because then you will be bossing people around?  Are you focused more on how good your experience will be instead of the glory of God blessing all the earth?

Israel, in general, had come to a place where they couldn’t wait for God to put the Romans in their place under the boot of Israel.  Yet, Jesus showed the remnant the heart of God wanted to take the light of the Gospel to that Gentile world and invite them into the Kingdom in a good way.

Let’s look at the form of the three request first.  The form of the first one, “hallowed be Your name,” is true of them all.  The verb is first followed by the subject.  The other two would look something like this: “Come be Your Kingdom.  Done be Your will!”  These are also imperatives (commands).  However, they are in the third person singular.  This has the effect of begging the question of just who is to do these things.  Perhaps, it is both God and us.

The first request speaks of God’s name.  This is His reputation, and the way people view Him.  The prayer is that God’s name, person, and reputation be seen and treated as holy.  In fact, the most holy thing in the universe.  Holy means that something is set apart for God’s purposes.  This may seem redundant (how can God not be holy, i.e., about His own purposes).  Yet, the emphasis is on how others see Him.  God is perfect in His character and attributes.  He is not like sinful humans, nor like the sinful spiritual beings.  However, we don’t always see and treat God as such.  People have no problem slandering God, and attributing things to Him that are not true.  It is a prayer for God to be respected by all.  So, this should start with me.

The second request is that the Kingdom of heaven would be brought in, or that it would come.  This is clearly a reference to the Kingdom of Messiah.  We are praying for its full realization on earth, instead of just being in heaven.  This does involve living out the Kingdom today in our lives.  We are to be an expression now, of a coming Kingdom later when Christ returns.

Is my life an ever-clearer expression of the values of Jesus?  May God help us to give ourselves to being an expression of the coming King and His perfect Kingdom that is coming.

The third request is that God’s will would be done.  Sometimes God’s will seems to be at odds with His Kingdom.  When Jesus went to the cross, it seemed to be the opposite of bringing in the Kingdom.  Submission to God’s will as the All-Wise One is important.  We can be a person who expects God to do particular things in our life, and when He doesn’t, we can be disillusioned.  “God, you said I would be blessed, but now there is a cross in front of me!”  We don’t always understand why God does what He does.

When we pray for God’s purpose, we are praying for the greatest good to come about.  In fact, there are layers to the will of God.  God put a curse upon the earth.  Is it His will that it last forever?  No!  What I do with it is important.  Wrestling with God like Jacob did is rewarded with intimacy.  Yes, the wicked man will be judged and go to the Lake of Fire, but God wants us to resist that by telling him the Gospel, the love of God.  God wants us to plead with the man that He resist God’s will properly, that is, through repentance and seeking mercy.

All of this connects to the greatest commandment.  When you love God with all of your being, you will pray for His purposes to come first.  All of this is a desire to have the goodness of God expressed on the earth, and not just in my secret times of prayer with Him. 

For the sake of time, we will pause here and pick up on the second half of the Lord’s Prayer next week.

Correcting Righteousness II

Sermon on the Mount X

Subtitle:  Correcting the Righteousness of the Hypocrites I

Matthew 6:1-4.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 11, 2024.

Chapter six of the Sermon on the Mount clearly moves on to another main point.  Jesus has been looking at the teaching of the Scribes and the Pharisees, the teachers of his day, and showing how it fails to fulfill the Law.

Now, Jesus moves to exposing the problem with the apparent “righteousness” of these “hypocrites.”  However, more than exposing their problem, Jesus shows his followers how to live out true Kingdom righteousness.  Whereas the previous point showed the lack of love for others in their teaching, this point will show the lack of a true heart for God in their righteousness.

In fact, what Jesus shows here is at the root of the common problem that religious institutions tend towards corruption.  If their teaching is superficial, i.e., has no heart, so their righteousness itself is also superficial.  It is generally not for the glory of God.

Jesus will look at three areas of spiritual matters: charity (acts of mercy), prayer, and fasting.  It is not by accident that prayer is at the center of this point, and at the center of the whole Sermon on the Mount.

Today we will focus on the acts of mercy that are often called charitable deeds.

Let’s look at our passage.

The way of righteousness (v. 1)

Though Jesus does not use the word “way” here, it an important theme throughout the Old Testament, and the work of Messiah.  John the Baptist details this when he comes forth as the voice in the wilderness that calls for the way of the LORD to be prepared.  At the end of this sermon, Jesus will point to the “narrow way.”  This is essentially following the teaching of the Messiah, Jesus.

We also know that Jesus is talking about their “righteousness” in this chapter because of his words back in Matthew 5:20.  There is a question in the manuscripts in verse 1 on whether it says, “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds…,” or if it read, “Take heed that you do not do your righteous deeds…”  The manuscripts that are older and more reliable actually split about 50/50 on which is original.  The difference is not significant, but if the proper word is “righteous deeds,” then this verse serves as an up front description of what is wrong in the following three areas of righteous deeds.  I believe that is most likely and it would also create a clear tie back to the earlier recognition that our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees.

In truth, deeds of righteousness is the larger category of which charitable deeds is a subset, just as prayer and fasting are other subsets of this larger category.  Historically, these were so close that “righteousness” was often used to refer to them as a synonym.

Let’s tie this into our role as imager of God.  If we will listen to Jesus on this point, we will be able to properly image God the Father to the world around us.

We should also recognize that charitable deeds is not just about money.  It literally means an act of mercy.  If we use the Good Samaritan as an example, you will see that the most important thing that he gave to the ambushed man was his careful attention.  Everything that he did from that man flowed from a heart of compassion, mercy.

Jesus gives us a command.  “Do not do your righteous deeds before men…”  However, instead of putting the imperative upon the verb, i.e., “do not do…,” he puts the imperative on the verb “take heed!”  The effect of this is to intensify the imperative.  Jesus commands us to take up this area of our life and pay close attention to it.  It can be translated as: “beware,” or “Be careful.”  We need to spend time thinking through this any time we go to do an act of righteousness.  In the book of Deuteronomy, this kind of language generally points to an area of sin that we need watch out for or we will fall.

Thus, we are told that our intention must never be about other people seeing us.  If you do that, then you will have no reward from God because He knows that you are not doing it for him, but for them.  We see this in the story of the widow’s mite.  The motive of the rich man will only be rewarded by the adulation of the crowd.  What about the widow?  Most people who saw her probably contemptuously looked down on what she was doing.  Even when she did it in public, she was not in danger of doing it for the praise of man.

Messiah corrects them in their charitable deeds (v. 2-4)

Let’s be clear up front that we are not talking about salvation as a reward for our “righteousness.”  Before we come to Christ, our righteousness is as filthy rags.  However, when we come to Christ in faith, we are now saved.  Yet, through his teaching and with the help of his Holy Spirit, we are enabled to walk out the righteousness of Christ, and even fulfill the Law.  We are enabled to better image God the Father to the world around us.

Of course, walking out the righteousness of Christ is wrapped up in our salvation.  Our salvation in Christ is the foundation upon which we walk forward.  If I don’t keep my eyes upon Christ, and worse, I begin to resist and rebel against the Holy Spirit, then I can harm my own faith in Christ, even to the point of walking away from him.  Thus, on one hand, we can never merit salvation through walking out the righteousness of Christ.  Yet, on the other hand, if I become discouraged and walk away from Jesus, then I can forfeit it.  So, the one is integral to the other.  He has saved me, and that stirs up the desire to image him to the world.

We notice in verse 2 that Jesus describes a trumpet being blown when the hypocrites are going to do a charitable deed at the synagogue or on the streets.  It is unclear whether this was literally being done, or if it is an apt symbol of what they were doing.  Regardless, whether literal or metaphorical, it does serve as a great symbol of a person trying to draw attention to what they are about to do.  They do things that “trumpet” their deeds.  Of course, this doesn’t just happen in religious works among religious people.  The secular world is full of trumpeting one’s own goodness.  But, God’s people should be different.

The point is that they would not give, or do an act of mercy, without having a mechanism by which to draw attention to it.  Why?  It is because they want to be seen by men so that they will receive some kind of glory from them.  If we think of all the inner vices that Jesus referred to in working through the six case studies on the Law, they lust for the attention and glory that people will give them.

It is easy to despise those who give great sums of money in order to get their name on a building when we don’t have enough money to do the same.  The problem is not that they have money, and it is not that they even give it away.  The problem is the intention of the heart is all pointed towards people and not God.  In fact, not all people who give large donations do what we are seeing in these verses.

Essentially, Jesus is speaking to a crowd that most likely does not have much money.  He is telling them that these rich scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, might appear to be quite righteous, but most of their hearts are not right before God.  They simply lust for the glory of people.

We people are too quick to give glory to others.  Of course, we are not God and cannot see the motives of people’s hearts.  However, that is exactly why we should be careful glorifying the righteous deeds of others.  We are all too ready even to trumpet for them, and to continue to trumpet long after the deed has been done.  This is not about judging them, but recognizing that we do not know the true value of what they have done.

All of this is couched in a negative command.  We are not to draw attention to our charitable deeds.  More importantly, our motivation for giving must not be driven by the recognition we could get from other people for being so righteous.

This brings up the greater issue of why we should give charity.  Notice that Jesus just assumes they will do it.

As I said before, the word basically means “an act of mercy.”  It emphasizes that you do not owe a person anything, but you are touched in your heart (actually deep in your guts) for them.  You have compassion upon them.  In prayer before God, and with the knowledge of my resources, I determine in my heart what I am going to do. 

However, we need to be careful of thinking that God needs to give us a particular number- not that He can’t do that if He wants.  However, He actually wants you to become like Him.  That means your love and compassion needs to be expressed by you.  Perhaps, you could have done more, but what you did was good, if it was done for Him.  An act of love is and act of love. 

Imaging God is at stake here.  No one is more compassionate and giving than God.  Our charitable giving needs to be out of a desire to be like God in this world by helping others.  In fact, it shouldn’t even be about a desire to get God to bless you more in this life.  God is always blessing us.  Why do I crave more?  As God supplies in your life, respond compassionately to the world around you with your time, energy, help, and even giving. 

At the end of verse three, Jesus gives us the command in a proverbial form.  I believe this is all about counteracting our inner desire, even lust, to be recognized by people for our charitable deeds.  All proverbs can be abused.  I’ve heard some justify not telling another family member what they are doing because we are not to let our left hand know what the right hand is doing.  However, verse 4 clarifies exactly what Jesus means.  Do your deeds in secret.

The right hand was typically the hand of giving to others.  Yet, we should recognize that the left hand belongs to the same body.  So, this may actually be saying something that is going on internally within us.  When we give, we should not give a second thought to what a good thing we are doing.  We should not even judge our own works as too how good they are before God.  We should simply do them and move on.  Don’t get a big ego over it.  Don’t even internally trumpet your goodness.  This will only have a corrupting influence in your heart.

Of course, Jesus is not creating a law here, and if someone finds out that you gave a charitable donations, then God will be angry and punish you, or simply not give you a reward.  It is actually quite hard to give mercy to another person without at least them knowing.  Should you hide such things from your spouse?  I don’t think Jesus is trying to create an environment where we are hiding things from our spouse.  The point is to be taken simply, and at face value.  Make your aim to please God and to show His love to others.  Pay close attention to your motivation, the desire that is motivating you.  If you will do this then the details will become immaterial.

Let’s end with looking at the rewards for both the hypocrites and for the followers of Messiah.

The hypocrites are rewarded.  However, it is not by God.  God allows them to have whatever glory people are giving for such things.  They simply get what they were looking for.  God doesn’t owe them anything because it wasn’t done for Him.

Yet, there is a trap in their giving.  The corrupting influence of the glory of the people will continue working in our hearts.  It will continue to corrupt until no good thing remains.  The word here for “rewards” can be used for positive or negative things.  Thus, it can take on the idea of punishment.  Perhaps, the glory of men is a punishment that God gives to the wicked.

How much charity is given out of wrong motives?  How much charity is given from hearts that hunger for something other than God?  Whatever you are hungering for (whether as a giver, or even as a receiver) becomes an idol, and to worship an idol is to become a worthless, vain thing ourselves.

We were not designed to hold up well under the glory of people (just look at the lives over time of those who have it). 

There is nothing wrong with giving honor where honor is due, but we need to be really careful.  We are a people who love to idolize others.  Perhaps, it has something to do with living vicariously through them, even being a part of the group that they came from.  Yet, the adulation of a crowd can never satisfy a heart that was designed to be satisfied by the One True God.  All other things fall short of His glory.

This brings us to the righteous who do their charitable deeds for the right motives and in secret (as best can be done).  Giving secretly leads to a reward from God.  The word “openly” is in question and is not found in the oldest manuscripts.  We should be careful of overemphasizing a reward in this life.  God is constantly blessing us in this life.  But, later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will emphasize laying up treasure in heaven.  Peter speaks to this in 1 Peter 1:4.  There, he calls it an inheritance reserved in the heavens.  If we live for Christ in this life, then He has a great reward for us in the life to come.  Our great reward is to be resurrected and inherit the whole earth with Jesus.  We will serve as the glorified, righteous administration of King Jesus.  It is not yet manifest what we will be, but when Jesus comes, we will appear with Him clothed in His glory!  Now, that is much better than screaming crowds of fallen people shouting our name!

Correcting Hypocrites audio

Sermon on the Mount IX

Subtitle:  Fulfilling the Torah and the Prophets of God VII

Matthew 5:43-48.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 4, 2024.

Today, we will finish the Master’s look at what it means to fulfill the Law.  In a sense, this is the sixth case-study, but it is also a summary for all of the others.  It challenges us to recognize all of the ways that we have been an enemy to people, choosing a path that is of the evil one.  It challenges us to see how we have not chosen to take the path of our Father in Heaven, and to change.

This law focuses not on how someone becomes an enemy to us, but on what do we do with those who are already our enemies, and for whatever reason.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Law of Enemies (v. 43-48)

Jesus lays out the teaching of the current day on how we treat our enemies.  “Love your neighbor, and hate your enemies.”  In a sense, you only love the people that God commands.

The idea of loving your neighbor can be inferred from the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20.  Jesus said that all of the Law and the prophets can be summed up in loving God and loving your neighbor. 

Of course, a legalist would ask the question.  “Just who is my neighbor?”  Jesus answers that later (Luke 10:25-37) with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Here, however, Jesus jumps right by our neighbor and goes to the heart of the issue, our enemy.

Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD!”

This passage does focus on neighbors being of your own nation or people.  However, there are other passages that add to this.

Take, for instance, Exodus 23:4-5.  It talks about helping your enemy, if you come upon him while he is in a difficult situation (most likely assumed to be another Israelite).  Don’t take advantage of them.  Also, Deuteronomy 23:7 tell Israel not to hate the Edomites and the Egyptians.

On top of this, the Law and the prophets signal a desire of God to bless the nations, whether through Abraham (Genesis 12) or Messiah (Isaiah 42, 49, and 60).  God cared about the nations, and Israel was His tool to reach them with the Truth.

So, how did the religious leaders come to the conclusion that we should hate our enemies?  It is a natural inference from the idea that God is going to judge the nations who have hated Him.  It would make sense that we should not love those who hate God.  Yet, God’s long delay for judging His enemies begs a lot of questions.  Why wouldn’t He just judge them and get it over with?  Did God really want Israel to hate His enemies?

I mentioned several prophetic passages earlier.  It is clear that there is some tension between a judgment of the nations and the light of Messiah going out to the nations.  Jesus is now shining the light of day upon this murky area.

Jesus tells his followers to love their enemies, which is the exact opposite of what they would have been told by the religious leaders.  We are not given any commentary on the crowd, but I have to believe that their were some audible gasps at this point.  It had to be a shock.  Perhaps, we could ask the question (like the young man in Luke 10 regarding his neighbors), “What exactly do you mean by love?”   Is Jesus telling us that we have to have fuzzy warm feelings for our enemies?  No.  The word for love here has to do with an intellectual choice that is not dependent upon the person we give it to.  It is a love of decision.

Jesus goes on to point out three particular ways to love your enemy.  The first is, “Bless those who curse you.”  This deals with the area of speech.  How do we talk about those who talk evil of us?  The second is, “Do good to those who hate you.”  This deals with the area of our actions.  What kinds of things do we do to those who hate us?  The third is, “Pray for those who spitefully use you (treat abusively) and persecute you.”  This is the area of our spiritual life.

I don’t believe that Jesus intends us to pray for their destruction.  The previous two examples clearly show a good and righteous response to the actions that are not good and righteous towards us.  This needs to be a prayer that can be categorized as loving, a choice to work for their good.

This doesn’t mean that we approve of what people do when they curse, hate, abuse and persecute others.  It doesn’t even mean that we pray for them to be happy in life.  A person who chooses to be an enemy to you is not following the Lord Jesus Christ.  They are lost.  Perhaps, that is what we should pray for them.  “Lord, help me to respond in such a way that they may turn away from being an enemy and turn towards being a brother in you!”

We need to understand that love is a weapon.  People who are doing evil are generally not prepared for someone to love them.  I guarantee you that no evil person has spent a minute training on what to do when somebody loves them.  The enemy of our souls (the devil) intends their actions to destroy your faith.  However, what do you think God intends to do by your actions back towards them?  He intends to break them free from the devil’s hold on their life.  He intends to break them free from a life of anger, contempt, fear, rage, abuse, etc.

The natural question rises at this point, “Who in their right mind would love those who curse, hate, and persecute them?”  Jesus follows up quickly with the answer why in verse 45.

Every person ought to ask the question, “Who is my Father, and what is He like?”  Jesus points us to God who is firstly our Creator, and for those who have responded by faith, a spiritual Father.  This new birth is necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  This picture of a child beginning to look like its father is important.  If you want to be a child of God, then you need to pay attention to what He is like. 

The image of God is more about spiritual things then it is about our physical appearance.  We automatically have the status of an imager of God by simply being human, natural birth.  However, status is not enough.  The activity of my life needs to be a portrayal of the Father.  This may sound extremely abstract, but look at the examples that Jesus gives following this.  “[He] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  God gives sunshine and rain to everyone.  Yes, God can affect the weather and send droughts.  However, don’t miss the fact that God generally gives these things to all peoples.  Even with these particular judgments, God gives far more grace to the wicked than they deserve. 

This can cause those who are trying to be righteous to have a crisis of faith.  We may begin to doubt the goodness of God.  “Why does He bless those who curse Him?”  And, it may even cause us to doubt His very existence.  “What good is it to serve God, if the wicked are blessed too?”  Of course, these are very short-sighted questions.  What good is it if a person never has drought, nor an empty belly, but they go into eternity and are found lacking by the Judge?  Why am I having a crisis of faith because God is being kind and showing goodness?

To love your enemy is not to say that what they do is good.  To love your enemy does not justify them in what they are doing.  It could be said that it increases their guilt, if they don’t cease their enemy-ways.  Yes, God will judge all people, and He will judge all the nations at once in what is called the Last Days.  If God is good, then why does He delay judgment?  It is because He is not willing that any should perish.  To love your enemy is to recognize that they will be judged and found guilty.  Yet, God doesn’t want them to perish.  God desires them to have a change of heart, repent, and enter His Kingdom like little children.

Romans 2:4 says, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” They may never repent, but God’s goodness gives them a chance.  If we choose to go into eternity over the top of all of God’s goodness, then He will judge you.  But, always remember this.  He doesn’t want you to be His enemy.

This becomes a heart check in which we all fail.  We do not naturally want this for our enemies.  We are not this compassionate and selfless, but God is; Jesus is.  Yet, don’t be discouraged.  This is what it means to follow Jesus.  Our flesh fights it, but the Spirit of God helps us to overcome.  Lord, change our hearts with each trial and decision that we face.  Let us become more like you!

In verse 46 Jesus gives some if-statements that challenge the kind of love that we might have for others.  He uses the verb form of agape for love here.  It is the idea of choosing to love, as opposed to a love that is more based in the heart (i.e., familial love, brotherly love, or romantic love).  If you only choose to love those who chose to love you, then how are you different than the world?  Tax collectors and Gentiles tend do this with those who choose to love them.  Notice that God chooses to love His enemies (i.e., act for their benefit).  Their life is still limited.  They will face judgment.  But, He is good to them while they live.

In fact, one of the greatest good things that God has done is design the universe with a principle of cause-and-effect.  Even when people dismiss the word of God, and refuse to listen to His followers, cause and effect meets them at every poor choice that they make.  Their evil acts themselves draw them into evil consequences that naturally follow their actions, words, and inner life.  Through consequences, God is calling them back away from the ledge that they are intent on plunging off.  This reality, along with His goodness, is a powerful part of everyone’s life.  There is a goodness to consequences that we may not yet even understand fully.

Jesus asks his followers to leave judgment in the hands of the only One who can do so perfectly.  We can trust God to do the right thing.  In fact, our hunger for justice and setting things right often leads to all kinds of evil things that we do.  You risk losing your own soul when you rise up to be an enemy to your enemies, when you hate them.  Besides, we really stink at getting justice for ourselves.  We carry the bloody flag against everyone else, but do not recognize that this is a conflict of interest.  It would be like having you play in the Super Bowl, but also be the only one who is the referee in the game.  There is too much at stake to expect that you will always make a righteous call.  So, why not leave it to God?  Why not work to make your enemy your brother instead?  Why not save yourself from a lifetime of hate, contempt, rage, death, and then a fearful judgment from God?

Finally, Jesus lays down a statement that is very fearful on its face.  “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  I’m sure there were some gasps on that one as well.

This phrase is interesting because it is in the future tense.  Therefore, Jesus is stating that you (plural) will be perfect in the future.  There is an encouragement of assurance in this.  He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. 

However, the Hebrews also used the second person future as a way of giving a command to someone about something ahead.  This nuance adds another dimension to the statement.  There is no question that God will do His part in this.  However, this sermon has had several places of warning throughout it.  We might hear these wonderful words, but not persevere in following the Messiah.  We might grow weary, lose faith, and walk away.  Thus, this is also a command to be perfect.

Of course, the flesh of every human who has ever lived protests such a statement.  How can God expect us to be perfect?  First, let me point out that the Greek word for “perfect” here does not mean to never mess up.  It is actually a term that is used in building, growing, planning, etc.  A building has many stages to it, but we call the last stage the finish work.  When the house is ready, it is perfect, finished, completed.  It is what we intended it to be.  You are a child spiritually, but children grow up and become adults.  You shall be perfect, complete, finished.  God essentially guarantees it.  Yet, you must have faith in Him, in Jesus, and persevere in this fight against our flesh by the Spirit.

When we say a baby is perfect, we mean that it is exactly what it should be for the stage it is in.  However, if the baby never grew, we would quickly become concerned and not think of it as perfect.  Quit thinking of this like a legalist, and begin thinking of it in terms of the love of God.  As you die to your righteousness, come alive to His righteousness, and rely upon His Spirit to help you learn to love your enemies, then you will be a perfect baby Christian learning to walk, then run, and finally fly.  It is our relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit that makes our life perfect, even when there are dumb choices, and sin that we need to repent of.

In this life, Christians are not instantly zapped and made into the image of God.  Ephesians 4 12-13 pictures us growing up into the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ.  This may feel hopeless at times, but should not co-labor with the Holy Spirit in hopelessness.  God is on your side.  How can you lose?  And how can you lose even when you fall down from time to time?  Jesus is the author (it was his idea) and the finisher (he will complete you) of our faith.  Guess when you will be done becoming like Jesus?  At the resurrection, God will accomplish the coupe de grâce (I mean that in an artistic way and not a military way).  Can we just take a deep breath right now and rest in the truth that we shall be like Him?  Yes, there is plenty of hard things to go through down here, and there is plenty of things that we may suffer.  However, we do these things with our LORD!  There is a certain glory that we have to go to war against our flesh, and against the devil’s work on this planet.  We were made to destroy the works of the devil with the help of Jesus!  We start by destroying the works of the devil in our own heart and mind by the help of His Holy Spirit.  Let’s go to work with Jesus this week!

Law of Enemies audio

The Sermon on the Mount VIII

Subtitle:  Fulfilling the Torah and the Prophets of God VI

Matthew 5:38-42.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 28, 2024.

Today, we continue our look at how Jesus expects his followers to approach the law.  Those blessed people who are following him will act and respond to life quite differently than others. 

These examples that Jesus gives are more snapshots of the kinds of things that the followers of Jesus will do.  They will do these strange things because they love Messiah and have followed him into the Kingdom.

They will be a people who are not internally surrendered to vice, but rather, they will be people from whom the difficulties of life seem to bring forth goodness.  How can it be that a sinful world could bring out of the righteous something good?  Yes, it seems impossible, but this is what Jesus is talking about.

Let’s look at the fifth area of the Law that Jesus deals with in our passage.  It is often called the Law of Retribution.  It deals with matters of personal injury, and how courts should rectify certain offenses, or how they are to make the offense right.  The general rule is to equate the harm done to another, unless there are circumstances that mitigate that.

In each of these 6 case studies in the Law, Jesus points us to the internal as more important than the external.  He points us to battle against the vice that seeks to overwhelm us and to choose the virtue, or righteousness of Christ, that we need to embrace.

This area will very naturally lead into the last case study on how we should treat our enemies.  This case study goes back one step and deals with how we become enemies with people in the first place.  There is always some infraction at the heart of it.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Law of Retribution (v. 38-42)

Again, Jesus does not spend a lot of time on what they are being taught by their teachers.  He simply gives a quote from the law, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”  We will deal with this more in a second, but I will say up front that this phrase is used three times in the Law of Moses.

Before we go there, I want to remind us of Genesis 4 and the murders that happened there.  Cain kills his brother purposefully and out of spite.  Cain receives a gracious punishment from God. Later in that chapter, Lamech, from the line of Cain, kills a young man just for injuring him.  His speech basically presumes that the grace given to Cain should be even greater to himself.  He had killed a young man for injuring him.  Of course, we don’t know all the details.  Did the young man injure him purposefully?  Did Lamech purposefully kill the young man in rage, or was it a spur of the moment response in which he flew off the handle?

This is an important understanding of the “Old Testament.”  God actually starts with grace, not law.  The law came much later.  Without restraint, whether upon ourselves in a personal fashion or externally from laws of society, humans are capable of great evil in this area of getting justice.  A culture that is fixated on “social justice” does not realize just how much evil they themselves do.  I am not saying that justice is unimportant.  I am actually saying something about each of us when we are consumed with getting justice.  We tend to see every injury to ourselves by another in the worst light, and we tend to see every injury to another in the best light.  Our tendency towards selfishness and sin pits us against one another in a no-win game.  We will never see eye to eye following this path.

People can laugh about a society of one-eyed, toothless people, but this law actually served as a brake, or restraint, on overkill.  Lamech was injured, but he killed the man in return.  This is man in his natural sense of justice.  “If you harm me, then I will kill you.”  God wants justice, but He also knows that we need restraint when we are seeking it.  Yet, even this brake on our desire for justice falls short of what God desires from each of us.  The teachers are focused only on satisfying the requirement of equating punishment and infraction, rather than hearing the spirit of what God is saying.

Jesus gives us his teaching, and it starts with the main point, “Do not  resist an evil person (vs. 39).”  He then goes on to give four examples from the kinds of situations where this is an issue.  In short, the four examples flesh out what he means by not resisting an evil person.

So, what is meant by not resisting an evil person?  We should first recognize that the area of the law Jesus is talking about, i.e., eye for an eye, has to do with a context of personal injury from another.  The three places where this is quoted are Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19.

In Exodus 21, it pictures two men who are fighting.  Of course, they will probably give each other black eyes, and knock out teeth.  But, the Law is actually speaking about their tussle injuring a pregnant woman, causing her to go into labor and either having the baby prematurely, or it dying.  The point is not so much killing a child of the man who causes a miscarriage.  The point is about upping the gravity of your actions.  If I know that I will be held accountable to the consequences of a fight, I will exercise more caution in fighting.  At the least, we will clear the room of any pregnant women.

Leviticus 24 speaks of a man disfiguring a neighbor.  It doesn’t explain how that would happen, but we could see two men working together, and an axe head flies off of the handle.  Let’s say that it hits the other guy and gashes his face, or breaks his jaw and now it is crooked.  This is where this maxim is quoted.

In Deuteronomy 19, the context is the case of a person lying in court, bearing false testimony.  If such a person is caught, they are to receive the punishment that they were expecting the person that they were lying against to receive.

Notice that none of these situations picture a self-defense situation where someone breaks into your house and is threatening to kill your family.  It doesn’t picture a situation where the Philistines are attacking and mean to subjugate you as their slaves.  Neither is it picturing a situation in which authorities are exercising punishment upon someone who has broken the law, i.e., law enforcement.  It is a personal injury that happens in the course of normal life.  Someone has harmed another.

Now, let’s look at what is meant by “resist.”  To resist here pictures a person taking their stand in hostility in order to go to war against the other person who has injured them.  You are taking your stand against them as an enemy.

The word “evil person” means everything from “the person who caused the bad thing to happen (though on acccident)” all the way to a person who is a bad person themselves and love to do bad things to others.  However, Jesus may actually intend to bring up the worst case scenario, i.e., even when a person intends to do it maliciously.

The point is that it is our natural tendency to rise up to fight when someone has injured us.  Don’t make those who intend you evil your target.  Don’t rise up in the anger, rage, and vengeance that are so natural at that moment.  There is a deeper issue going on here and it has to do with what injury does to us spiritually.

We are called to be imagers of God.  When someone injures us, especially when they are maliciously evil, we are too quit to take them out.  In so doing, we rarely image God well.  James 1:20, “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  If I am not imaging God, then just who am I imaging?  Who was Cain imaging?  1 John 3:11-12a says, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother.  This is not talking about Adam, but about the Serpent, the Devil, who was the first murderer.  In trying to get justice, we easily fall into imaging Satan, rather than God.  You become a vessel that is breathing out death and statements of vindictive overkill, rather than a vessel that is filled with life.

Jesus is telling us that, if we want to follow him, we need to go to war against that inner impulse to hate others and to seek vengeance upon them.  We need to stop targeting others, and start targeting the vices that too quickly rise up within us.

Of course, that does go for those who are on both side of the injury.  Jesus wants the other person to go to war against the things in their heart too!  Yet, I have to focus upon me.  We will both stand before God one day and give an account for whether we lived a life of targeting others (producing death), or we lived a life of targeting our own heart (producing life).

If you think this sounds like God doesn’t care about justice, then I have not been clear enough.  Of course, God cares deeply about justice, far more than we do.  He also cares about making it right.  Jesus hung on a cross for you and for them precisely because He cares about it.  Jesus is not playing games with this area of justice.  He is going for true justice, and none of us can survive true justice without the grace of God being provided for us.

The Law of Moses was sent to shut the mouths of those who think they are doing a good job being righteous.  We all fall short of perfect righteousness, and therefore, we are disqualified to “fix it” or get justice.  Our flesh is hostile to a true justice that bring forth true righteousness.  We are all in the same boat, and we are in need of God’s grace and mercy.

Let’s look at the first example that Jesus brings up in verse 39.  This is an insulting slap on the side of the face by another person.  In public or not, most people would be ready to go to war against another person for such a thing.  Jesus pictures his followers turning the other cheek.  Now, we know that his intention is not for us to literally present our other cheek, as if asking for another blow.  We know this because this very situation was done to Jesus during his kangaroo trial, the morning of his execution.

John 18:22-23 shows us Jesus being struck by an officer.  Does Jesus literally turn his face so that the guy can hit him on the other cheek?  What I mean is this.  Is that the thing that Jesus is really hoping to accomplish in us?  There is no mention of Jesus literally turning the other cheek.  In fact, his statement to the officer has a subtle rebuke to it.  “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”  Now, remember exactly who Jesus is.  He is the Word of God through whom all things that were made were made.  He could unmake this man with a single word.  Jesus may not physically turn his cheek, but Jesus doesn’t target this man as an enemy either.  Jesus remains in the vulnerable place, where potentially he could be struck again.  Jesus keeps focused on imaging God and helping the other person to image God better.

This brings up the greater subject of the incarnation.  In Jesus, God takes on a face that we can slap, and hands (feet) that we can nail to a tree.  He takes on a back that we can whip to the point of shredding the flesh.  He becomes a vulnerable human who can be killed.  How great is the love of God that we are called to image to the world?

The point is that the world is full of enemies because of such incidents.  It is no accident that the last case study in the law will talk about loving our enemies.  God does not want us to be enemies to one another.  We are all His creation, and He loves each of us.  We are to do everything we can to neutralize this tendency to be enemies with others.  If I respond in kind to every infraction against me, the enemy of humanity will win, and God’s Kingdom will be thwarted.  Of course, this cannot happen because God always makes sure that He has a remnant in every generation.  However, where will I be?

Jesus is calling us to follow him in this radical response to evil.  We are to fight that inner battle and resist being made into an enemy by those who act like enemies to us.  We are to love that person and stay open to God changing their heart so that they can be our brother.

We do not want to play into the devil’s hand, but instead, we want to do the work of Jesus.  If you think this makes you a weakling, then think again.  Jesus was no weakling.   You had better believe that Jesus is a warrior.  However, he has a different target than we do.  He is calling us to become a warrior in this battle against the sin in our own hearts.  We are to go to war against very different things than what humans normally do.

Love risks injury, and that injury not being “fixed” in this life.  When Jesus was on the cross, he knew that the injuries, which he suffered, were making it possible for these sinners who deserved death to be saved.  It didn’t guarantee it, but if he didn’t love, it would guarantee that they could not be saved. 

Can  you believe that the injuries that God allows in your life, may have a purpose, especially when they are never “rectified” in this life?  Trusting Jesus is never easy.  No weakling can do it.  However, when we choose the path of His love, we become part of a war for the soul of the other person.  Suddenly, you are fighting those spirits and powers of darkness that hold the person captive.  That’s what Jesus wants.  Don’t target the person, target the devil that has trapped them in anger, rage, bitterness, vindictiveness, et. al.

The second example has to do with lawsuits.  “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.”

People do not typically sue unless there is something that has happened.  You may not see it the same way as they, but there is an event nonetheless.  Jesus shows a response to lawsuits that is not about getting justice, or making sure everything is equated.  Rather, it is more important for the follower of Christ to be reconciled to the other person.  “You think I have done you wrong?  Here, let me make it right, and even throw something else on top of it, so that you will know that you are more important to me than things!”  Yes, the other person may be making a mountain out of a molehill.  Or, they may be unreasonable in their claim against you.  However, we are called to be more concerned about the relationship than the things we stand to lose.  We should never lose sight that God loves this person, and He wants me to love them too.

Notice that none of this is passive.  It is a person aggressively restraining their inner tendency to anger and vengeance.  This is the bait that Satan uses to fracture us.  He doesn’t just divide and conquer us.  He divides, steps back, and let’s us conquer each other (perhaps with an extra whisper in the ear from time to time).

Paul brings this up in 1 Corinthians 6:6-8.  Notice that Paul does not expect believers to let another believer cheat them.  He challenges them to have other Christians decide such squabbles between to Christians.  Yet, some of them were taking each other to the secular (pagan) courts.  Paul challenges them in verse seven, “Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?”  By going to the secular courts, they were testifying to the world that the people of Christ can’t get along and need the world to settle their disputes.  Paul is challenging them to love the reputation of Christ above their own loss.  Contrary to that, they were actually leading each other into becoming bigger cheats and wronging each other.

This all needs to be approached out of love for one another and for God.  How much is Jesus worth to you? 

All of this begs the question.  How can Jesus expect us to do this?  As I said earlier, none of this is easy, and we have to work hard not to see these as superficial laws that we have to keep.  It does beg this question, and the sermon on the mount doesn’t answer that question.  However, Jesus does answer it in the end.  He would die on the cross and show us that the Father intends to use resurrection to “fix” all things, both spiritually and physically.  On top of this, Jesus would now send the Holy Spirit to take up residence within us in order to empower us to battle against sin in our hearts.  No, you can’t do this, but you cooperating with the Holy Spirit can!

The third example has to do with being pressed into service by an official (particularly a Roman soldier).  This would have  been something that the people of Israel had become used to, and that irked them greatly.  “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.”

This is a classic environment where our underlying resentment, that God has given us unto the power of another, can cause us to hate them.  Roman law allowed soldiers and officials to press the people under their dominion into service.  Such service had limitations.  In this case, a soldier could require someone to carry his stuff up to a mile.  Now, Jesus is not setting up a new law where we simply carry it 2, and no more.  Just like turning the other cheek does not mean I can knock you out after you have slapped me twice, so I don’t carry the load two miles, but then throw it down and walk away.  It is about being different and responding out of love rather than contempt, anger, and frustration about their authority over us.

Yeah, the law obligated them to help a soldier for a certain distance, but Jesus wants us to be the kind of person that is not resentful, and willing to do more.  Love always goes beyond mere legal obligations.  Could there be a situation where a Christian could resist a soldier pressing them into service?  Sure.  Perhaps you are a surgeon who is on the way to do a surgery that is critical.  You can explain the situation and beg them not to force you out of love for the other person.  It is not the superficial details that Jesus is after, but the heart of why we do what we do.  The emphasis is on me choosing to carry an offensive thing, rather than some one else being hurt. 

Are we required to tell the Nazis where all the Jews are hiding simply because Jesus told us to help the soldiers?  Of course, you aren’t.  It is love for others that is to motivate us, and some situations are far trickier than others. 

How much of your brother’s baggage are you willing to carry?  I know.  This stupid Roman soldier is no brother of yours.  Yet, God loves him, and wants him to become a spiritual brother to you.  Perhaps we can see a metaphor behind this maxim of carrying the baggage two miles instead of one.  There is a song from the seventies that says, “He ain’t heavy.  He’s my brother.”  Can I carry the baggage of others farther than anyone would expect because I’m praying that God will soften his heart and help him to see Jesus?  Yes, we can, but the real question is, will we.

The fourth example is in the area of people borrowing from us, or asking charity from us.  “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”  In Luke 6:35, Jesus even tells us to lend without expecting payment back.  The followers of Jesus, people of the Kingdom of Heaven, are not to be trapped in a world of possessions being more important to us than others.  Yes, it is not right for someone to borrow our stuff and not bring it back.  Kingdom people don’t do that.  But, targeting them as an enemy will not fix the situation and help them become more like Jesus.  It will only make it worse.

The phrase “do not turn away” reflects how we can be hardened towards those who need charity.  In each of these, Jesus is asking us to stay vulnerable in some way so that relationship can continue.  We are to choose a path of love towards the other person.

Let’s be clear.  Jesus does not intend us to never say ‘No.’  Can you imagine parents operating as if they can never say ‘No’ to their kids if they ask for something?  These are not laws.  They are examples to help us to see the kinds of things that those who are following Jesus will do.  We will not be trying to protect our stuff, and money, by hiding from those who might ask us for it.  Instead, we will let love for the person form our actions.  We will let the Holy Spirit inspire us.

Anyone who has worked with people who are financially in a tough spot knows that the answer isn’t always more money.  However, we can also pick up an attitude of despising people who need help.  We can become more interested in protecting our outflows, than the welfare of the person.  Yet, a person’s spiritual welfare is just as important as their physical. 

Love is not an easy path.  It will tear out your heart at times and leave you feeling like you aren’t doing any good.  I once knew a man whose son had just been released from prison.  He wanted to help his son, so he gave him a job working for him in his shop.  Long story short, he caught his son stealing from his till.  What a heart breaking situation.  The answer isn’t to “turn the other cheek,” and pretend it didn’t happen.  Yet, it doesn’t need to be, call the cops and send him back to prison.  Love wrestles with carrying offenses, not because that is the end goal.  No, we carry the offenses in order to win a brother, a son, back to the truth.  Only the Holy Spirit can help us to know what to do in such specific situations.

The goal is not to meticulously follow the letter of what Jesus is saying, but to hear the heart, the Spirit, of what he is saying.  I think that the best way to boil this down is Romans 12:17-21.

“17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[i] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Vengeance is God’s job, and it doesn’t matter if I see it happen or not.  It is between God and them.  If I try to step into God’s job, I will not survive it.  It is too big a job for me, and will destroy me.  Verse 21 is a perfect description of what Jesus is getting at.  Don’t let the evil done by another overwhelm your heart with a desire to be evil back.   Instead, overcome their evil action by good.  Peter says a similar thing in 1 Peter 3:9.  “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”  In a sense, we are called to love others too much to be their enemy, and we are called to love God too much to dishonor His Image by hating them.

In both cases, Paul and Peter talk about the fact that God will deal with evildoers.  He will take vengeance at the right time.  Why does God wait?  He waits because He is not too quick to send people to the lake of fire.  He leaves room for repentance, just as He did for you.  Aren’t you glad that He did?  Still, if they never repent, they will get their comeuppance.  God will take care of it.  You won’t need to worry or help Him out by  taking justice into your own hands.

In fact, we often are blind to the fact that love is the ultimate weapon to tear down the strongholds of hurt and injury.  If we will focus on winning a brother rather than never being injured by them, then we will see the enemy of our souls thwarted far more often.  No, it isn’t a guarantee, but it if you don’t operate out of love, it is guaranteed that it will spoil your heart and your relationship with Christ.

If you want to target those who hurt you, then target them with the love of Jesus.  Take it as a personal challenge to win them to the Lord.  Love them by laying down your life for them, and leave retribution where it belongs, in the hands of the LORD!

The Law of Retribution Audio