TIT FOR TAT, AND LOVE LIKE THAT? Matthew 5:38-48 Greed is good and revenge is sweet. This is what the world wants us to believe. A desire for revenge is within us all. RAMBO Give them their due. A Vendetta is what our basic instinct would have us achieve. Somehow to have biblical permission to take action on grudges or to strike back. Deep down inside we want to FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS, not for THE RIGHT REASON SO THAT GOD CAN BE GLORIFIED!!! James 4:1-6 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5b "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." REVENGE, RETALIATION, or RETRIBUTION Matthew 5:38-42
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 2 of 11 38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' Once again we see the Pharisees and Scribes had manufactured a system that allowed them to circumvent the law. Basically, they had, as we do-- 1. Established their own personal judicial system REVENGE, RETALIATION, or RETRIBUTION 2. Many have turned Christ s teachings into PACIFISM, C OBJECTOR, or CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. This is not at all what Jesus was talking about. PEACE PLAN 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. 19 TH Century Philosopher and writer (WAR AND PEACE) Leo TOLSTOY No police, soldiers, or armies, just do this and the world will be at peace. I. What The Pharisees Said v. 38 Quoted Scripture correctly An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth... But they took the verse out of context. They made it personal and took the law into their own hands, not as God had established it.
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 3 of 11 In Exodus 21-23 CIVIL LAW is stated very clearly. God made society to be LAWFUL 1 Timothy 1:8-10 NLT 8 We know that the law is good when used correctly. 9 For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. 10 The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching The people of that day had taken the law into their own hands and given license to REVENGE, RETALIATION, or RETRIBUTION WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAYS...? 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 1. LIE DOWN? Be a pansy, give in until you are beaten to a pulp? 2. POKE AN EYE OUT? Just as the Pharisees and Scribes missed the meaning, many of us have also misunderstood the meaning. II. What The Old Testament Said Laws concerning VIOLENCE Exodus 21:12-27 Leviticus 24:17-22
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 4 of 11 Laws concerning WITNESSES Deuteronomy 19:18-21 ( Eye for an eye...) Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20, 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. All three of these passages in context deal with CIVIL LAW All three, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth - passages are to be decided by COURTS and MAGISTRATES or JUDGES. In other words, the penalty for an infringement on another person or animal was to be decided in a COURT SYSTEM and with a JUDGE or MAGISTRATE. The EYE FOR AN EYE PRINCIPLE WAS NEVER TO BE PERSONAL ONE ON ONE RELATIONSHIP, but the Pharisees and Scribes had made it so. Exodus 21:22... and he shall pay as the judges determine. THE CIVIL LAW DID 3 THINGS. 1. PROVIDED JUSTICE FOR ALL Protected the weak from the strong and the good from the evil. 2. BROUGHT EQUITY IN PUNISHMENT The punishment was to fit the crime.
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 5 of 11 3. BROUGHT JUSTICE no pity, there was to be CONSEQUENCES to ACTIONS. A. W. PINK Magistrates are not for reforming reprobates or pampering degenerates, but to be God s instruments for preserving law and order, and that being... a terror to the evil. All boiled down to what Jesus was saying is BE NICE AND CONSIDERATE TO EVERYONE. III. What Jesus Said 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Matthew 5:43-48 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father 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. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. IMPORTANT QUESTION! Don t miss this! v. 47 What do you do more than others?
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 6 of 11 Christianity is an extremely unique faith. Look at what Jesus has said so far- Matthew 5:3-12 MURDER angry, air head, fool ADULTERY willfully thought through and lusted DIVORCE SWEARING- BE A PERSON OF HONESTY AND INTEGRITY RETALIATION BE NICE TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THE EVIL PEOPLE But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, LOVE What are we as believers to do more than others? LOVE This is the pinnacle of the Sermon on the Mount. John 13:34 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:35 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." THE IDEA OF HATING ENEMIES CAME FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Cain killed Abel Genesis 4
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 7 of 11 The commands of God as the people of God went into the promised land that they were to kill every living thing, then later to kill every human being. Numbers 31:2 2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people." Numbers 31:17 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. 1 Samuel 15:3 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" Matthew 21:33-39 The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers 33 "Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 8 of 11 39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. NKJV WHAT DO YOU DO MORE THAN OTHERS? Matthew 5:44 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, THE DUTY OF A CHILD OF GOD love your enemies 1. Bless those who curse you 2. Do good to those who hate you 3. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you Romans 12:20-21 20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. NEW TESTAMENT EXAMPLES OF LOVE Matthew 5:41-42 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. [A mile] A Roman mile was 1,000 paces
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 9 of 11 The word translated "shall compel" is of Persian origin. Postoffices were then unknown. In order that the royal commands might be delivered with safety and dispatch in different parts of the empire, Cyrus stationed horsemen at proper intervals on all the great public highways. One of those delivered the message to another, and intelligence was thus rapidly and safely communicated. These heralds were permitted to compel any person, or to press any horse, boat, ship, or other vehicle that they might need for the quick transmission of the king's commandments. It was to this custom that our Savior refers. Rather, says he, than resist a public authority requiring your attendance and aid for a certain distance, go peaceably twice the distance. (Barns) John 3:16-17 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Luke 23:34 34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots. Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. Acts 7:57-58
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 10 of 11 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. Acts 7:58-60 And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 2 Timothy 4:16 16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. 2 Timothy 4:14-15 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. 15 You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. (Martin Luther King, Jr. ) While seeking revenge, dig two graves - one for yourself. Douglas Horton Revenge, lust, ambition, pride, and self-will are too often exalted as the gods of man's idolatry; while holiness, peace, contentment, and humility are viewed as unworthy of a serious thought.
TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT Page 11 of 11 Charles Spurgeon In 1567 King Philip II of Spain appointed the Duke of Alba as governor of the lower part of the nation. The Duke was a bitter enemy of the newly-emerging Protestant Reformation. His rule was called the reign of terror, and his council was called the Bloody Council, because it had ordered the slaughter of so many Protestants. It is reported that one man who was sentenced to die for his biblical faith managed to escape during the dead of winter. As he was being pursued by a lone soldier, the man came to a lake whose ice was thin and cracking. Somehow he managed to get safely across the ice, but as soon as he reached the other side he heard his pursuer screaming. The soldier had fallen through the ice and was about to drown. At the risk of being captured, tortured, and eventually killed or of being drowned himself the man went back across the lake and rescued his enemy, because the love of Christ constrained him to do it. He knew he had no other choice if he was to be faithful to His Lord. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon. Francis Bacon FILE: SERMON ON THE MOUNT/ 5.38_48 TIT FOR TAT OR A LOVE LIKE THAT/ 02.07.16