Personal Abuse and Self-Sacrifice
Personal Abuse and Self-sacrifice – Matthew 5:38-42
The Jews had heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” (Ex.21, Lev. 24, Deut. 19). This commandment was prescriptive, but it also was restrictive, with the purpose of eliminating blood feuds and inter-tribal warfare. The law was given to the nation of Israel, meaning that the prescriptions of the law were to be dispensed by the judiciary (judges) and not by individuals in their own right for personal vendettas. However, by Jesus’ times, these fundamentals were disregarded, and the question of the day became, “How far may personal revenge extend without breaking the Law?” This wrong application had fostered vengeance, bitterness, malice, and hatred.
Jesus responded with sweeping authority: “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.” How this statement is to be taken? Should, like Tolstoy suggested, there be no soldiers, policemen, or judges, because they resist evil persons? Not many Christians would answer affirmatively to this question, BUT, there are some that would argue on the basis of Jesus’ affirmation that no Christian should ever resist evil directed at him, and in principle no Christian should ever join the police force or the army. Even though they would acknowledge that God has given the power of the sword to the state (Rom. 13), they would conclude that no Christians should ever join any position of civil authority which would require them to resist evil people. Anything else, they feel, would dilute Jesus’ saying form the Sermon on the Mount.
The answer is not an easy one and should be understood circumstantial. For instance, in 5:42 Jesus also stated, “Give to the one who asks you.” It seems that professional beggars know Jesus’ words and they prey on gullible and merciful Christians and seminary students with constant and belligerent demands for money. The money that were supposedly for food and clothes are being used for alcohol and other self-destructive habits, so the money, though given with the best intentions are helping neither the beggar, nor the giver, and are not honoring Jesus or His teaching. Accordingly, Tolstoy’s and his followers’ position is unrealistic and unbiblical, and the apostles were in tune with Jesus’ teaching when they taught that the government is a divine institution, even though it can be perverted by evil. It is for the individual believer to not oppose an evil person, as Paul stated in Romans 12:17-21, “Repay no one evil for evil… Overcome evil with good.”
Jesus illustrates how a Christian is to answer to personal abuse through personal self-sacrifice.
1. The first is a sharp backhand slap to the check – a gross insult. The follower of Jesus is to be prepared to take another one rather than retaliate. This attitude is especially important when the violence is because of our stand for righteousness (5:10-12). Jesus exemplified in His own life – Isaiah 50:6. In his The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer observed that for the Christian, the turning of the cheek is “a visible participation in His cross.”
2. The second example concerns a lawsuit in which a man is likely to lose his tunic –a long garment. The follower of Jesus will throw in the coat as well. It is obvious that it is not about clothes as it is the underlying principle: even those things that are ours by law, we must be prepared to abandon. When it comes to a litigation with a fellow believer, the follower of Christ will prefer to be wronged (1 Cor. 6:7).
3. The third example refers to a Roman practice of commandeering the civilian population of the countries conquered by Rome. This law gave the Roman soldier the right to impose on a civilian to carry his luggage for a certain distance. Jesus’ follower should not become irritable or insulted, but are to double the distance cheerfully.
4. Jesus’ last example demands giving and lending that is cheerful and willing. The idea is that Jesus will not tolerate a tight-fisted, penny-pinching attitude when it comes to Christian giving. Stop asking yourself, “What’s in it for myself?”
What Jesus is telling us more than anything else in this passage is that His followers have no rights: they have no right to retaliate; they have no right over their own possessions; they have no right over their time and resources, time, and money, and even their legal rights could easily be trampled in a world that is not theirs!
Hatred and Love – Matthew 5:43-47
After Jesus taught on how His followers ought to respond to personal abuse through an attitude of self-sacrifice, He turns to the broader question of hatred and love. Even though people have heard being said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” they were hearing falsely. There are quite a few “spiritual sayings” that are not actually found in the Scripture, but some Christians are totally convinced that they are. For instance, “God helps those who help themselves,” is nowhere to be found in the Bible! So in Jesus’ times, this was an often-heard saying that had no divine validity. Leviticus 19:18 states, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” The saying, “Hate your enemies” is not found anywhere. Still, a similar saying was embraced by the Essenes who lived monastically by the Dead Sea, “Love the brother, hate the outsider.” The problem of identifying one’s neighbor was a serious issue in Jesus’ time; that’s why He was prompted to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), where Jesus pointed out that one’s neighbor is anyone he is in position to help!
“Love your enemies,” Jesus says, “and pray for those who persecute you” (5:44). Based on His previous teaching, the particular enemies that Jesus focuses attention are the persecutors, those who persecute His followers because of righteousness and because of Jesus Himself (5:10-12). To love them and to pray for them is an important part of being/becoming a son of the heavenly Father. God displayed His love toward rebellious sinners by sending His only begotten Son (John 3:16), and if we are His sons and daughters, we will also display His character. What Jesus is saying is, to be persecuted because of righteousness is to align ourselves with the prophets (Matt.5:12), but to bless and pray for those who persecute us is to align ourselves with God and His Son, who while on the cross in the agony of death, prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34).
The IRS agents might have a bad reputation today, but it doesn’t come even close to the reputation of the tax collectors of those times! The taxes imposed by the Roman government on their conquered lands where extremely high and they usually employed locals to collect them. The tax system was highly corrupt and there were several layers of bureaucrats that mercilessly added their own part to those already high taxes. The Jewish tax collectors where doubly despised for their constant contact with the Romans, which deemed them ceremonially unclean, so they were loathed even more than the conquerors were! Jesus asked, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” Indeed, as despised the tax collector were by those victimized by them, they still enjoyed some friends – at least other tax collectors – so the disciples of Christ cannot be any better than tax collectors if they only love their friends!
“And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Greetings can say a lot as they bring wishes of welfare and wellbeing, but if certain people are ignored – intentionally so! – how are we any different than those who have no fear nor knowledge of God? Our society is driven by the standards of “an eye for an eye,” and stoops to levels that no Christian should ever be. The disciple of Christ will stand out in this world that’s filled with hatred, revenge, and evil because of the divine quality of love. In fact, Jesus elevated love to the main and highest characteristic that indicates that Christians belong to Him (John 13:34).
Conclusion: The Demand for Perfection – Matthew 5:48
To love one’s enemies is characteristic of God (5:45), and Jesus is projecting here God’s perfection as the standard of morality: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We, the followers of Christ, are to be holy, for the Lord our God is holy (Lev. 19:2); loving, because God is love (1 John 4:7-8); perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matt.5:48).
Jesus’ authority is the most dominant feature of this section (Matthew 5) of the Sermon of the Mount. The Law and the Prophets point toward Him, but He Himself determines their meaning, fulfillment, and continuity, with a divine authority. The Scriptures derive their authority from God, and here, we see Jesus talking with the highest authority of the Incarnated God, interpreting and explaining their true meaning.
