Retaliation
Notes
Transcript
Retaliation
Retaliation
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Oh boy is this topic not prevalent in today’s society! Are we not hyper-sensitive to all of this that is going on around us right now in the world that is vengeful, full of hatred and retaliation!
We are a selfish society that is focused on ME. I’m most concerned about ME and I don’t care about YOU. That’s what our culture says. Our culture says “it makes no difference to me what happens to you, as long as it’s good for me”.
I think you would all agree that when we begin to focus most on self is when things go wrong. Whenever we are so focused on me, me, me - our priorities are always me first. And when our priorities are me first, we are headed for trouble.
So, tonite we are going to talk about these verses a little bit and we will finish up in Genesis.
V.38) An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
These verses in Matthew are the grounds for misinterpretation by so many people. See, this law that Jesus is quoting here was a law that was only for the judicial system at that time. These verses of an eye for an eye are not a vigilante type of justice system that we carry out. This was a law for judges of that time to understand what punishment must be given for the crime. But remember, this was for the court system to hand out, NOT the citizens. Anybody remember the Death Wish movies from the 80’s with Charles Bronson in them? There were about 5 or 6 of them if I can remember right, but basically Charles Bronson lost his daughter I think in the first movie and he decided that he could take the law into his own hands and he did. And then the American people liked it so much they made a second movie, and a third, fourth, fifth, and so on.
You see, as humans we have this inherent desire for revenge. We want to get even. What was the old saying in school, “paybacks are always worse”. That is what is deep down in the human heart, the desire to get even. And most times, getting even means hurting someone worse than what they did do us right? I mean if one of my kids hits the other one, what do you think happens next? The one that got hit is going to pile drive the other. It is like tag team wrestling in my living room. If one kid hits another kid, they hit back, only they want to hit back harder don’t they? They want the other kid to remember it more, they want it to hurt more.
Let’s take that theme and apply it to adults. Now, I realize some adults do physically fight it out, but most of the time it is between one mouth and the other mouth. And when an insult gets thrown, what happens? An insult even worse gets hurled back, and the cycle continues until the relationship is broken, or a jaw is broken.
(Rabies Joke) A man was told he had rabies by a doctor one day, and after the test came back positive, he took out a pen and paper and started writing things down. The doctor, assuming he was writing his last will and testament, said "Oh, buddy don't worry about it, we will get your cured, you won't die from this." The man said "Oh, I know I'm not going to die, I'm not writing my will, I'm making a list of people I'm going to bite"
V.39) “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Let's cover a few things this DOES NOT mean...
It does not mean that we should practice pacifism. I know that is a 5 dollar word, and I had to look it up myself. Pacifism was a popular theme by certain philosophers in centuries past. Pacifism is the idea that we should not have any military, any police force, that nobody should use any restraint to uphold the law. These people claim that if there were no military or organized government, then there would be peace everywhere. Obviously that is a ridiculous idea.
CHOP areas (Seattle recently)
Started well, everything was great. But then after a week or 10 days things declined sharply.
So this idea that we can defund the police and law enforcement and have peace is ludicrous.
It does not mean that we should not protect ourselves physically. God put within us a mechanism of self defense, and we should use it. We should protect each other, but this does not mean revenge. Protecting ourselves should never have a tint of revenge.
I want to show you an example of this from Genesis chapter 50.
Summary of the story up until this point.
V.15) Joseph's brothers were afraid that after Jacob had died, Joseph would take revenge once and for all for the wrongs that they had committed to him. The brothers were afraid that Joseph would retaliate after all this time and exact his revenge.
V.16, 17) The brothers basically said here - "Daddy said to be nice to us".
V.17) Joseph wept when they spoke to them. Joseph was saddened that these brothers of his would think that after all this time and all of the forgiveness that he extended them, that he would still want to get even with them. He wept over their unwillingness to accept forgiveness.
V.19) This is important. This sums up all of our verses in Matthew. This is the point that Jesus is trying to make to those who are abusing the law and giving themselves the ability to take revenge on those who they might feel that needs it.
V.19) Are we in the place of God? Let's be honest, it is when we try to take the place of God that we get ourselves in real trouble. We get ourselves in so many tough situations because we don't leave things up to him. That is what the devil tempted Adam and Eve with the fruit is that they could "be like God".
Romans 12:17-19.
Repay no one for evil.
There are three levels of retaliation and we have to pick one of them.
There is the devil's level - He repays evil for good.
There is the human level - we repay good for good, or evil for evil.
Then there is God's way - to repay good for evil.
Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to God to judge and repay.
Let God take care of it. Don't become some vigilante justice system.
What power did Joseph have at this time? He was the number 2 man in the land. He was second only to Pharaoh. He could have justified revenge in any way that he wanted to. He had the power to do it, and had the cause to do it.
Genesis 50:20 "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good"
Genesis 50:21 "So do not fear, I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them."
"I will provide for you and your little ones" - Refer back to Matthew 5:40-42. Joseph forgave his brothers. That in itself is a divine thing to do. But look further. What did he do after that? He provided for them! Most of us that forgive would feel righteous enough just to forgive, much less provide for them after he had forgiven them!
This is a practical application of verse 40 (Taking your tunic, let them have your cloak also) verse 41(going the second mile), and verse 42 (giving to one who begs from you, and not refusing the one who would borrow.)
See Joseph didn't have to do any of this, but he chose to allow the power of God flow through his life. He allowed God to work out His plan for him. After all that Joseph went through, he trusted the Lord with his life and with his relationships.
Conclusion
Joseph is a great example of this, but Jesus is a better one.
Listen to what 1 Peter 2:22-24 says. "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the ONE who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."
Jesus had the right and the ability to wipe out all of those who were crucifying Him. But, what did he choose to do? He chose to forgive. He chose to forgive those who had wronged him. He chose to forgive those who did not deserve forgiveness.
Let me sum it all up by saying this:
Revenge is never right, forgiveness is never wrong.
