Introduction:
How Do You React... (Matthew 5:38–42)
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...When you are INSULTED? “Eye for an Eye” or REFUSE RETALIATION? (Matt 5:39b)
1 Peter 2:23 – When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
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...when people are HEARTLESS? “Eye for an Eye” or GRATUITOUS GRACE? (Matt 5:40)
Romans 12:21 – Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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...when forced to OBEY? “Eye for an Eye” or DOUBLE Your DUTY? (Matt 5:41)
1 Peter 2:16 – Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
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...when someone wants your STUFF? “Eye for an Eye” or RELEASE Your RESOURCES? (Matt 5:42)
1 John 3:17 – But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
Philippians 2:5–7a – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant...
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:38-42
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Tell of a time you were offended and retaliated. Why did you do what you did? What would you do differently if you had another chance?
Why do you think “eye for an eye” (revenge) is our natural default response?
Why do you think how you react is a good gauge of where your heart is?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
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And before we dig into God's Word together, let's just pause.
I'm going to ask you just take a moment and please pray for me to be faithful,
to clearly communicate God's Word.
And I will pray for you to have your heart open to receive what it is
that the Lord wants to teach us today. Let's pray.
Father in heaven, your Word challenges us and convicts us and we thank you for that.
We didn't come in here today looking for a stamp of affirmation on how we already are.
We've come in here to encounter you and allow your spirit and your Word to conform us into the image of your Son.
That's why we're here.
So Father, I pray to that end you would open our hearts.
Your spirit would speak to every heart, the wisdom that you have recorded in your Word.
That we walk out of here different people than how we were when we walked in.
Thank you Father for the promise of your Word.
We pray in Jesus' name.
And all of God's people said, "Amen."
I have a nonverbal Son, as many of you know.
But years ago, I was with a group of pastors and one pastor was commenting on the fact that I had a nonverbal Son.
And he said, very compassionately, he said,
"It must be very difficult for you to not have a conversation with your Son."
And I said, "It is."
But the way I look at it, we'll have all of eternity to catch up.
And a different pastor said, if he's elect,
and I said, "I feel like you're predestined to take a weapon."
And I was a prophet that day.
Okay, I made that last part up.
But I still think about that.
I still think about retaliation.
Getting even.
Why are we like that?
Why are we like that people, that there's something in all of us that makes us demand respect?
Hey, you can't talk to me that way.
You know I am?
You can't treat me like that.
There's something in us that we demand our rights.
We say things like, "I don't get mad. I get even."
And you're not going to get away with this.
You're going to pay for what you did.
Our hearts are naturally, sinfully retaliatory.
I was listening to a sermon about a month or so ago from one of my favorite preachers, Ron Don.
It was a sermon on meekness.
And he reminded me of something that I loved when I was a kid.
He was a little comic book.
Do you remember the Charles Atlas ads in the old comic books?
Do you remember those?
It was a little one page, it was a little comic strip in the book.
Well, in this little comic strip, there was this little weakling, like a little skinny guy,
on the beach and this bully was like kicking sand in his face.
And all the girls were like, "Tee hee hee hee."
And the kid takes Charles Atlas course.
The skinny kid.
And in 90 days, he was kicking sand in the other guy's face.
And there's something innocent.
We're like, "Yes! Yeah!"
We love that stuff, don't we?
Don't we love that revenge stuff?
Oh, come on.
Don't you leave me up here.
Don't we love that revenge stuff?
The getting even stuff?
Yes, you do.
Yes, you do.
There are many of the plot lines of movies.
Like, and your soap operas and your westerns and your superhero movies.
I was thinking about this this week. It's everywhere.
That's what Popeye is.
Popeye is nothing but a cartoon about a guy that gets even.
We love that stuff.
We love the guy that is not going to take it.
Payback.
Because the guy that gets the sand kicked in his face
and belittled and humiliated and he just takes it.
Well, that guy is a coward, right?
Weak.
It's like, dude, punch that bully in the trot.
Don't take it.
Right?
There's biblical precedence for this, isn't there?
An eye for an eye.
Right?
An eye for an eye.
Oh, I like that.
Because that's in the Bible.
You know what that is?
Eye for an eye.
That is biblical permission to get even.
No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry.
That's a biblical command to get even, isn't it?
Well, the scribes and the Pharisees thought so.
And many people sitting here even and watching this
and listening to this podcast later, still believe
that an eye for an eye is our biblical mandates to get revenge.
Well, let's see, shall we?
Look at verse 30.
Why don't we say verse 38? Yes.
Jesus continuing the Sermon on the Mount.
He said, "You have heard that it was said,
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
Yeah, that's a real Old Testament quote.
Yes.
100%.
And it's also one of the most misinterpreted
and misused verses in the entire Bible.
Because the scribes and the Pharisees
and we take this verse way out of context.
Is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?
Is that our charge to get even?
No, it's not.
All right, then what does it mean?
I'm so glad you asked.
Let's get biblical, shall we?
Mark and I shows up three times in the Old Testament.
Three times.
It's in Exodus 21, it's in Leviticus 24,
and it's in Deuteronomy 19.
Don't look now, but you look later,
and you're going to see in every one of those passages,
every single one of them,
the context of that verse are
it's God's instructions for Israel's courts and judges.
Eye for an eye, that was for Israel's courts,
not for personal vendetta.
And eye for an eye was a guideline for Israel's judges,
not for Batman, okay?
So what's the purpose?
Eye for an eye.
What does eye for an eye mean?
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
What does that mean?
It just simply means this.
The punishment should fit the crime.
In court, justice demands being fair.
So judges in court, God's instruction for Israel,
when you punish someone,
the measure of punishment should fit the measure of the crime.
That's what eye for an eye means.
And God is saying an eye for an eye
must be determined by the courts.
The courts determine that. Why?
Why did God leave that up to the courts?
Why? I'll tell you why.
Because when we're wronged,
we, by nature, want to retaliate
way beyond the level of the offense.
Here's what I mean.
Our mindset is this.
You dinged my 93 Toyota.
You owe me a new car.
Fair is fair.
We take it way too far.
We say things like,
"Hey, we were messing around.
We were playing basketball
and you accidentally elbowed me in the mouth
and broke my tooth.
You owe me a set of grills."
Justin, do the kids still wear grills?
Do they still wear a thing?
The cool ones.
You are right.
You could not be righter.
But that's the point.
We take it too far.
You owe me way more than
you should have to pay.
So God's like, "No, no, no, no.
Leave that to the courts."
So here it is. Here it is.
If a crime has been committed against me,
if I've been wronged in any way,
I'm not going to take the law into my own hands.
I'm going to take the courts to be fair
in the way God commanded the courts to be fair,
which is an eye for an eye.
A tooth for a tooth.
Be fair.
So in Jesus' day, the ascribes and the Pharisees,
and again us, we take this way out of context
and we take it out of the courts
and we take it as our command,
our personal responsibility to get even.
But look at verse 39.
You probably saw this coming.
Jesus says, "But I say to you,
do not resist the one who is evil."
Do not resist. What does that mean?
It literally means this.
When someone wrongs you,
when someone offends you,
when someone is against you,
Jesus says, "Do not set yourself against him."
Now let's be clear.
Jesus is not saying,
He is not saying,
"Do not protect yourself.
Do not protect your own."
He's not saying that.
If you break into my home,
my dog will shoot you
and my wife will bite you.
Wait.
No, no, that's right.
He's not saying, "Don't protect yourself."
He's not saying, "Don't protect your church."
Jesus isn't preaching passivity here.
Like, "Okay, go ahead.
Go ahead. You can sin,
and you can abuse me all you want.
I don't care because Jesus said not to resist."
That's not what He's saying.
He's also not saying,
"Don't confront sin."
He's not saying that.
Because the Bible is clear that sin must be confronted.
It must be addressed and dealt with in the church.
Here's what Jesus is saying
by this statement.
And it's going to be crystal clear
because Jesus actually illustrates
what He's teaching here.
But here's what Jesus is saying.
He's saying,
"Don't start a feud.
Don't try to get even.
Don't try to get even.
If you think that your rights were violated,
you don't need to fight about it."
That's what Jesus is saying.
We are not to be a people
whose knee-jerk reaction
is to be retaliatory.
That's what Jesus is saying.
In the Sermon on the Mount,
we've seen it over and over.
Jesus is saying, "My people are different."
My people are different in how they act.
They're merciful. They're hungry for righteousness.
They're salt and light. They're influencers.
They reconcile with broken relationships.
They cut off lust and they take marriage seriously.
And they keep their word.
My people act differently.
Because when Jesus Christ enters us,
when you receive Christ,
when you turn from your sin and believe
that He died for your sin
and He rose from the dead to give you eternal life,
when you believe that the Bible says
God's Holy Spirit lives within you.
And when God's Spirit lives within you,
you are called to something greater.
And you demonstrate that you belong to Christ
by how you act.
God wants your heart.
And your heart is revealed by how you act.
But perhaps more so,
your heart is revealed by how you react.
You can show me what a man is made of
by how he acts.
And I can show you what a man is made of
by how he reacts.
So let me ask you,
how do you react?
How do you react when you have been personally offended?
How do you react when you've been insulted?
How do you react when you've been disrespected?
Do you react in kind?
As your mind said immediately,
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You're not getting away with this.
I'm getting even."
As your mind said,
"An eye for an eye."
Wrongly interpreting it like the Pharisees.
Or do you not resist?
As our Lord said,
do you refuse to emotionally react
and retaliate in the flesh?
And I'm sure there's somebody here,
self-deluded, that's like,
"Oh, my pastor's got to hang it along with everybody."
I never respond negatively when I'm offended.
I just bake them muffins.
Okay.
But I think there's something here for the rest of us.
Because Jesus elaborates
on how His followers should react
to difficult people
and difficult situations
by giving four scenarios.
So that's what we're going to ask ourselves today,
a little self-examination.
We're going to ask ourselves, "How do you react?"
How do you react?
Number one, how do you react
when you are insulted?
When you are insulted, how do you react?
Eye for an eye?
Or do you refuse retaliation?
Look at verse 39.
Jesus says, "But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also."
Stop there.
To the Jews,
this was the absolute most insulting thing
to be slapped.
In fact, I read this past week that a slave in those days,
a slave would rather be whipped than slapped
because a slap was utterly humiliating.
And you know the worst was the backhand slap.
That's why Jesus said, "Right cheek?"
Sorry about that.
That's why Jesus said, "Right cheek?"
Because when you get a backhand with a right hand,
it's going to hit you in the right cheek.
That was the worst insult in their mind.
We get it.
Nothing's really changed there. We get it.
If somebody walks up to you and just...
That's just total disdain.
It's like you're nothing to me.
You're not even worth arguing with
because you're nothing.
It's just a complete, complete insult.
And all the moment I'm insulted,
I want to retaliate.
Eye for an eye, right?
Oh, okay, now I get to slap you.
And I bet I can slap harder.
Wait, wait, wait, wait. What does Jesus say?
He says, "Turn to Him the other also."
You're like, "Aha, okay. That's very gracious."
He gets two slaps in on me and then it's go time.
No.
If you're believing that,
then you completely missed the point that Jesus was making.
Because here's the thing.
It's not even about the slap.
It's about being insulted.
That's the point.
How do you respond when you're insulted?
Because look,
unless you're Chris Rocket and Smacked by Will Smith,
you're probably not going to get a slap.
You probably are not.
But you're going to be insulted in other ways, aren't you?
Verbally.
How about social media?
All these keyboard warriors out there?
Because they know they won't get slapped in the teeth.
They're real strong and brave throwing out their insults at you
from behind their keyboard.
Maybe that nasty text or email that you get,
you're going to be insulted.
It's all the same application here from our Lord.
At the same point, Jesus says, "Turn to Him the other."
He's saying, "You're insulted?
Have you been grossly insulted?"
Jesus says, "Let Him do it again."
You.
You refuse to retaliate.
Like, "I shouldn't be insulted.
Don't you know who I am?
I should be respected."
Yeah.
I agree.
You should be respected.
But you won't be.
Someone is going to insult you.
So you can react the world's way.
"I" for an "I"?
Like, "Oh, you're going to insult me?
I'm going to go full-dawn wrinkles on you."
You have brought a knife to a gunfight, my friend.
That's "I" for an "I."
Or you could respond the kingdom way,
which is refusing to retaliate.
And right now, somebody's sitting there going,
"Oh, okay.
So you're saying, when people insult me,
I should just take it?"
Now you're thinking like Jesus.
Because 1 Peter 2, 23, he says,
when He was reviled,
He did not revile in return.
When He suffered, He did not threaten,
but continued in trusting Himself to Him,
who judges justly.
How do you react when you're insulted?
Number two, how do you react when people are heartless?
How do you react when people are heartless
and "I" for an "I"?
Or gratuitous grace?
Look at verse 40.
Jesus said, "And if anyone would sue you
and take your tunic,
let them have your cloak as well."
Okay, Jesus isn't saying,
"Everybody consume me for everything."
Now, He's obviously,
He's talking about being sued
where there is some justification in the lawsuit.
That you went to court and legally,
you were sued and lost your tunic.
Like, what's a tunic?
Well, in those days,
the tunic was the long undergarment.
It was like a long, basically, the shirt.
It was your shirt.
And look, they didn't have a closet full of them
with a bag of them for the good will sitting in the garage.
Most of them would have had one or three at the most.
And this was more than just your shirt.
It was also your blanket.
That's the thing that kept you warm at night.
So I think this is quite a shocking thing
for our Lord to say that someone
would sue you for the shirt off your back.
And look, in court,
if someone sues you for the shirt
that's on your back that you're wearing,
that's a little more than I for an I, isn't it?
That's pretty heartless.
The reality is, people do sue heartlessly.
It's like suing a Christian school.
Like, why would you do that?
Unless there was a real egregious crime going on.
But a lot of times, it's just spite.
And I believe that's what Jesus is saying here.
Perhaps Jesus was being hyperbolic,
like saying even if somebody sues you
for the shirt that you're wearing.
Well, you could react the world's way, couldn't you?
Like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I'm not giving you the shirt that I'm wearing.
That's unreasonable and it's unfair.
And I will fight you all the way up to the Supreme Court
over my shirt.
Or you could react the kingdom way,
which is, did you lose your shirt in a lawsuit?
Well, show them you're really sorry for whatever the offense was.
And give them your coat too.
You know, it's an interesting way that Jesus worded this
because in Jewish Old Testament law,
you were not allowed to sue a man for his coat.
That was illegal.
Do you think Jesus is making a point?
Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Okay, so you're saying it was illegal to sue a man for his coat.
So if somebody sues you for your shirt
and you give them your coat,
that would be awfully gratuitous.
Now you're thinking like Jesus.
Romans 12-21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil."
But overcome evil with good.
Don't retaliate.
Show them that you're willing to give even more than they asked for.
So how do you react?
How do you react?
Number three, when forced to obey.
Eye for an eye or double your duty?
Look at verse 41.
Jesus, next illustration.
He says, "And if anyone forces you to go one mile,
go with them two miles."
Now the Romans had a law.
And that was actually a variation of an old Persian postal law.
But here is the Roman law.
An official could on the spot recruit a citizen
for official duty to perform a task.
You know the most famous example of this?
This commissioning Simon of Cyrene to carry our Lord's cross.
That was law.
Specifically here, what Jesus is referring to was legally,
legally a Roman soldier could recruit a citizen
to carry his pack, his gear, one mile, and no further.
You think about it from a Jewish standpoint,
that's, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm.
You mean my enemy, a Roman soldier,
is going to make me carry his stuff for a mile?
So Jew, that would have been very degrading and disgusting.
I think here our Lord is speaking to man's natural resentment
towards the demands of the government.
Does anybody remember COVID?
Well, you can react the world's way.
Right?
You can react the world's way.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
You can act the way you want.
The entire way.
Give me your stuff.
Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo.
Baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
Never mind, I'll carry it myself.
That's the world's way.
Or you can react the kingdom's way.
What's according to our Lord is what?
Go two miles.
Did you carry his stuff for a mile and you're like,
"You know what? I'm just getting limber.
I'm just getting warmed up.
I'll go another mile."
It's like giving the cloak, right?
Same principle.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
So you're saying,
"I should give more than the law demands.
I should give double of what's required of me."
Now you're thinking like Jesus.
Because 1 Peter 2.16 says,
"Citizens, live as people who are free.
Not using your freedom as a cover up for evil.
But living as servants of God."
Don't just do what's demanded.
Go beyond.
Force them to ask,
"Why in the world is she acting like that?"
And then you have the opportunity to talk about grace.
Number four.
How do you react when someone wants your stuff?
How do you react when someone wants your stuff?
Eye for an eye?
Or do you release your resources?
Look at verse 42.
Jesus says, "Give to the one who begs from you
and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you."
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
It just got real, didn't it?
My money?
My possessions?
Bless you.
We get so...
We get so possessive
over things.
Jesus is saying if somebody begs,
if somebody wants to borrow,
He's not talking about beggars along the side of the road.
This implies a real need,
a need that's known and a need that's verified.
That's what Jesus is talking about.
And again, we have the two options before us.
We can react the world's way.
Someone comes to you with a real need.
Eye for an eye means...
All right, look, look, look.
I'm going to give this to you, but you owe me, okay?
And you're... Listen, you're going to pay me back
every cent that I'm giving you.
Do you understand me?
I want it in writing.
That's the world's way.
And when we have that attitude,
it just demonstrates that we care more about things than people, right?
Well, why are you entitled to my stuff?
Go get your own stuff.
Where you can react the kingdom way.
Jesus, what's the kingdom way?
He says give the one who begs and do not refuse.
The one who would borrow.
What's the kingdom way?
Self-sacrificing generosity.
He's like, "Oh, you need something that I have?
You know what? Here, take it.
You know what? I'll buy another one,
or I'll learn to live without it.
No begs, whatever. Go ahead.
Looks like you need this more than I do.
If God thinks I need it,
He'll make sure I get another one, all right?
That's the kingdom way.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
So I should just give away everything that I have?
Now you're thinking like Jesus.
First John 3 verse 17 says,
"But if anyone has the world's goods,
Jesus' brother, Anid, yet closes his heart against him.
How does the love of God abide in him?"
It's just stuff.
It's just stuff.
It's eventual garbage, right?
Release your resources. Bless people with it.
Look, in Jesus' four scenarios here,
in every case, your heart is revealed.
Not in how you act,
but in how you react.
And you're like, "Man, man, how can I live like that?"
Right now, I guarantee you,
every single person here is looking at us going,
"I agree that this is right!"
But I don't know if I can actually do it.
I mean, to do this,
I would have to not insist on my rights.
I would have to deny myself
and I would have to act like a slave.
Now you're thinking like Jesus.
Because, oh, by the way,
not insisting on your rights and denying yourself
and acting like a slave.
Philippians 2.
Have this mind among yourselves,
which is yours in Christ Jesus,
who though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
He didn't insist on his rights.
But emptied himself.
Denied himself by taking the form of a servant.
He became a slave.
When you leave here today,
someone's going to offend you.
Someone's going to insult you.
And somebody's going to stomp all over your rights.
What you need to do right now
is decide how you're going to react.
Let's pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
we thank You for Your Word,
because this is contrary to how we think.
There's something in our hearts
that demands retaliation.
That would say getting even is the way to go.
We teach our kids that.
When Your Son very clearly taught us
that we're to be a people
that act opposite the way the world acts.
Father, I pray right now that
decisions are being made
as we sit in the fellowship of the congregation,
as we sit under Your Word,
as we're sitting in a setting of worship.
I pray right now, Father,
that we are making decisions
when we walk out this door.
We are not going to be people who retaliate.
But instead,
we're going to follow the example
that Your Son gave us,
and we're going to trust in the power of Your Spirit,
whom You put within us.
To Your glory and honor, Father,
grab our hearts and minds.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.