Daily Devotional For Saturday, September 28,2024
It’s time to dance. It’s Super Saturday. Your weekend is here. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7.Currently we are on Jesus’ fifth statement “You have heard that it was said . . . . but I say to you . . .” In each of these 6 statements found in Matthew 5:21-48. Unfortunately, Jesus knows our tendency to look for loopholes around God’s commands. The Jews were experts in this when it came to the Old Testament Law. In each of these six statements, Jesus reminds us that sin first starts in our hearts, thoughts and attitudes before it ever comes out in our actions, behavior and responses.
We are currently on the fifth statement by Jesus found in Matthew 5:38-42:
“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 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 your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. (42) Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (NASB).
Jesus is dealing with the Old Testament Law on justice, punishment, and retaliation found in Exodus 24:21. This law was not to allow retaliation but to limit it. It was not giving permission but restricting it. Jesus’ point is that at no time ever has God allowed private retaliation. And when it comes to disciples of Jesus Christ and the church, private revenge cannot be part of our lives or our community. This would be somewhat of a challenge since the personal right of justice was based on a very older code.
Jesus began characteristically by presenting the traditional Old Testament teaching: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’ ” (v. 38 ). That is an exact quotation from three Old Testament passages (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21) and represents the oldest law in the world—the law of retaliation, technically known as Lex (Law) Talionis (retaliation) from the Code of Hammurabi, which dates to the second millennium B.C.
New Testament scholar Kent Hughes writes this:
“Today we recognize Lex Talionis as foundational to all justice. The whole system of civil, penal, and international law is based on the idea of reparation and equity that has its roots in Lex Talionis. As it exists in the Bible, Lex Talionis was given to the judges of Israel as a basis for adjudication, as Deuteronomy 19:16–21 makes so clear. Individuals were not permitted to use this law to settle disputes with others. Only the courts were permitted to do so. Moreover, it was not literally carried out by the Jewish legal system because they correctly saw that in some cases to do so would result in injustice” (Source: Kent R. Hughes, Preaching The Word Commentary: The Sermon On The Mount – The Message of the Kingdom, p. 132).
In fact an Old Testament legal document called The Mishna, adjudicated this:
“For instance, a good tooth might be removed for a bad tooth! Thus they assessed damages just as we do in our courts today. The Mishna devotes an entire section entitled Baba Kamma to assessing proper damages” (Source: The Mishna, trans. Herbert Danby, pp. 332–346).
Matthew 5:39 is one of the most mistranslated and misinterpreted verses in the Bible. “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” (NASB). Many have taken Jesus' words to mean several things:
- First, we are to be pacifists, not employed by any police force and not enlisted in any kind of military. This was the position taken by Leo Tolstory, the great Russian novelist in his book, What I Believe. Meaning we are not to resist evil at all in any way,
- Second, some believe we can exercise self-defense but we should not be part of any policing or military.
- Third, some believe that some force is necessary but without killing or taking of life.
I personally find no basis for pacifism here by Jesus because the context and Greek words Jesus used do not give credence to pacifism. The problem occurs when we attempt to absolutize Jesus words to force it to mean pacifism. When we do that, then Jesus’ own words contradicts the inspiration He gave to the Apostle Paul to write Romans 13:1-7. Based on 2 Timothy 3:16-17, all Scripture is inspired by God. It is inerrant and it is infallible. So, there is no contradiction here.
Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:
“However, Jesus’ statements must be understood in their overall context. Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to be submissive victims to physical, verbal, or sexual abuse, rape, terrorism, murder, or other threats of true harm. It’s noble to bite your tongue when some guy insults you in the checkout lane, or to refuse to lean on the horn when an aggressive driver cuts you off in traffic, or to take a step back when an upset mother slaps you for scolding her out-of-control child. But it’s deplorable to sit back passively as a bully injures a defenseless victim, or to refuse to defend your children if a kidnapper tries to drag them off, or to raise the flag of surrender if an army of terrorists rolls across your nation’s border” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Mathew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, pp. 103-104).
Pastor and author John Stott affirms this also when he writes this:
“Christ’s illustrations are not to be taken as the charter for any unscrupulous tyrant, ruffian, beggar or thug. His purpose was to forbid revenge, not to encourage injustice, dishonesty or vice.… True love, caring for both the individual and society, takes action to deter evil and to promote good” (Source: John Stott, The Message Of The Sermon On The Mount, p. 108).
The context Jesus is talking about here is when we are insulted for our Christian faith and our personal relationship to Him as His disciple. Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38-42 have to do with a very common Jewish tradition that involved the worst way to insult someone – a slap to their right cheek. That is the context here. It is not retaliation, but dealing with an insult. Jews believed that to slap someone with the right hand was the worst insult a person could give to another person. In Jesus’ day all Jews were right-handed. Why? They believed the right hand was the strongest and best. Therefore, they used their left-hand for personal hygiene and when they went to relieve themselves in some form of what might call a bathroom or a toilet or a latrine. So let’s put this into perspective.
If you are right-handed, how do you slap someone on their right cheek as Jesus mentions in Matthew 5:39, to slap them with the palm of your hand, you would have to contort your arm and hand to do it. Jews would slap using their right hand by slapping a person on their right cheek with the back of their right hand. Whatever form that insult may come, as Jesus Christ’s disciples, we must not use revenge or any kind of retaliation to settle a score.
In Jesus’ day, a slap with the back of the right hand was to show contempt in the worst way for a person. Receiving such an insult was exactly what Jesus personally experienced. He does not ask us to do something He has never experienced. Look at Matthew 26:67, “Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him” (NASB).
Refusing to retaliate against those who harm you for your Christian faith has a way of taking the wind out of their sails. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela knew this with racism and apartheid. Blacks refused to retaliate and as everyone watched on national and international TV, the tide turned against those doing the injustices. We are commanded in the Old Testament Law (Leviticus 19:18) and by Jesus (Matthew 22:39), “to love our neighbor as yourself.” Who is our neighbor? Jesus answered that question in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. A neighbor is anyone, especially someone who hurts you for your faith and relationship to Jesus Christ.
These statements by Jesus would have been offensive to Jews since they were under Roman occupation, oppression and domination. The Jews wanted retaliation against their Roman captors. What Messiah would not want this? Any Messiah who would turn the other cheek to their Roman enslavers, in their mind, could not be a Messiah. And these words by Jesus might be offensive to you as well. Tomorrow we will finish looking at Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:40-42.
Questions To Consider
- Like the Jews in Jesus’ day, you might find Jesus’ words offensive to you. If you do, why? If you don’t, why?
- When someone has insulted you or you, do you “turn the other cheek” or do go over in your mind and thoughts how you can take them out?
- Why do you think a non-retaliatory response to being insulted and hurt can eventually change the hearts of people in your favor and away from your attacker?
- Our nation has stood up against tyrants such as German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and Japanese Emperor Hirohito. In contemporary times, we have stood up against terrorists such as Sadam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden and Al Qaeda. America has had millions of our soldiers die to keep us safe from our enemies. Do you ever struggle if this is the right approach? – pacifism versus being a warmonger?
- What do you think is the biggest challenge or obstacle in turning the cheek to anyone who hurts you or insults you for your Christian faith?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 3:8-9, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit; (9) not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing” (NASB),
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I have to be honest with You. When someone insults me or hurts me or someone I love, my first thought is not to love them or pray for them or do something good to them. I want justice. I want retaliation. I want them to pay. But that is not Your way. Help me to do what You taught us in the Lord’s Prayer – let Your kingdom (rule) come and Your will be done in my life. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly