An Eye for an Eye

SERMON: 2007-06-30--sm0725--an-eye-for-an-eye-part-2 SOURCE DURATION: 00:35:57.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 1.00 APPROVED: false REASON: Candidate 0 contains spoken words that appear to be part of the sermon's closing remarks or benediction. Candidate 1 marks a clear transition into music, indicating that candidate 0 is the last segment of the sermon. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:31:15.100-00:35:55.660 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- When we looked at this passage a number of weeks ago I pointed out to you that the Old Testament injunction "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" was never intended as a license for personal revenge. You'll recall that's how the Pharisees interpreted it and that's how they taught it. You hit me, I hit you back and I can do it in the name of God. Instead we saw that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth in fact was intended in the Old Testament to restrain this human impulse to hit back and to defend ourselves, to take personal vengeance. And it does that in two ways. It does that first of all by assigning justice issues to governmental authority. Let me explain what I mean by that. Let's suppose you hurt me. Now how are we going to avoid my natural impulse to hurt you back and starting a cycle now that can produce vengeance and destruction for generations to come? Well we avoid it by having central governmental authority. You hurt me, I report you to the police. The police investigate. The police perhaps will lay charges, they will haul you into court, there will be a trial. If my charges stick then you are convicted. You will be punished and justice will have been served. Governmental authority means that somebody is seeing to it that justice happens and I don't have to do it myself. That's God's provision under this Old Testament legislation to keep me from having to fight my own battles. It's like in your house when you're raising children. How do you keep the strong from oppressing the weak? How do you keep kids from fighting with each other? Well you as parents you are the boss and you maintain some measure, at least you try to, of law and order. You protect the weak, you punish the wrongdoer and that's how justice is maintained. So that's the first way in which this Old Testament legislation was designed to stifle the human impulse for personal vengeance and getting even. And then the second way in which an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth refrained personal vengeance was by limiting the punishment to fit the crime. As I said three weeks ago, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth not only means you get what is coming to you in a sense of justice, but it also means you're not getting more than what you deserve. You don't get hanged for stealing a loaf of bread and you don't get whipped for giving somebody a dirty look. So at the risk of sounding repetitious let me underscore it once again, an eye for an eye was never intended to give permission for you and me as individuals to carry on vigilante justice. No, it was intended to restrain that impulse by putting it in the hands of government and then by limiting even in the hands of government so that the punishment would fit the crime. Now once you understand that then you understand exactly why Jesus says what he does here in Matthew chapter 5 you have heard that it was said eye for eye, tooth for tooth, but I tell you do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also and if somebody wants to sue you and take your tunic let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile and go with him two miles give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Jesus is not contradicting the Old Testament law. Now remember as always he goes back to the original intent of the law and he says the original intent of the law was never to give you permission to beat up one another. No, the original intent of the law was to curb inside us that desire for vengeance, that desire for getting even. Jesus says in this passage it's not good enough just to curb the negative, to curb the desire for getting even. No, he wants us to go the extra mile, he wants us to lay down our lives even for those who are our enemies. He sums that up in the next paragraph in the concluding portion of Matthew 5 when he says if you love those who love you what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that? At some future point Lord willing we'll look at that and we'll see that being a Christian empowered by the Holy Spirit means you live your life at a much higher level. You have heard that it was said eye for eye tooth for tooth but I say to you. Now all of that having been said this leaves us of course with some very practical questions of interpretation. What does this look like if you try to live this out? I mean what does not resisting evil look like? What does turning the other cheek look like? If a robber comes into your house and wants to take everything that you've got are you gonna let him do that? Or a government wants to pass unbiblical legislation? Do we need to just stand by and let them do that? Or an enemy nation wants to invade your country? Are you gonna stand by and let that happen or you meet a beggar on the street? You have to empty not only your wallet into his little hat but throw in your shoes and your coat and your cloak and everything else as well. Those are very practical questions. God's people have had many different interpretations of how literally you take this passage now and put it into effect and without belaboring the point I think one of the best ways for us to try to address this is to look at Jesus himself because clearly Jesus practiced what he preached and it's very interesting if you look at the life of Jesus in the light of what he teaches us here in this particular passage. Here are some of the questions that we can ask. Is he non-resistant in the face of evil? Does he always turn the other cheek? And the answer and this probably doesn't surprise you is both yes and no. Yes in the context of personal insult and injury. No in the face of all other kinds of evil. And let me take a few moments this morning and try to walk you through that and spell out the particulars of that a little bit. First of all in the context of personal insult and injury the Lord Jesus always turns the other cheek and he never defends himself. Isaiah put it this way many years earlier concerning Jesus. He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shears is silent so he did not open his mouth. And in the New Testament Peter puts it this way when they hurled their insults at him he did not retaliate. When he suffered he made no threats instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. Now take just a moment and look at your own life. What happens when somebody slanders you? What happens when somebody hurts you or otherwise mistreats you? Well you know as well as I do everything on the inside rises up very naturally in protest and we want to fight we want to be justified we want to be explained we we want to hit back. And when you look at Jesus who remember now is the Son of God worthy of worship worthy of adoration worthy of the greatest honor. When you look at Jesus he never had any of those reactions every time he refused to defend himself and he used to fight for and refused to fight for himself because his hope and his trust was in God of the Father. The Apostle Paul follows a very similar practice when he says concerning himself to this very hour we go hungry and thirsty we are in rags we are brutally treated we are homeless we work hard with our hands when we are cursed we bless when we are persecuted we endure it and when we are slendered we answer kindly. So this is the context in which Jesus says don't resist the evil one turn the other cheek give to him who asks of you don't give in to this natural impulse for self-defense self-justification lay it all down instead be concerned about the well-being of the other person. That's the principle that comes to expression here and you see it modeled in the life of Jesus you see it modeled in the life of Paul and you see it modeled in the life of Christian community to one degree or another throughout the course of human history. This resistance this unwillingness to give in to our fleshly desire to be justified and to be defended and to be excused. The Lord wants us to learn to lay that all down and to trust him who judges justly to look after us and to look after our own needs. Think of how much less anxiety most of us would experience when we find ourselves in those kind of situations if we could just leave things in the hands of God knowing that our reputation our success our future and our hope is all in his hands. Now that having been said does that mean Jesus just stands back and allows evil to dominate does it mean that he is simply a doormat and the answer to that is a categorical no because if you look at the life of Jesus and also the life of Paul in other contexts where the issues of justice are involved what it isn't just about their personal justification they are highly resistant to evil and I can think of two examples in the ministry and in the life of Jesus that are powerful illustrations of this truth the first is the cleansing of the temple you recall the story happened in the context of Palm Sunday is recorded I believe in all four scriptures Jesus comes into the temple in Jerusalem sees the money changers his blood boils makes a whip according to one of the Gospels turns the tables upside down chases the money changers out of the temple says to them my father's house is to be a house of prayer for all nations but you've made it a den of thieves the only recorded act of violence on the part of Jesus and if anybody ever tells you you know that all Jesus is is this kind friendly peacemaker who wouldn't harm a fly people like that don't read the Bible because the Bible is categorical about Jesus says reaction against evil now why does he get so upset well you've heard us talk about that before from up here the court was the court of prayer for the Gentiles it was the one place where the Gentiles could come and pray to God and by setting up their business in the court of the temple they were not only giving opportunity for their own greed but they were also keeping the Gentiles from coming near to God and that is what infuriates Jesus but even so what gives him the right to beat the snot out of all these people in the temple well you got to remember he's the son of God the temple is his father's house and when it comes to the temple Jesus has ultimate authority and so when he sees the name of God being slandered and abused and the purposes of God being frustrated Jesus steps into his place of authority and he takes care of evil he drives them out because he's come to do the father's will so here's the principle the principle is this when we are placed in a position of responsibility now listen carefully when we are placed in a position of authority and responsibility we must exercise our power when we are in a position of responsibility and authority we have our responsibility to resist evil and so if a robber comes into your house and a robber is going to harm your family then you have an obligation as parents in that family to fight back what Jesus talks about here doesn't nullify our responsibility in areas where we do have the responsibility and if a foreign army invade your country then you fight back and if a criminal element wants to take over you fight back if you're a policeman or you're a governmental agent or you are in some other position of authority it is your job to defend those who are under you that is not a time to turn the other cheek that is not a time to lay down and let them walk all over you this isn't now about personal vengeance this isn't about personal anger that's a whole other subject no this is about exercising the authority that God gives you even as Jesus cleans up in the temple let me stop there do you see the difference very important to understand that difference because while most of us in our culture may not have you know allowed to do with this Christians all over the world struggle with this issue of how do I relate to power that is abusive and that wants to destroy and some Christians say well you got to lie down let them run all over you and they quote this passage don't resist the evil one well Jesus didn't practice what he preached if that interpretation is correct he resisted evil in his father's house now let me give you another example Jesus not only cleansing the temple but in his trial before the high priest and you may recall that as he was being tried by the high priest and the high priest was asking him all kinds of questions there comes a point where one of the officials wasn't very happy with his answer and strikes him in the face literally in John 18 verse 22 and he says to Jesus is this the way you answer the high priest so picture this here's Jesus he is literally being struck on the cheek which is precisely what he talks about on the Sermon on the Mount right turn to him the other also now what does Jesus do does he turn the other cheek no he does not in fact he goes on to say he challenges the official in his actions he says if I said something wrong then testify as to what is wrong but if I spoke the truth why did you strike me so notice what's happening here in the face of judicial evil Jesus isn't just turning the other cheek he is challenging the improper behavior of the official and interestingly enough the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 16 does exactly the same Acts chapter 16 is the story where Paul and Silas are preaching in Philippi and great and wonderful things are happening but they have this little girl who has a spirit of divination and maybe you remember the story she's running after them all the time and Paul gets tired of this so he turns around and he casts that spirit out of her and you think people would be happy with that but it's a little bit like pimping the people that were pimping her out were making good money that source of revenue was now lost you want to get in trouble as a Christian you cut into the world's pocketbook and you'll soon enough find out where their values lie and so what happens Paul and Silas get thrown into jail doesn't stop them even though they're in in stocks the Bible says at midnight they were praising and and praying and God sends this big earthquake somebody said God came down and saying base the whole place just shook all the doors open wide the Philippian jailer falls on his knees and gives his life to Jesus you will recall in that story and then and this is where it gets really interesting the next morning the magistrates send their officials to the jailers house to say that Paul and Silas are now free to go remember this story now if you do you may also remember Paul's response here's what Paul says Paul said to the officers they beat us publicly without a trial even though we are Roman citizens and threw us into prison and now do they want to get rid of us quietly no let them come themselves and escort us out now you read that and you say to yourself Paul what is the matter with you aren't you being a little like vindictive why not just go quietly and be glad you're out of that place no he says I'm not leaving until they come here and they apologize and they lead us out of this city how do you square it well you square it like this this has nothing to do with Paul personally being insulted he's not bent out of shape because he's been badly treated he's used to being badly treated and he's used to trusting God in that process this is not personal no this is in defense of the law and the Roman judicial system because you see they had violated their own laws as a Roman citizen Paul had been whipped and put into jail without due process of law and they could get themselves into a lot of trouble for that because one of the privileges of being a Roman citizen was that they were very particular about how the law was applied in a just and in a proper fashion the Romans prided themselves on their jurisprudence and so Paul here is not talking about oh my feelings have been hurt and I want you to come hold my hand and walk me out of the city Paul's too big a man for that but he says you violated the law and if you can do it to me you can do to anybody else and so while he never steps in to defend himself he upholds the law and he wants to make sure that other people do also are you with me and what I'm trying to describe do you see the difference between personal fighting back personal vengeance and standing up for what is right so the principle here again is this the principle is though we must never defend ourselves out of this need for self justification because God is our defender as his people that does not mean we just turn a blind eye to injustice wherever there is injustice we must step into the situation and do our best to uphold the law on that level we fight back we fight back because that's our obligation that's what Jesus did and that's what Paul did and so now you're driving along the road and in front of you is a drunken driver he's weaving all over the place and you wonder who he's gonna hit next are you gonna call him in and report him I think you better or give you another example my son Jonathan I just before he got married I went with him to to buy him a little car and we were talking to the car dealer out of the county about how this all worked and the car dealer told us how you have to have a license to do this and all this sort of stuff and and how the big competition sometimes is people who bypass the proper legal process and who just sell cars off their yard without a license to do it and how he had in fact just that week reported to such people to the authorities and you have an example there of how fine the line that is you see because at what point is this self-serving and are you acting out of a spirit of vindication and at what point are you really trying to uphold the law and make sure that and everybody benefits by the fact that life is being conducted honestly and there are in people sliding under the table causing everybody to slide down into the kind of level of dishonesty that you see in some Latin American countries you can see it in Soviet Russia where everybody does what is right in his own eye and the power goes to the powerful and the weak are the ones that get down to it there's a difference between fighting for our own rights and fighting for those rights that are the standards that everybody ought to observe and I want to close this morning with one more story from Hudson Taylor's history that I think captures both of those elements it's a very short story but it captures it Hudson Taylor you will recall as missionary China in the 1800s one of the first to adopt Chinese dress and the story is told that Hudson Taylor was standing by the river and had called over one of the boats in the river to take him someplace and as he was waiting for that boat to come in another Chinese man of significant rank didn't recognize Hudson Taylor as a Western man because he was in Chinese dress and he pushed him out of the way to get to his boat first to the extent that Hudson Taylor fell into the mud he was gonna step into his place in the boat but interestingly enough the boatman said no this European man is the one who called me over and he is the one who gets verse dibs on where he is going and just because you're pushing your way into that doesn't mean you're going to get your way and then Hudson Taylor got up out of the mud got into the boat but graciously allowed the other dude to come into the boat with him and began sharing with him the gospel and that little story tells us both sides of the issues that I'm trying to address with you this morning the boatman in refusing to give in to the powerful Chinaman stood against evil and for justice because Hudson Taylor had called the boat in first he did what was right and what accords to the spirit of what Jesus talks about here in the Sermon of the Mount Hudson Taylor on the other hand in being gracious to his opponent and not going on the inside you got this coming to you I hope it takes two hours for the next boat to come along but by inviting him into the boat demonstrates the spirit of this commandment of not fighting back on issues of personal injustice and personal wrong and thereby giving opportunity for the gospel to be shared and the challenge for you and me if we're going to follow Jesus is to live according to that spirit to know that when it comes to personal issues of reputation personal issues of hurt personal issues of wounding we don't get all bent out of shape as if the whole universe revolves around us now we follow biblical steps towards reconciliation and towards restoration we learn to die to ourselves and to our own self-importance because ultimately God is in charge and he's the one that's going to look after us but at the same time in those places where you and I have responsibility to resist evil where we have authority where we occupy a position or where we see the law is being broken it's our job as Jesus and Paul did to resist evil and to stand for truth because otherwise a whole society falls apart and it takes God's grace and courage and strength to see the difference between those two because we easily cross over and think we're standing for truth and justice and for righteousness when really all we're doing is just fighting ourselves that's [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:31:15.100; remove through 00:35:57.000] what [CUT] Jesus talks about and that's how he invites you and me to live [Music] cure through culture shifting sands changed by all the vanities of men for your song [Music] [Music] faithfulness your love extends through times of turbulence adopting those who call upon your name and every generation joins in songs of grateful praise you are you are [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [ [CUT]Music] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:35:57.000; resume after this marked segment]