| Jesus appears to make some stark, seemingly impossible demands: God’s people should never use force in self-defense (Matt. 5:39); they should never contest a lawsuit they should comply with every type of demand and they should lend without reserve (Matt. 5:42). Could Jesus possibly be serious? In this part of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord is addressing the issue of justice. He was alluding to the Old Testament Law dealing with public vengeance. The Law limited damages in criminl cases to no more than the loss suffered—“an eye for an eye” (Matt.5:38; Ex. 21:24–25). Nevertheless, as might be expected, people tended to justify personal vengeance by appealing to the same texts. We would call it “taking the law into your own hands.” But Jesus’ morally challenged that. To be sure, some circumstances call for resistance and self-defense. The Law specifically sanctioned self-protection when there was no other apparent recourse (Ex. 22:2). Likewise, Jesus Himself protested when He was slapped (John 18:22–23). But He warned against the needless use of force, particularly in revenge. In self-defense the alternative to resistance may be injury or death. But in vengeance one inflict harm even though immediate danger is past. A slap on the cheek is little more than an insult. There’s no place for violence in response to that. Furthermore, vengeance belongs to God (Deut. 32:35; see Rom. 12:19–21), who often uses governing authorities to carry it out (Matt.13:4). In the case of lawsuits (Matt. 5:40), the Law permitted demanding a tunic (or shirt) in pledge for a loan, but prohibited taking a cloak (or coat) overnight, because it was needed for warmth (Ex. 22:26–27). However, Jesus’ listeners commonly pressed for the cloak—for ruinous damages—almost literally “suing the pants off each other,” as we would say. But Christ’s point was that if lawsuits have to go to extremes, they ought to be in the exteme of charity. (Paul argued similarly in 1 Cor. 6:1–8.) What about going the second mile (Matt. 5:41)? The word “compels” is a technical term meaning “to requisition or press into service.” Ancient Persian law permitted postal carriers to compel private citizens to help carry their loads. The Romans were no different; for example, Roman soldiers compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross (Matt.27:32). So Jesus was speaking of someone with legitimate authority who might compel one of His followers to go a “thousand paces,” or one Roman mile, roughly nine-tenths of an English mile. How should a believer respond to such requests? With resistance? Perhaps complying grudgingly, but only to a minimum degree? Again, Jesus challenged His followers to grace and integrity. Imagine the reputation that Christians would have if we always did twice what the law required! What would tax auditors think if we not only followed the rules, but paid more than the law required of us? What would our employers think if we consistently rendered double the expected service? Throughout Matt. 5:17–48, Jesus speaks in stark contrasts and strong hyperboles (overstatements for the sake of emphasis). The key to understanding this section is to keep in mind the major thrust of His teaching: good not evil, grace not vengeance, love not hatred. That is the morality of Christ. |
One thing that we must do is look at this in context of the time it was written. So many times we take what the Bible says completely wrong due to the fact that it was written so many years ago. We have to look at the day and age of when it was written, as well as who it was written to and for what purpose it was written. Try looking at you devotions in this light. Share anything that comes from this!
