Do Not Resist the Evil Person

1. Do Not Resistthe Evil Person Matthew 5:38-42

2. Why do wars start?

3. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (Js 4:1-2, ESV).

4. “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (Js 4:1-2, ESV). James’ words ring true regardless of the “war.”

5. How do we prevent wars?

6. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how!

7. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! Matthew 5:38-42.

8. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! • Matthew 5:38-42. • These words have been interpreted in different ways.

9. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! • Matthew 5:38-42. • These words have been interpreted in different ways. • Some have taken these words to advocate non-violence & non-retaliation.

10. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! • Matthew 5:38-42. • These words have been interpreted in different ways. • Some have taken these words to advocate non-violence & non-retaliation. • Some have said these words are just hyperbole.

11. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! • Matthew 5:38-42. • These words have been interpreted in different ways. • Some have taken these words to advocate non-violence & non-retaliation. • Some have said these words are just hyperbole. His reaction to his betrayal, arrest, & crucifixion demonstrate otherwise.

12. In this morning’s text, Jesus tells us how! • Matthew 5:38-42. • These words have been interpreted in different ways. • Some have taken these words to advocate non-violence & non-retaliation. • Some have said these words are just hyperbole. His reaction to his betrayal, arrest, & crucifixion demonstrate otherwise. • If neither of those interpretations is entirely accurate, what does Jesus mean?

13. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means.

14. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means. • “Resist” means “to oppose in a courtroom.”

15. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means. • “Resist” means “to oppose in a courtroom.” • If someone wants to sue you & take your tunic, give him your cloak, too.

16. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means. • “Resist” means “to oppose in a courtroom.” • If someone wants to sue you & take your tunic, give him your cloak, too. • If a Roman soldier compels you to go one mile, go a second one.

17. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means. The picture Jesus paints is that we care so much about people we don’t care about getting even.

18. Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means. The picture Jesus paints is that we care so much about people we don’t care about getting even. We want to study these words in their original context & apply them to today.

19. AN OLD PUNISHMENT v 38

20. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’” (v 38, ESV).

21. God put retaliation into the Law of Moses.

22. God put retaliation into the Law of Moses. That’s the way the Jews of Jesus’ day read these words.

23. God put retaliation into the Law of Moses. • That’s the way the Jews of Jesus’ day read these words. • But, that is a gross misinterpretation of what Jesus said.

24. God put retaliation into the Law of Moses. • That’s the way the Jews of Jesus’ day read these words. • But, that is a gross misinterpretation of what Jesus said. • The purpose of these words are not to encourage retaliation, but to limit it.

25. “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him” (Lev 24:17-20, ESV).

26. “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him” (Lev 24:17-20, ESV). The point was to keep the judges from imposing unfair penalties.

27. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands.

28. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves.

29. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18, ESV).

30. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: (Lev 19:18). • God certainly allowed for justice, but it was the judges who were to execute justice.

31. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: (Lev 19:18). • God certainly allowed for justice, but it was the judges who were to execute justice. • “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Ex 21:22-25, ESV).

32. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: (Lev 19:18). • God certainly allowed for justice, but it was the judges who were to execute justice. • Ex 21:22-25. • The only time I was permitted to “take justice into my own hands” was if a person who killed a family member was outside a city of refuge.

33. Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands. • Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: (Lev 19:18). • God certainly allowed for justice, but it was the judges who were to execute justice. • Ex 21:22-25. • The only time I was permitted to “take justice into my own hands” was if a person who killed a family member was outside a city of refuge. • Otherwise, judges meted out judgment & they were limited by “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

34. Aren’t we often like the Jews & willing to mete out justice for a wrong done to us?

35. For the disciples of Jesus, there is another way!

36. A NEW PARDON vv 39-42

37. “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. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (vv 39-42, ESV).

38. Jesus encourages his disciples not to resist the evil person.

39. Jesus encourages his disciples not to resist the evil person. • Again, this is the idea of taking him/her to court.

40. Jesus encourages his disciples not to resist the evil person. • Again, this is the idea of taking him/her to court. • That idea becomes quite obvious when Jesus says,

41. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV).

42. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV). • The vast majority of people in this world have always been right-handed.

43. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV). • The vast majority of people in this world have always been right-handed. • The only way a right-handed person could strike you on the right cheek is with a back-handed slap.

44. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV). • The vast majority of people in this world have always been right-handed. • The only way a right-handed person could strike you on the right cheek is with a back-handed slap. • In Jewish Palestine, that was the ultimate insult.

45. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV). • The vast majority of people in this world have always been right-handed. • The only way a right-handed person could strike you on the right cheek is with a back-handed slap. • In Jewish Palestine, that was the ultimate insult. • The insult was so grievous that both Jewish & Roman law allowed you to take one to court for it.

46. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV). But, Jesus says, “Don’t go to court—just endure it.”

47. “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v 40, ESV).

48. “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v 40, ESV). • The poorest people in the Empire only had two garments—their tunic, the inner garment, & their cloak, the outer garment.

49. “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v 40, ESV). • The poorest people in the Empire only had two garments—their tunic, the inner garment, & their cloak, the outer garment. • What Jesus says here is radical, for the cloak was an inalienable possession.

50. “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v 40, ESV). • The poorest people in the Empire only had two garments—their tunic, the inner garment, & their cloak, the outer garment. • What Jesus says here is radical, for the cloak was an inalienable possession. • “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep?” (Ex 22:25-27).