So did Jesus teach that we're not to defend ourselves? Did Jesus teach that we're not to go to war? What did he mean when he said you've heard eye for eye, tooth for tooth? I'm going to tell you something different. Welcome, friends, to the line of fire.
This is Michael Brown. As we continue diving into the words of Jesus here, we continue to go through the Sermon on the Mount. And these are some of the passages. that that caused some teachers to say, you know, this is just idealism. These are impossible goals.
They're not meant for Christians today. This was teaching that Jesus gave to his Jewish people before he was crucified to show them they couldn't be righteous under the law. That's the only purpose of it. It's not for believers today. If we try to live by this, it's impossible.
We'll be condemned. I understand where people are coming from. And I understand many Christians care about every single word and syllable and say, well, if Jesus said it, I have to live this out exactly. And it's not possible.
Well, but here's the starting point. The starting point for the gospel. The starting point for salvation is with people. It's impossible. With man it's impossible.
All things are possible. From the Messiah's birth coming into the world, to when the disciples say, Well, who can even be saved? And it seems impossible. Yes. We are not relying on our strength, but on God's strength.
Paul found a great secret to living for the Lord is that God's strength was made perfect in his weakness in the midst of persecution and opposition and pain and suffering. When he had no power in himself, he realized that was the place of grace. And as uncomfortable and difficult as it was, his grace was made perfect, God's grace, in Paul's weakness. It's the same with us. We say, Lord, I'm not capable of living like this.
Lord, this is too much for me. This is too difficult for me. But by your grace, by your indwelling spirit, all things are possible. It's also important that we read the words of Jesus in their original context. As he's teaching not as Reverend Christ, but as Rabbi Yeshua.
So we need to understand these things in the context in which they were spoken. And I think when you do, you realize it's a high and lofty challenge. but it's something that's doable. By God's grace, before we read further from Matthew 5, just a reminder, if you're not getting my frontline newsletter, we put a lot into it every month. It's free.
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Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, remember, this is Rabbi Yeshua speaking to his disciples, his Ptolemy Dim. Those who sit and learn at his feet. He's teaching them, and then as it goes on, it seems that a crowd comes up the mountain to listen because there are crowds at the end of the sermon. You have heard that it was said Eye for eye. and truth for truth.
So this is under Torah. This is Torah Law. And it was something that... is is found repeatedly And even times God would say, don't show any mercy. That this is the law.
So let's say That that What you do costs someone their hand and you lose your hand. What you do costs someone their eyesight, you lose your eyesight. Which you do willingly, knowingly, cause someone their death, not accidentally, but cause someone their death, you lose your life, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
Now, Rabbinic Judaism over the centuries said actually This was not meant literally. It's metaphorical language and when you dig deeper, it just means a an equivalent fine. And they said, look, after all, What if you only have one hand? And now you damage someone's hand if Now they still have one hand left, but if you lose your hand, you don't have any hands. How could it be fair?
They came up with all these reasons and they claimed that originally. Originally, it was only monetary compensation. Clearly, that's not what Jesus is dealing with here. He's dealing with the letter of the law. Eye for eye, truth for truth.
But please understand. This is not about self- defense This is about personal Retaliation. This is not about going to war. Or if your nation is invaded, can you serve in the army? This is about personal retaliation.
I have the right to personal retaliation under the law. Jesus is saying, I'm going to show you something even deeper. And he says this. But I tell you. Do not resist.
An evil person. You say, well, that's telling me right there, I can't use self-defense. No, no, no. Let's keep going. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, Turn to him the other cheek Also.
Now now Luke just says someone slaps you on the cheek. Matthew Writing in particular for Jewish audience, says, slaps you on the right cheek.
So let's picture this for a minute, all right? You presume right-handedness, right-handedness is the norm, the most common, so you presume that.
So if I'm facing you. I take my right hand and I slap you on the cheek and you're facing me. Which cheek did I slap you on? I slapped you. on the left cheek.
If I slap you on the right cheek, what does that mean? It is a backhanded slap. And we know from Jewish law that was put in writing a couple hundred years after the time of Jesus, so may well have been current in his day. that there are actual laws about being shamed publicly with a backhanded slap. That you would get double compensation.
Let's just say under the law that if I slap you on the left cheek publicly, I shame you by slapping you on the left cheek publicly. Let's just say I have to pay you a fine of $100. But if it's a backhanded slap, I have to pay you $200. Jesus is saying no, no. Don't personally retaliate by your rights under the law.
Let them shame you. Even More. What? What? That's that's outra oh, isn't that flesh killing?
Isn't that ego-killing? Isn't that vengeance? I just want justice. Jesus is saying that there is a time for justice. Absolutely a time for justice.
Paul writes in Romans 13 about the right of the government and even carrying the sword. to punish evildoers and how in doing so they are doing God's work. by punishing evildoers. We know that lack of justice when evil is not punished is grievous in God's sight. But in terms of my personal attitude and my personal response, You hurt me, I'm going to hurt you back.
No. even if I have the legal right to do it. Go ahead and Shame me more Go ahead and attack me more. God will be my defense. That's.
What he's saying. With man, it's impossible or very difficult. With God, it's impossible. It's possible. Then he says this.
If anyone wants to sue you, And take your shirt. Hand over your code as well.
Now Is there hyperbole in the Sermon on the Mount? We've said for sure. We illustrate it when he says, if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, throw it away. Your right hand doesn't actually cause you to sin. Your brain, your heart, your will, that makes the decision.
The hand is just doing the work, punching the person or doing the work, stabbing the person. But he's using metaphorical speech and saying, cut it off. He doesn't actually want you to cut your hand off. He's using a figure of speech to underscore things.
So what's the what's the point here? Go ahead and serve. Go ahead and bless. Go go ahead. Go ahead.
You want to take advantage of me? Go ahead. Now look. I have had People come up to me. I remember I was outside of a Jewish bookstore when I used to live in Maryland, Orthodox Jewish bookstore.
and a counter-missionary rabbi was there. And he said, well, I read Jesus said, if someone asks you, just give. Just give.
Someone asked you, I want your car.
Okay, gave him the car keys. I mean, obviously, he wasn't actually gonna take it. He was just trying to show me the impossibility of this. But it's the spirit of it. that Jesus is speaking of.
In fact, let's keep going. If anyone forces you to go one mile... Go with them two miles. You see under under Roman law A Roman soldier could say all right, carry my military equipment for a mile and you would just have to do it. They wanted the brake, they wanted you to carry it, you would just have to do it.
And they can't believe I have to do this. Just not fair. It's just not right. We grumble and complain. Jesus said, Go two miles.
Go the extra mile. That's where we get the expression, go the extra mile. It is a very Christian thing to do. It is something by which we overcome evil. It it it is a way that we change hearts and minds.
Then he says this. Give to the one who asks you. And do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. What's he saying here? What's the point of that?
Here's what we need to understand. Jesus is teaching again to a Jewish audience.
So we need to go back and look. and understand, yes we feel the and understand the spirit of it. But he was not just saying if someone comes up to you and says, Give me your car, you just give them the car. Give me your house, you just give them the house. There there was a context to what he was saying.
So what's the context? We know Under the law, that every seven years, you read in Deuteronomy 15, Every seven years Debts would be cancelled. And then every 50th year, you read about this especially in Leviticus 25, not just debts would be canceled, but if you were going to be someone's lifelong indentured servant, you would go free in the 50th year. If you had lost your property due to debt, that property, family property, would come back to you. But every seven years, debts would be canceled.
So What God says to Israel in Deuteronomy. In the fifteenth chapter, is listen, don't say to yourself, hmm. I'm giving someone a loan in the sixth year. there's no way if they're paying me back one year at a time I'm going to lose most of my money. if I have to cancel the loan, so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna win.
And God says, No, no, be generous. Be generous. And this is a matter of trusting God, just like when you rest on the Sabbath or the lamb would lie fallow for one year on the Sabbath. Can you trust God? God.
So what happened was Hillel Who is one of the two Pharisaical leaders in the time of Jesus, he'd be an older contemporary of Yeshua, Hillel and the other Shammai. Helel saw that the rich were not giving loans to the poor. As it got closer to the seventh year, first, second, even third year to give a loan with fourth year, fifth year, sixth year? It's not the time to give a loan. because in order to get paid back, the debt's going to be canceled.
So he wanted to be practical. He wanted to help the poor. And he came up with something called the the Prose Bull. Which is simply this. It was a document written to the court.
Let's say I'm a poor person, you're a rich person. you lend me five hundred dollars in the sixth year.
Well I'd pay you back $20, and now the seventh year comes, I keep the rest. Instead, this is a document that now I owe the money to the court. And in fact, I have to pay the money back because the court is exempt from the seventh year regulation.
So I have to pay the money back.
So I I the rich will get their money back. and the poor will get their loans, and it's good for everybody. Yeshua is saying No, no, no, step higher. Yeah. Take the spirit of the law at its best and trust God.
Give They're the one who asks you. And do not turn away from the men. from the one who wants to borrow from you.
So if you have the ability to give, you give. Again, it's talking in a context. And if you have the ability to lend, you lend. And Luke 6 explains hoping to get nothing back. It's a matter of faith.
and trust. It's a call to live A supernatural life. Quick word from our great co-sponsor, Trivita. Give it a listen and we will be right back. Staying active is essential for your well-being.
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So call now 1-800-771-5584. one eight hundred seven seven one fifty five eighty four. or online at T R I V I T A. Trivita dot com Alright, so... How do we live these things out?
The first thing is we ask God for a change of heart. The first thing is we say, Lord, This is impossible for my flesh. But it's just like what we're going to look at in the next lesson. When he calls us to love when we don't want to love, when he calls us to do good to people who do bad to us. In the flesh, it's against human nature.
But just like Erica Kirk, Stood up. in front of a viewing audience of multiplied tens of millions. and forgave the young man who assassinated her husband in cold blood. That young man, I I forgive him. If God can give us grace to do that, He can give us grace to not retaliate personally against others.
He can give us the grace to say, okay, even though you wronged me, I'm not going to wrong you back. And the fact is, that is where we find race. And I can witness in my own life as I've had people wrong me, and it happens to all of us over the decades, as I've had people wrong me. I knew I could get back at them. I knew I could hurt them more than they hurt me.
And all you do is you continue the cycle of anger, the cycle of sin. Instead, when you say, I'm just going to bless you, I'm just going to pray for you, I'm going to let God fight my battles, you'll be amazed to see what He does. And above all, your own spirit remains untainted and you set an example Of selfless sacrificial love, thereby being blessed by God.
