Wednesday Night, September 16, 2020 PM

Okay, so Luke chapter six, verses 27 through 31. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for gathering us together here this evening. I pray that you would help us as we read your word, help us to agree with your word from our hearts, that we would confess the goodness of it, the truth of it, the sufficiency of it, the authority of it in our lives.

Help us to gladly hear the words of Christ and follow him, trusting in him always. We pray these things for his sake, amen. Okay, Luke chapter six, verses 27 through 31. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also.

And whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

Mercy Toward Personal Enemies, Not Private Revenge

So we talking about last time that although it seems that Jesus Christ is often cast today in the role of a social justice warrior, when he begins to give instruction about how we ought to treat one another on a personal level, he advocates mercy.

He advocates mercy. He doesn't want us to be taking personal revenge into our own hands and trying to right the wrongs as if he had not already ordained a minister for that role. And God has ordained a minister for that role.

And we'll talk a little bit more about that tonight. As we talked about last time in verses 27 through 28, when Jesus is giving these instructions, he's not speaking to those who have been tasked with the protection of their citizens or citizenry, right?

When he says, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. He's not giving instructions to a king on how he is to relate diplomatically to a foreign nation who is saying, give us your people, your gold, your lands, or we'll kill you.

And he says, well, I better love my enemies. No, his job as given to him by God is to protect his people and then to use the sword, which has been entrusted to him, to punish evildoers, right? And so it's important for us to have that distinction in our minds, and we'll talk more about that tonight as well.

We're also, as we're looking at this, we need to remember that God, through Christ, is giving instructions about what kind of society he wants in terms of how we treat our neighbor, how we relate to one another.

And we are to do so in terms of love, not hate, terms of love, not hate. And we talked about what kind of society Jesus was brought up in, in terms of the hatred, the very deep hatred that lay between Jew and Gentile, between Jew and Samaritan, between the holy class of the Pharisees and the rabble who didn't understand the law.

And there's all sorts of divisions that were alive and well and fortified in Jesus' time. A comment was made, in such an atmosphere, it was impossible for hatred to starve, it had plenty to feed on, all right?

All these divisions that are highlighted and maintained. And so Jesus says we are to love our enemies as well as our neighbors. And as he spells this out for us, those who hate, what are the three deeds of the enemy?

Those who, what are the three deeds of an enemy? They hate, they curse, they mistreat. But what are the three deeds of love? We are to do good, we are to bless, we are to pray. And so we're given some clear guidelines on how we are to approach things on the personal level.

Turning the Other Cheek and Refusing Retaliation

And then Jesus gets even more specific in verses 29 through 30. We've received the general overall scenario, the basic plan, but then Jesus gets very specific about some things that were happening in his time period amongst his hearers, amongst his followers.

They had these things, these things would have happened to them. Maybe these things don't happen to us just this way, but there are some parallels that we can think of. So verses 29 through 30. Again, it says, whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also, and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. So what is going on here? What is this, whoever hits you on the cheek business? Well, this isn't meaning that someone's trying to, you know, knock you out, you know, relieve you of some of your teeth, and then relieve you of your life once you're unconscious.

This is not about, you know, don't advocate any form of self-defense. We have Jesus elsewhere talking about the need for self-defense. What does he mean by this slap on the cheek, turn to him the other also?

There was an insulting kind of slap that was part of Jewish society. The most insulting slap would be the one with the left hand, with the back side of the left hand across the face. This left hand was the unclean hand.

It was not to be used ever in society. And in the slap, someone on the back of your hand, this was basically saying, we should have nothing to do with one another from here on out. This was their way of ending a relationship.

In terms of if you were a family member, if you were in the process of divorcing your wife, this would be the slap that you would give her. If you were trying to end a relationship with somebody else in public, this is what would happen.

And so Jesus is saying, don't return it back, right? Say, well, fine then, have it back. What is that under? What heading does that fall under? Revenge, right? That's revenge. You hurt me, you shamed me, you wronged me, and I will now do the same to you to make it all fair and square.

This would have happened to Jesus' followers as he talks about in Matthew chapter 10, when in a family where two out of the five, out of the family comes to faith in Jesus Christ and they see him, they understand him to be the Messiah, that he is the Lamb of God and there's no more need for sacrifices at the temple.

That family will break apart unless they're all coming to faith in Christ. Jesus said that was going to happen. There's going to be a slap across the cheek. What then? Jesus says, don't return it in kind, turn it in the other also, which means what?

Stay in range.

The idea is don't cut them off. Still be available to tell them what they need to hear. Don't end the opportunity to show them the truth and to show them good and to show them love and kindness because if you return it in kind, then it's both ways and there's no hope of reconciliation.

There's no way of coming back to that relationship, you see. That's an example. As Jesus talks about the slap on the cheek, this insult and this idea of taking away the coat, he says, who takes away the coat not will hold your shirt from him either.

This is within the context of lawsuits. We have in the Old Testament a description of someone said they would pay you something, but they didn't, then you take their cloak until they do pay you, right?

And this could, of course, be abused. This law could be abused and so there was regulation in Mosaic law saying if you take the cloak of a poor man, you have to return it to him before nightfall. It's his only shelter, right?

It's the thing he sleeps in. And so you have to return that back to him before nightfall so he has something to sleep under. But here Jesus is going even farther. Now remember, Jesus also told you to cut off your hand if it offended you and pluck out your eye and so on.

Remember that, okay? So Jesus will often teach with hyperbole, which is an intentional exaggeration to get his point across. Okay, so that's what he's doing here, okay? So what he's saying here is respond not with I'm going to get back at you, okay, but respond in such a way that shows that you are loving, that you are not out for revenge yourself.

That's the point of what Jesus is saying. He's certainly getting everyone's attention, isn't he? He also says that if whoever takes away what is yours do not demand it back and give to everyone who asks of you.

So people are like, well, then I will be, if I give to everyone who asks me, I won't have anything left. What if they don't deserve it? What if they're demanding, so on and so forth. But Jesus is getting our attention.

When he puts these four together, insults, lawsuits, handouts, thefts, he's putting them all into juxtaposition with one another. And notice how they're connected to the heading of an enemy's action. He says, love your enemies.

They may hate you, they may mistreat you, they may insult you, they may hit you across the face with the back of their left hand. They may take you to court and sue you for everything you have. They may wrong you one day and come back the next day saying, hey, I need some stuff from you.

They may steal from you. Now, Jesus is saying, now think about all of that.

Think about all of that.

He says, how are you to respond? How are you to respond? Notice under the heading of an enemy, he gives you seven things that an enemy may do. Like that number seven. An enemy through and through, very thorough, a complete enmity.

How are you to respond? Completely with love. Completely with love. And he describes what that looks like. Now, again, he's using, I believe, he's using some hyperbole. He's not contradicting Mosaic law and saying that that's wrong, okay?

Or, and he's, but he's using some expressions here to get their attention. Now, what did Jesus do and that's an old question, isn't it? What did Jesus do when he got slapped on the cheek? Did he say, hang on a second, can you hit this one too?

Did he actually say that? No, but what did he do? He responded in such a way that was truthful. He did not end the relationship, but he spoke in a way that needed to be heard and that's a loving thing.

Remember that when Jesus looked upon the multitudes, they were without a shepherd. He had compassion on them. As soon as he had compassion on them and he loved these people, he immediately began to teach them.

So in Jesus' ways, often the very most loving thing you can do is to not say, well, you're not worth my time, and you know, but to stay with it and communicate with this person. So, for example, in John 18, John chapter 18, verse 22, it says, when he had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, is that the way you answered the high priest?

Jesus answered him, if I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong. But if rightly, why do you strike me? See what he did? That is an example of turning the other cheek. That's an example of it. That's what Jesus means.

He didn't get,.

He wasn't, Jesus didn't get struck and then, and then say nothing in return at all, leave this person in the dark in his self-righteousness. Jesus simply pointed out to him, asked him this question that was a penetrating question that would make him think about what just happened.

Am I really doing what is right or not? Well, that's a loving thing to do for someone who was self-deceived, right? So, that's a good example. When we're thinking about this, these specific instructions, whoever hits you on the cheek, often or also, whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

Give to everyone who asks of you and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. It was interesting to me, the way that people begin to deal with this text. One commentator I read wrote this.

He said, contrary to the Old Testament laws of retaliation, life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, Deuteronomy 19, 21. Contrary to the Old Testament laws of retaliation, Christians are to seek no retribution.

Well, it's true that Christians are not to seek their own personal revenge. Is that contrary somehow to the Old Testament law, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth? Why is that an inappropriate understanding?

The law that God gave concerning this was for the civil magistrates to execute. He said, this is justice, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And if somebody steals something, he has to return that plus anywhere from 20 to fourfold, depending on what it was that he stole and the disruption of that person's life afterwards.

So there was justice that God gave to the people of Israel to execute, and that was a good thing. It wasn't like God gave a law to Israel, and boy, was that a backwards, awful, unjust, foolish kind of a law, and aren't you glad that we're done with that?

And that's a lot of people.

Teach the Old Testament that way. They treat the Old Testament like, boy, was that awful.

Who gave it?

Who spoke it? And what did God have to say about his own law? Are we more righteous than God? Are we more just than God? Are we more merciful than God? Are we more holy than God? We need to be very careful about what position we put ourselves in in assessing the laws of God.

And in fact, God was concerned in the administration of the law and in the ways that his people would live justly, that they not seek their own personal vengeance. So Exodus chapter 23, verses one through five.

You shall not bear a false report. Do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute, so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice.

In other words, if there's an angry mob, an angry crowd, don't just say whatever they want you to say to pervert justice. Nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute. You might, see, these are all the ways that justice easily gets perverted.

When the mob is crying out one way, then everybody kind of goes with that. That's one way that justice gets perverted. Or someone has, oh, he's a poor man. We ought to take his side. That's another way.

Or what about an enemy? That's another way that justice gets perverted. I'll bend justice to get at my enemy, right? So verse four, if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.

Right?

You have a conscience here to follow through with. You need to return your neighbor's property, even if he is your enemy. If you see the donkey of the one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him.

You shall surely release it with him. You're walking by your enemy. His donkey has collapsed because the load is too heavy. And you're thinking to yourself, yeah, yeah, even the wicked are cruel to his own animals.

You know, it's like, what a fool this guy is. Okay, you don't walk past him and just leave him alone. It's like you, okay, this is like those good Samaritan laws. You see someone in trouble, you help them.

Even if he's your enemy. So in all the ways that justice could be perverted and we could act unjustly, all those temptations are dealt with throughout God's law and addressed. So there's not a real contradiction here in that sense or in terms of the wisdom of God.

Proverbs 19, 17 says, one who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord and he will repay him for his good deed. All right, that's in the Old Testament. Proverbs 25, 21 through 22. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat.

If he is thirsty, give him water to drink for you'll heap burning coals on his head.

And the Lord will reward you.

Yeah, you're gonna, what's better that you would take your own personal vengeance and live with that or you help the person who has put himself in enmity to you and then watch what God will do. Now we hear a lot about this, I think, in Romans 12.

So if you want to look at Romans 12 verses 17 through the end and this is right before the passage on the civil government, how it's a minister of God, a servant of God, a diakonos, a deacon of God to do his will, entrusted with his authority so they bear the sword against the evildoer.

And why is that necessary? So that we are not taking our own personal vengeance and that's the passage right before, Romans 13. Chapter 12, verse 17. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink.

For in so doing, you will keep burning coals on his head. Do not overcome, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Okay, so that's the expression of how to approach an enemy. Don't take your own personal vengeance.

Hand it over to the proper authorities and then you're free from taking your own personal vengeance. So this is what frees us to show love to an enemy. If we're concerned about justice, we're concerned about things need to be done correctly, well then how do we go through that process?

Well, we appeal to God, first of all, who said vengeance is mine, I will repay. And then he says in Romans 13 that he uses the sword of the civil government to execute vengeance, to execute his wrath on evildoers.

So there's a proper way to go about it. It's what we find in the scriptures. I'll give an example, I had a friend talk with at length about a situation who was constantly being taken back to a court and one of the court sessions, the person who won't let it go, basically, had presented several bits of financial information to the judge about how things should be sorted out about this whole affair.

And when it was my friend's turn to testify, he informed the judge that those numbers were wrong. But in fact, they were actually more advantageous to his opponent and he helped correct the financial information and it benefited his opponent.

That is an example of what Jesus is talking about.

When they're coming after you,.

They're gonna take your cloak, I'll give you my shirt too. What does it look like practically? Well, it looks like I'm not gonna try to pervert justice here to get at my opponent, who's obviously very upset with me.

I wanna make sure that what happens here is above board. I'm going to love my enemy, I'm not going to spitefully hate my enemy. You see that example? And that was a real witness, a real example, and a clarifying moment for the judge, actually, in that case.

So Christ's ways are the best ways. And we end tonight with verse 31, treat others the same way that you want them to treat you. So again, this is about how you would like to treat somebody else. Are you going to have mercy on them?

Are you gonna have mercy on them? Wouldn't you want them to have mercy on you? This is not about the state, this is not about how to handle things, necessarily, in the context of church discipline, and so on and so forth, where you would say, well, I don't want anybody confronting me about my sins, I'm not gonna confront, no, we're not talking about that.

Think about the context, mercy, mercy, showing mercy to others, making that the foremost thing, especially when you're personally wronged. Okay, so we'll continue moving through Luke 6 next time. Any questions or thoughts before we go to a time of prayer?