1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,120 My name is Gabe Richards. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:08,960 Today's scripture reading is from Matthew 5, 38 through 42. 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:16,520 That's page 837 in the Bibles in the back of the pews. 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:21,840 You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,540 But I tell you, don't resist an evil one. 6 00:00:25,540 --> 00:00:32,440 On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:37,520 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:38,920 well. 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,880 If anyone forces you to go one mile with him, go to. 10 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:49,280 Give to the one who asks you and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from 11 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:50,960 you. 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:57,960 This is God's word. 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:00:58,960 You do have a Bible. 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,600 I would encourage you to turn on over to Matthew chapter 5 this morning. 15 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,520 I don't think we have slides up today. 16 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:06,480 I don't think they got loaded in there. 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,360 Okay, so we don't have slides today for our scripture, but turn over to Matthew 5. 18 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,960 If you don't have a Bible, there is a Bible in the back of the pew. 19 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:17,000 And feel free to grab that Bible, use it today and take it with you. 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,680 We would love to gift you with that Bible and help you in your Bible reading journey. 21 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:33,680 But Matthew chapter 5, and we're going to be in those passages beginning in 38. 22 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,960 So there's a story that I remember pretty vividly. 23 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:43,080 At least I remember how we felt when the story broke. 24 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:51,480 I was a young man, probably in my late teens, and I was a worker at youth ministry at our 25 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,840 church. 26 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:59,560 And we got news that one of the families in our church was out on the town. 27 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,040 I think they were going to a movie, going to a movie or coming from a movie. 28 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:11,680 And they were driving here in Sacramento, as so many people do every day. 29 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,960 When an incident took place on the road, you know, they call it now road rage, something 30 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,680 like that. 31 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:24,680 Someone cuts someone off, someone doesn't yield properly or use a signal. 32 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,660 Another party gets very agitated by that. 33 00:02:27,660 --> 00:02:34,060 And they began to exchange either words or in the worst case, more than words, right? 34 00:02:34,060 --> 00:02:35,960 Maybe some of you experienced that on the road. 35 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:40,740 Maybe some of you have been the rager on the road. 36 00:02:40,740 --> 00:02:43,480 But I think we all know what we're talking about when it comes to road rage. 37 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,560 And this family was out in the evening and probably coming from the movie after a night 38 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:50,040 together. 39 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:56,480 And an incident took place where they got, somehow got into it with another driver. 40 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,920 And the family continued on its way and the driver seemed to leave the scene, the other 41 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:04,480 driver that was kind of engaging them. 42 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:10,040 What we found out later was that driver went really quickly home because he lived right 43 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,600 in the area, switched cars and got his gun. 44 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:21,520 Hopped back on the road and began to drive around looking for the vehicle that he was 45 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,240 engaged with again. 46 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,400 This all happened very quickly. 47 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:32,960 As he approached the vehicle in his car, he shot into the vehicle multiple times once. 48 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,040 I'm not exactly sure how many, I don't recall those details. 49 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:43,120 But what I do remember is that a young girl named Kimmy was in the back seat. 50 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,840 And Kimmy was struck by one of those bullets. 51 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,920 And in a moment, that bullet changed her life forever. 52 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,000 Kimmy was in our youth group. 53 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,960 She had been at one of our summer camps fairly recently. 54 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:02,280 And we heard the news that Kimmy was now paralyzed. 55 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:08,120 As a result of some road rage incident. 56 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:15,760 A point is in telling you that, is that as individuals, we're just not really good at 57 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,780 executing justice. 58 00:04:18,780 --> 00:04:28,480 We're not very good about determining the fit response when we are sinned against. 59 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:36,800 In fact, we're quite in just oftentimes in our response to folks. 60 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,940 You guys have already heard my story, right? 61 00:04:39,940 --> 00:04:44,200 My brother played was playing with me, mocking me and took my flashlight. 62 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:49,760 And so I stabbed him in the arm with a dissecting knife. 63 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:56,480 Not very good with determining what's the just response, am I? 64 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,720 This person on the road was not either. 65 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,240 He took it to a whole new level. 66 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,040 And Kimmy paid for it. 67 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:11,720 Verse 38 of our scripture today says, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an 68 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,520 eye, a tooth for a tooth. 69 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,240 This scripture is Jesus reference back to the Old Testament. 70 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,960 And he's referencing a scripture passage out of Exodus chapter 21, out of Leviticus chapter 71 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,040 24 and a scripture that comes also from Deuteronomy. 72 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:28,240 It's in all three places. 73 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,200 It's just restated in a few different ways. 74 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:36,600 In Exodus, the passage says, if there is an injury, then you must give life for life. 75 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:43,640 I for I tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, 76 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,040 wound for wound. 77 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:53,400 The scripture out of Leviticus chapter 24, beginning in verse 19 says, if any man inflicts 78 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:59,480 a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him. 79 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,920 Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. 80 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,360 Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him. 81 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,560 Whoever kills an animal is to make restitution for it. 82 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:15,040 But whoever kills a person is to be put to death. 83 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:22,760 You are to have the same law for the resident alien and the native alike, because I am the 84 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,400 Lord your God. 85 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:32,320 When Jesus pulls this quote, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, this isn't in isolation. 86 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,080 Those who are around him definitely know that this is in the Torah. 87 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:40,360 You can probably take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth as a shorthand for that 88 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:41,360 whole list. 89 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:46,080 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, fracture for fracture, life for life, burn for burn, 90 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,600 and on and on. 91 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,080 What's actually kind of interesting about the eye for eye, tooth for tooth passages is 92 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:53,680 they're not unique to the Bible. 93 00:06:53,680 --> 00:07:01,800 In fact, they appear in multiple ancient or Near East ancient texts about law codes. 94 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,440 One of the most popular one is the law code of Hammurabi. 95 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,640 And then the law code of Hammurabi, which dates before even Moses came on the scene, 96 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:17,520 they had a very similar law that said eye for eye, tooth for tooth. 97 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:25,560 But what was unique about the laws in the Bible is that unlike all the other ancient 98 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:32,120 law codes, the law applied across class because among the people of Israel and even with the 99 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,760 alien who would come, the foreigner who would come into their midst, they were not to treat 100 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:42,520 one another differently as if there was a class system, a hierarchy, one better than 101 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:43,760 the other one. 102 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:51,120 See, the law of Hammurabi said it's an eye for an eye if a peasant strikes a Lord and 103 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:52,680 takes his eye. 104 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:53,680 Right? 105 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,280 It's an eye for an eye, but not if a Lord and a Lord get into it. 106 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,520 They're above that law. 107 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:11,120 Whereas the Bible kind of flattens it and says for everyone the law applies. 108 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:17,960 These laws were never meant that someone could actually exact the same vengeance that's talked 109 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:18,960 about there. 110 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:24,800 So you read those laws and some of you probably go, oh, could you imagine living in that world? 111 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:29,080 Like fractures and burns and like we're giving each other all kinds of stuff. 112 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,360 The truth is none of the laws, even in the ancient, of the other ancient codes, none 113 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:39,960 of them were ever meant to be exacted precisely or the same way in the sense of an eye for 114 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:40,960 an eye. 115 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:45,280 They were the law codes that were more or less saying the courts needed to determine 116 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:50,000 the value of those things and exact them from the person. 117 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,840 In fact, as far back as we know, these codes really represented more like what we would 118 00:08:54,840 --> 00:09:01,640 see in a lawsuit where you're trying to determine the value of something and you're trying to 119 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,480 get from that person the value. 120 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:09,480 So an eye for the value of an eye, the value of an eye for the value of an eye, the value 121 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:15,120 of a fracture for the value of a fracture or burn, what it costs the person who was 122 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:16,120 offended. 123 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:21,880 And in most societies where these laws existed, they weren't interpreted literally. 124 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,640 They were understood to mean that the eye had a value and if someone took another person's 125 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:30,320 eye, they owed them that value or a tooth or a hand. 126 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:35,480 A value was fixed to the loss and the offending party was liable to pay it. 127 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,320 But here's the point. 128 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,160 Why did those laws exist in the first place, even in the Old Testament? 129 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,880 Well, those laws existed because each person had to recognize that another person's life 130 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:51,640 and their body are no less worth, worth no less than your own. 131 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,160 They're worth no less than what you would place a value on yours. 132 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,800 An eye for an eye. 133 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,140 How valuable is your eye? 134 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:01,780 How valuable is your hand? 135 00:10:01,780 --> 00:10:05,080 How valuable, right, is your foot? 136 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:10,640 And they were too even and we can read these and think that these laws are actually licensed 137 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,520 for us to get even. 138 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:17,880 Well, the law says eye for an eye, so he took something from me so I can get even with him. 139 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,800 But the thing is, that's not what these laws were at all. 140 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:22,920 In fact, they were quite the opposite. 141 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,760 See, how you read them are going to determine what you get out of them. 142 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:30,080 And these laws represented actually something quite the opposite. 143 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:38,480 They were necessary for humanity across lots of different cultures because we always want 144 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:47,080 to get even, but we aren't very good at doing just, justly. 145 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,360 We always want to get even, but we're not very good at doing it justly, and so we always 146 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,920 take more than is owed. 147 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:01,300 These laws actually put a ceiling, a maximum penalty allowed. 148 00:11:01,300 --> 00:11:05,480 These laws flipped the script and actually said, you can't go more than this, an eye 149 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,280 for an eye. 150 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:15,080 See that story I told at the beginning was someone's inconvenience for some girl's ability 151 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,080 to walk. 152 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,200 That's not just. 153 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,600 Someone was inconvenienced on the freeway or on the highway or on the roads. 154 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,900 Someone was inconvenienced or startled or made anxious and they took some young lady's 155 00:11:29,900 --> 00:11:32,080 ability to walk. 156 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:33,360 That's not just. 157 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:38,160 And the law that says eye for an eye put a ceiling and said, you can't take more than 158 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:39,480 the offense. 159 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:45,360 You can't take more than what was done to you. 160 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,440 And this put a limit on the evil inclinations of the human heart. 161 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:51,960 We are vengeful people. 162 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,000 We want to get even plus. 163 00:11:55,000 --> 00:12:00,880 And notice the one in the Leviticus, the scripture I read, it even ends by saying that they have 164 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,320 to treat the foreigner as the same as the native born. 165 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,880 Doesn't just even the playing field among the people of God, but it even includes those 166 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:10,880 who are outside. 167 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:17,320 So by Jesus's day and time, these laws had come to represent this kind of sort of legal 168 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:18,320 right. 169 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:23,640 I talked about this last week about how these laws were interpreted and the law was regularly 170 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:29,200 used to the fullest extent with this kind of hyper focus on offenses. 171 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,080 Always looking to see, did you cross me? 172 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,280 Cause now I can sue you. 173 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,320 Does that sound familiar to nowadays? 174 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:37,800 Did you cross me? 175 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:38,800 Now I sue you. 176 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:39,800 You cross me. 177 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:40,800 Now I'm going to get my fullness out of it. 178 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,520 I'm going to get what's owed me. 179 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:45,160 Did you offend against me? 180 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,040 Ah, well then I have a lawsuit. 181 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:54,840 And Jesus comes along and says, it said an eye for an eye and an eye for an eye placed 182 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:00,240 a limit on what could, but what you really missed was the direction in tide that that 183 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,240 was flowing. 184 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,880 That was flowing from an unrestrained evil heart that would do whatever it wanted to 185 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,520 get even in vengeance plus some. 186 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,800 And it was putting a restraint on that heart that you could only get the value of it. 187 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:18,400 And Jesus says, I'm going to actually take that law and make, fill it fuller and continue 188 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:25,040 on that trajectory down and say, maybe you don't even have to take what's owed you. 189 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,060 That's what we're going to see today. 190 00:13:27,060 --> 00:13:31,120 Maybe you don't even have to take what's owed you. 191 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:38,600 Maybe you have the right to not have the right in the kingdom of God. 192 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,100 So he says an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. 193 00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:42,400 That's what you've heard. 194 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:47,760 But I tell you, and remember, but is not, oh, I'm going to set this law aside, but this 195 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:49,760 is Jesus saying, I'm going to deepen it. 196 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:54,440 I'm going to get down past the surface level of what you could do on the exterior, on the 197 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,520 outside that I'm going to get down to the heart level. 198 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:04,440 And he says, now he says, but I tell you, don't resist an evil doer. 199 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,280 Don't resist an evil doer. 200 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,640 Now if you're like me, when you read that instantly, you start panicking. 201 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,320 I'm going to be taking advantage. 202 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,920 If I can't resist an evil doer, that means evil will prevail. 203 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:19,920 Evil will win. 204 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,160 I've got to be able to resist an evil doer. 205 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:29,280 And some of this has to do with this word resist that is really hard to translate out 206 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,480 of the Greek into English. 207 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,880 The word resist means set yourself against. 208 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:39,000 It means set yourself against. 209 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:43,640 It's kind of like if I walked over to the wall and I faced off with the wall and I set 210 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,320 myself against the wall. 211 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:52,600 And so you might think, OK, it's something more like a mirror. 212 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:53,920 It's something more like a mirror. 213 00:14:53,920 --> 00:15:01,740 Or in other words, it says, but I tell you, don't retaliate in kind. 214 00:15:01,740 --> 00:15:07,400 Don't mirror back to the evil doer what the evil doer is doing to you. 215 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,140 Don't return in kind. 216 00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:16,160 When you stand opposite or you set yourself against. 217 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:20,600 When you set yourself against, don't return in kind. 218 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:27,400 It's kind of like standing against someone without making them an enemy. 219 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,880 Standing against someone without making them an enemy. 220 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,920 See at the heart level. 221 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:38,800 What it doesn't mean is it doesn't mean passive submission to evil doers. 222 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,160 It doesn't mean keep taking it. 223 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,160 Keep taking the evil. 224 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:45,840 That's not what it means. 225 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,560 And we'll look at three examples that Jesus gives in a second, but none of them require 226 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:53,960 a passive response of just keep taking it. 227 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:54,960 None of them. 228 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:59,280 In fact, we'll see in the three examples that Jesus gives something that's really, really 229 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:04,880 interesting about how he creatively twists and turns it back. 230 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,400 It's a kind of retaliation without retaliating in kind. 231 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,240 It's a kind of standing off or facing off with someone without mirroring back to them 232 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:17,520 the evil that they're doing, but doing something so much more like generous and gracious and 233 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,040 yet at the same time subversive to their position. 234 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:27,040 It's actually a brilliant passage of scripture in what Jesus is doing here. 235 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,120 If you notice also that the examples that Jesus gives a little bit later that we'll 236 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:36,200 examine none of them actually have to do with violent encounters. 237 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:42,080 We'll break that apart, but they do involve taking a stand against their evil, the person's 238 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,520 evil and doing something. 239 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,200 And there's something that Jesus has in mind. 240 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,280 You can imagine Jesus as he's saying it to these crowds that Jesus has got a little twinkle 241 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,360 in his eye and his voice goes up when he says it. 242 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:55,360 Right. 243 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:02,360 When someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him also the left with a little twinkle 244 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,560 in his eye looking for a response from people. 245 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,240 So let's keep going. 246 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:15,400 Jesus expands on the law and gets at the heart of the law, which was moving folks from executing 247 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:22,780 justice by overdoing the punishment to a place of equity where there was one for one. 248 00:17:22,780 --> 00:17:24,700 That's what the law did. 249 00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:27,400 And Jesus says, let's go deeper. 250 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,060 Keep following that line. 251 00:17:29,060 --> 00:17:37,360 Keep following that trajectory toward qualifying all of your personal demands for justice with 252 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:40,400 mercy. 253 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:46,880 Qualify all your personal demands for justice with mercy. 254 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:57,000 Question is, do you trust God enough that you can leave your vindication to him? 255 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:04,040 Jonathan Pennington, a scholar who looks deeply at the Sermon on the Mount says as lust is 256 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:11,040 to adultery and anger to murder, Jesus speaks to the heart of the matter. 257 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:19,520 Do not be a vengeful, vigilante, self justified distributor of justice. 258 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:25,680 There is a righteousness greater and more beautiful than self justice. 259 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:31,480 And that is letting God be the judge and the righteousness maker, the one who will put 260 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:35,400 the world right. 261 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,120 Do you trust God enough that you can leave your ultimate vindication to him? 262 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:44,600 That's kind of the question behind all of this. 263 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:51,840 Craig Keener, another scholar says, we, kingdom of God people, have no personal honor or property 264 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:57,280 worth defending compared to the opportunity to show how much we love God and everyone 265 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:58,280 else. 266 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,760 I'm going to read that one again. 267 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:06,640 We, the kingdom of God people, have no personal honor or property worth defending compared 268 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:11,920 to the opportunity to show how much we love God and everyone else. 269 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:17,320 And so let's move through really quickly these four examples that Jesus gives on what he 270 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:23,940 means by don't resist an evildoer, don't set yourself against them as a mirror that returns 271 00:19:23,940 --> 00:19:26,540 or retaliates in kind. 272 00:19:26,540 --> 00:19:27,960 What does he mean by that? 273 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:29,880 The first one comes out of verse 40. 274 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:38,320 On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. 275 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:42,280 If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. 276 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,000 Can I come up here really quick? 277 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:49,880 I'm going to slap my son. 278 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,520 Everyone perked up and came out of your sleep. 279 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,520 No, I'm just kidding. 280 00:19:55,520 --> 00:20:00,200 The writing of the New Testament is right-handed oriented, right? 281 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,560 We're in a kind of a world where if you're left-handed, it's like, you're the same, you're 282 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:05,560 equal, you're okay. 283 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,120 There's nothing wrong with you. 284 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,120 You're right. 285 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:11,440 No, it was a right-handed culture, right? 286 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,160 For the most part, everyone was right-handed. 287 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,920 So everything is written right-handed oriented. 288 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:23,440 And so to slap someone on the right cheek, where's your right cheek? 289 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,200 If I'm right-handed, I'm not going to use my left hand to slap him. 290 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:28,600 That feels really weird. 291 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:32,040 No, actually, I will use my right hand. 292 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,200 And so the kind of slap that he's talking about is a kind of slap that would have been 293 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:40,640 a backhanded slap on the right cheek with your right hand, a right hand to the right 294 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:41,640 cheek. 295 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,760 Now, that changes what kind of slap that is, doesn't it? 296 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:51,200 We kind of almost know this culturally, or at least culture before, or British or French 297 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,700 culture or whatever it is like, right? 298 00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:57,600 This is an insult. 299 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:58,600 It's an insult. 300 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:01,080 It's an affront. 301 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,760 It's saying to the person, hey, I dishonor you. 302 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,840 I'm going to treat you at a lower rank than I am. 303 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,040 I'm going to treat you as lesser than I am. 304 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:13,040 That's my backhand. 305 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:19,400 And so Jesus' response to this idea, someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him 306 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,320 also the left, right? 307 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,680 Well, now if I'm going to hit him with my right hand, what am I going to do? 308 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,720 An open-handed slap, right? 309 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:36,400 You can have a seat there. 310 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:41,000 Backhanded right hand, right cheek, open-handed to the left cheek. 311 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,340 Now, the open-handed was interesting at this time culturally because the open-handed slap 312 00:21:46,340 --> 00:21:50,760 was the sign of a dispute between social equals. 313 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,760 Whereas the backhanded was a way of saying you're lesser than I am. 314 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:55,480 You're like a dog or an animal. 315 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,080 An open-handed slap was like saying we're equals. 316 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,760 We're equals. 317 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:05,440 And so in the context here, as Jesus is talking about with this background, this cultural 318 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:11,840 background, Jesus is saying when someone insults you with a backhanded slap, offer to them 319 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,000 a challenge. 320 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,720 Offer to them a challenge. 321 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:25,600 A challenge to instead of demeaning and dishonoring you as lesser, offer them the opportunity 322 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:31,520 to treat you as an equal. 323 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:40,320 This is resistance, not in kind, but of a different kind. 324 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:45,120 It is one that is concerned about the trajectory of the other person's life, the one who's 325 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:48,080 insulting you. 326 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,240 And a willingness to put yourself out there in order to truly love them for their good, 327 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:59,360 which includes pointing them away from their own faults and towards the truth. 328 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:07,440 And Jesus is saying, put yourself out there and show them the error of their way. 329 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,800 Put yourself out there in a loving, generous way that might even put yourself in harm's 330 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:13,360 way to get another slap. 331 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:18,320 But in their culture, there would have been an immediate kind of gasp like, oh, like the 332 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,920 backhand, sure, dishonor. 333 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:27,100 But now to treat them the other way, to equalize him, there would have been an immediate moment 334 00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:29,320 of self-reflection in the perpetrator. 335 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:36,120 The person who was slapping goes, wait a sec, what's going on here? 336 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,520 What's happening? 337 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:45,040 This is an interesting theme as we move to the second one. 338 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:50,680 Verse 40, as for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have 339 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,360 your coat as well. 340 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:59,200 Now, something you need to know about the cultural context of this passage is that most 341 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:05,400 folks had two pairs of clothes that they wore on the top here. 342 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,920 They had a shirt and they had a coat. 343 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:11,280 There's a Greek word for both of them that's translated from the Hebrew, but more or less 344 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:16,440 it was a tunic and a coat, a tunic and a coat. 345 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:24,280 And at this time, fabrics and clothes are very expensive, very, very expensive. 346 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:29,500 And so in the Torah, in the Old Testament law, there was laws on the books that protected 347 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:33,280 you from having your clothes taken from you. 348 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,960 They could take a lot of other things from you, but your clothes were kind of like, you 349 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,240 know, there was a social welfare program that said, you can't sue someone and take their 350 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,240 clothes, come on. 351 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:50,060 Certainly not their shirts, partly because if you took their shirt, you would expose 352 00:24:50,060 --> 00:24:52,780 their nakedness. 353 00:24:52,780 --> 00:24:55,160 And so you get to keep your shirt. 354 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,720 It's kind of that last barrier, but your coat, which was usually made of wool and very expensive 355 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:04,400 and most people only owned one shirt and one coat. 356 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:10,120 Your coat, well, the Old Testament law allowed that if someone sued you and you had nothing 357 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:16,240 else, nothing in all of your possessions, they could take your coat as security, kind 358 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,120 of like a bail bondsman, right? 359 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:21,920 As security, they could take your coat, but every night they had to come back and give 360 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,840 it to you because your coat was also your blanket. 361 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:32,920 And we can't have people who are cold sleeping in the, you know, the brisk cold of the Middle 362 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,680 East. 363 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,960 And so they couldn't take your coat from you. 364 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:45,040 No one could permanently take your coat from you and no one could take your shirt at all. 365 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,480 So what is the actual saying Jesus throws out here? 366 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,280 What is his example? 367 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:57,400 So if someone who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, which they could not do, 368 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,920 Jesus says, let him have your coat as well. 369 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,440 Now use your imagination just a little bit. 370 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:11,040 What would that leave you? 371 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,400 Your diaper thing, right? 372 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:19,920 More or less in their culture, you'd be indecent, naked. 373 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:27,080 If they took your coat and they took your shirt, you would be naked. 374 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,200 But they couldn't take your shirt. 375 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,560 And so if they tried to, that meant they were wicked. 376 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,900 I mean, they didn't care if they tried to. 377 00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:38,260 And so what is Jesus saying in this second one? 378 00:26:38,260 --> 00:26:45,680 If someone has the evil heart to take your shirt in a lawsuit, then you out of your own 379 00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:49,400 choice, give him your coat as well. 380 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:51,320 What's that going to do? 381 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,200 What's giving him your coat as well going to do? 382 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,640 Well, that's going to leave you publicly naked. 383 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:01,520 And that would be not good for you, right? 384 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,320 But in their culture, it would have been shameful for the person who was now holding all your 385 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,880 clothes. 386 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:09,560 They would have now been the spotlight. 387 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,640 They would have been the unjust one. 388 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:16,560 Their injustice would have been revealed and shown to everyone around you that what they 389 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,960 were doing was evil. 390 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:24,360 As you're standing there naked and they have all of your clothes, their wickedness would 391 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:33,460 be on display as you stand there naked and they stand there with all your clothes. 392 00:27:33,460 --> 00:27:36,520 By doing this, it would shine a light on their injustice. 393 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:41,400 It might bring them even to a place of humility to see what they have done and how they have 394 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,060 treated you and how it is wrong. 395 00:27:45,060 --> 00:27:51,500 You are responding in such a way, not in kind with their evil, but in a way that is designed 396 00:27:51,500 --> 00:27:57,400 to shock their conscience and wake them up from their evil. 397 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,340 You see how it's not, I don't know how many of you guys have read this scripture before 398 00:28:00,340 --> 00:28:05,000 and thought, man, if I do all these things, I'm going to be, I'm going to be naked and 399 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,060 I'm going to be poor. 400 00:28:07,060 --> 00:28:09,760 And so how's a Christian supposed to do this? 401 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,560 But when you understand in a little bit of historical background and context to it, then 402 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:21,820 you can begin to see that this is so much bigger and more subversive and glorious. 403 00:28:21,820 --> 00:28:29,440 Then just do whatever anyone says who's evil and hopefully God will make something happen. 404 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,360 He is making something happen. 405 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,420 His desire is that everyone would come to repentance and the evil doer would be shown 406 00:28:35,420 --> 00:28:39,680 for what they're doing. 407 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:41,900 Shake their conscience, wake them up. 408 00:28:41,900 --> 00:28:50,160 Verse 41 says, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him to just a little 409 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,160 bit of context on this one, a Roman occupying nation. 410 00:28:54,160 --> 00:29:00,660 So Romans were the Imperial force that was occupying the state of Israel at this time. 411 00:29:00,660 --> 00:29:05,560 And so they ruled and there were Roman soldiers everywhere and a Roman soldier could go to 412 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,600 any one of the people that were in the nation. 413 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:14,220 They could go to any of their Imperial subjects and they could force them to walk and carry 414 00:29:14,220 --> 00:29:16,220 all their stuff. 415 00:29:16,220 --> 00:29:20,480 It was one of the rights that a Roman soldier had, but even their right had a limitation 416 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:21,480 on it. 417 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,720 Guess what that limitation was? 418 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:25,820 They can only go a mile. 419 00:29:25,820 --> 00:29:29,640 They can only force someone to carry their stuff for a mile. 420 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:35,000 And so Jesus says, if someone comes and asks you to carry their stuff for a mile, this 421 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:45,800 is clear talk about a Roman soldier, an occupier, then walk with them, go with him a second 422 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,480 or go with him to. 423 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:53,280 To be asked to carry a Roman soldier's stuff would have been very humiliating for the person 424 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,340 who was commandeered. 425 00:29:55,340 --> 00:30:01,120 It would have been in a sense, a forced labor to help the occupier. 426 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:06,680 Because you walk past your neighbors and you're carrying the Roman soldier's stuff. 427 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:12,240 There would have been shame and it would have been humiliating. 428 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,560 They were oftentimes walking by fields where they were working and they were able to commandeer 429 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:21,480 someone who was right in the middle of working their livelihood and say, no, you're going 430 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:22,920 to walk now a mile with me. 431 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:27,360 Or maybe they were out with their family on a walk and the Roman soldier comes to the 432 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,640 dad and says, dad, right in front of the son, come with me, you're going to carry my stuff. 433 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:38,240 And the dad goes with his head hung low in humiliation, having to carry the Roman soldier's 434 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,640 things for a mile. 435 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,080 And Jesus says, you have to do that. 436 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,560 You don't have the power to resist that. 437 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,280 You don't have a free government where you can appeal to your congressmen or write some 438 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,280 letters. 439 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,360 You're an occupied territory. 440 00:30:53,360 --> 00:31:01,080 But what you can do is you can gift him a second mile. 441 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,760 You can gift him a second mile and see what that does. 442 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,240 See what that does. 443 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,260 See how he responds to that. 444 00:31:10,260 --> 00:31:14,280 They could force you a mile, give him another one. 445 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:19,760 And that would have been radical, subversive, unheard of. 446 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:24,580 Jesus is saying your generosity can redefine the relationship. 447 00:31:24,580 --> 00:31:27,340 The Roman soldier didn't care about you, doesn't know your name. 448 00:31:27,340 --> 00:31:32,260 He came over and forced you into labor to go that first mile. 449 00:31:32,260 --> 00:31:36,600 And you can choose at the end of the first mile to either view him as an occupier who 450 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:41,120 humiliated you and you can go away cursing him under your breath or you can redefine 451 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:46,120 the relationship and give him another mile. 452 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,880 You know who we carry our bags for? 453 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,200 Not Roman occupiers, right? 454 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:52,840 For people we love. 455 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,800 Hey, let me get that for you. 456 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:56,800 I see you're struggling. 457 00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,720 I want to come alongside you. 458 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:08,940 Jesus is saying you can redefine that relationship with your generosity. 459 00:32:08,940 --> 00:32:11,160 Not because of threat. 460 00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,440 Not because of dishonor. 461 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:14,720 Because you want to. 462 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:22,440 I'll give you another mile. 463 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:29,040 One thing that is important to say before we move to the last one really quickly. 464 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,880 These scriptures have been abused by people before. 465 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,840 These scriptures have been used against women telling them that they need to stay in an 466 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:41,720 abusive relationship to not resist an evildoer. 467 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:47,280 And I'll tell you, if you misunderstand it and you use it that way, that just multiplies 468 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,400 evil. 469 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,760 I'll tell you that based upon the scripture and based upon other passages that I'm more 470 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:59,920 than happy to go, you know, lead you to, if you raise your fist and you hit your wife, 471 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:02,120 I'm calling the police. 472 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,320 You're going to jail. 473 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,360 And I will visit you there. 474 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,320 And we can do Bible study together. 475 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,960 Because you ain't doing anything else but sitting there. 476 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:15,040 But you're not getting out. 477 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:19,480 You're not going to use the scripture to weasel out and continue to multiply evil. 478 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:22,400 Because this scripture is not about that. 479 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,680 First off, it's not about violent encounters at all. 480 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:30,240 This isn't a scripture that some folks have used the scripture to say pacifism to that, 481 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,240 hey, in the face of evil, even on a worldless scale or nation to nation, that we should 482 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:35,960 sit back and do nothing. 483 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,200 This scripture does not say that. 484 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:41,640 The scripture says to stand, but stand in a different way. 485 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:48,120 And this is about personal offense, personal offense against you and against me, not national 486 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,080 defense or choices that are made at a national level. 487 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:58,000 The Bible says that God has given the government the power of the sword to execute judgment. 488 00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,880 That's been given to them. 489 00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:01,840 They're God's ministers, it actually says. 490 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:03,680 It uses the word minister. 491 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,320 They're God's ministers. 492 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:12,120 They have a ministry, the government, to execute justice in this world, to do good. 493 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:13,840 They don't always do that. 494 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:18,240 They oftentimes abuse their ministry, but this scripture will not allow you to support 495 00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:24,560 a pacifist view or to encourage someone in an abusive relationship to continue on in 496 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,520 that. 497 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:31,760 There's this super funny story, especially some of you older folks. 498 00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:34,880 I think everyone, who doesn't know who Billy Graham is? 499 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:36,160 Okay, good. 500 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,360 You don't know who Billy Graham is, well, you know who Billy Graham is. 501 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,880 She's got a smile on her face. 502 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:47,440 Okay, so Franklin Graham is Billy Graham's son, and he tells a story about when he was 503 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:48,840 a teenager. 504 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:50,960 Billy Graham was blowing up on the scene, man. 505 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,120 He was everywhere. 506 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,800 He was kind of like the pastor for our nation and to the world in a sense. 507 00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:01,680 He was being invited to places to speak and to pray with different world leaders and dignitaries, 508 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:03,000 and he was well known. 509 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,920 So you can imagine the kids growing up in that environment, right? 510 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:12,320 Well, a lot of times, fame like that attracts also people who don't like you, and they began 511 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:18,280 to get threats from a certain individual, threatening the family, threatening the kids 512 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:23,360 in the family, threatening them with bodily harm, even death. 513 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,240 One day, Franklin Graham says, this person who was issuing these threats against the 514 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:32,600 family actually came to their house, and he walked to the front door, and he knocked on 515 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:38,440 the front door, and they opened it, and it's this person who had been sending letters 516 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,560 and all kinds of threats against them. 517 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:47,520 And he says, his dad, six foot three, with his booming voice, comes to the door, sees 518 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:51,880 the man, balls up his fist, and punches him in the face. 519 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:59,480 And as the guy falls back, he says, God loves you, Jesus loves you, and he has a wonderful 520 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:01,440 plan for your life. 521 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:07,280 But if you ever threaten my family again, I'll kill you. 522 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:14,480 Billy Graham, world evangelist, and he understood that this is about personal offense, what 523 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,520 you do to me. 524 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:20,200 You come after my kid, it's a whole other story. 525 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,480 I'll defend him. 526 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:27,800 He ought to hear this scripture and choose a posture that's appropriate as well. 527 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:33,520 But me, I'm going to defend, because that's part of love. 528 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:39,600 You can see how this isn't teaching some level of pacifism here, or some level of just take 529 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,600 it. 530 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:46,720 Turn the other cheek, as I heard it a lot growing up, was if someone hurts you, allow 531 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:51,560 them to keep hurting you, or at least run away. 532 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,960 And I think what Jesus was getting at was something so much deeper. 533 00:36:54,960 --> 00:37:02,360 Actually, don't let an evildoer who can continue in his evil, that's not righteous. 534 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,080 That's not making the world new. 535 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:09,880 An evildoer whose evil is turned back on them, not in the sense of doing evil to them, but 536 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:16,320 it's shown back or displayed to them in your humbling or your humiliation and your giving 537 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:18,040 and your generosity to them. 538 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,520 Well, there's another scripture that talks about keeping burning coals on someone's head, 539 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:23,520 right? 540 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:27,680 The way that you love them and the way that you treat them. 541 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:33,520 And I think that's what later believers picked up on in Jesus' teaching here, is there's 542 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:41,000 a way you can live that causes people to fall under conviction that their consciences might 543 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:46,840 be shook in such a way that it wakes them up. 544 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,040 Give to the one who asks you, and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from 545 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:51,040 you. 546 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:57,000 This last one really quickly, Judaism recognized that there was a moral obligation to give 547 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,680 to beggars. 548 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:03,400 And at their time, beggars had no other alternative to make income. 549 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:08,400 Most of them were either infirmed, they were missing limbs, accidents, they really had 550 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:14,200 no other way in a kind of agriculturally based society to make income. 551 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:20,200 And so they truly needed the subsidy of people, of the moral obligation that the Jews had 552 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:21,520 to give to them. 553 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:28,200 But some of Jesus' contemporaries, the rabbis of his day, were actually teaching how you 554 00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:34,680 could apply the teachings on giving from the Torah and meet your obligations, but not go 555 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:36,260 too far. 556 00:38:36,260 --> 00:38:40,720 And they were creating all these special limits on when you had to give and what situation 557 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:41,720 you had to give. 558 00:38:41,720 --> 00:38:43,480 And they were trying to give people ways out. 559 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:47,840 And Jesus comes and using hyperbole says, hey, give to everyone who asks and don't turn 560 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:52,240 away from anyone who wants to borrow from you. 561 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:56,800 And he's pushing against this teaching that was trying to make people stingy and say, 562 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:58,520 hey, guard what is yours. 563 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:04,200 And in the end, all of this teaching is about generosity. 564 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:10,100 And Jesus is inviting you and I to grapple with his point of radical generosity. 565 00:39:10,100 --> 00:39:17,000 When someone wants to take, you can flip it on them by what you choose to give. 566 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:23,280 That through his kingdom citizens, he is exposing the evil in the hearts of man. 567 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:27,460 And this is a kindness that he's showing to humanity. 568 00:39:27,460 --> 00:39:32,040 This is an elevation of truth over the lies that we live. 569 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:37,160 This is to say that God is in control and God defines what is and what is not. 570 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:42,840 And that we have an opportunity to live into that as kingdom citizens in the way that we 571 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:49,280 respond when people come against us in personal ways. 572 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:51,760 You have a choice always. 573 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:59,400 Will you mirror back evil to evil or will you flip it and bring generosity and truth 574 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:13,600 to it?