by David Flatt
Synopsis: Jesus' challenging command, "Resist not evil," stands in stark contrast with the reciprocal nature of Old Testament punishment and modern attitudes toward vengeance.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:38-48).
The ethical teachings of Jesus in this sermon are deeply challenging. Jesus' ethics did not reflect the conventional ethics of His day. From this perspective, Jesus' teaching was truly counter-cultural. Replace the phrase, "You have heard it said by them of old" with "You have heard it said today" and we might find Jesus' ethical teachings still to be counter-cultural. His teachings are little valued by current society.
This part of the sermon may be among the most controversial of Jesus' teachings. What are the personal implications of sayings like, "Do not resist evil" and "Love your enemy"? Are we ready to consider this teaching in an age of violence and litigiousness? It will not be easy.
What do we do with teaching we consider unconventional or personally demanding? Often, kingdom seekers have tried to downplay or soften the message. We might preface our explanation by saying something like, "Well, I know Jesus said do not resist evil, but this does not mean we cannot…" Is our first approach to interpreting Jesus' ethical teaching an attempt to justify conventional worldviews? Or, is our approach to seek the renewal of our minds which leads to transformation and sacrificial service (Rom. 12:1-2)?
If we are not willing to open our hearts and minds to Jesus, we will remove the meaning from His message. This was the problem with the Pharisees. They had carefully rationalized away the driving purpose of the law: to create a holy people of God. We must be careful not to be guilty of doing something similar to Jesus' message.
Admittedly, this part of Jesus' teaching is difficult. He seems to be instructing us to forgo our personal safety. Can this really be what He intends for us to do when threatened? To answer these types of questions, some have tried to compartmentalize His teachings. In other words, Jesus' teachings apply in certain situations, but not in all situations. For example, Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Some have tried to organize enemies into categories: spiritual enemies and physical enemies. Regarding our spiritual enemies, we are to love them. Regarding our physical enemies, we can harm them. The problem with this approach is that Jesus never divided His teachings into categories. He expects His teachings to be consistently applied in all areas of life.
Of course, the world compartmentalizes ethics. In the 1960s, there was a push to promote "situational ethics." Ethics are situationally determined. While this term is not used much today, people continue to make ethical decisions based on the circumstances of the moment. Today, there are ethical codes based on certain contexts. For example, in the business world, there is a code of business ethics. In the field of medicine, there is a code for bioethics. As surprising as it may sound, there are even political ethics.
The point is this: the world has multiple standards of ethical conduct depending on the circumstance, situation, or profession. In the kingdom, however, there is no such division of ethical conduct. There is only one ethical standard which is to be equally applied in every circumstance, situation, or profession. This ethical standard of the kingdom is love.
As Jesus embarks on this part of the sermon, He references the way in which the Law of Moses had been misinterpreted and misapplied in regards to retribution (Deut. 19:16-21). This law was intended to deter evil and prevent a victim from exacting excessive punishment on the one who had harmed him. Additionally, the law took punishment out of the hands of victims and into the hands of judges. Vigilante justice has never been acceptable to God. The law also established maximum possible retribution to prevent excessive punishment.
The Pharisees had taken this law to mean this was their minimum personal right to take vengeance. As has been His pattern, Jesus clarifies the perversions of the law and redefines the expectation for ethical conduct in the kingdom.
Now, Jesus is not saying we should never attempt to restrain evil in others. If this were the case, we would be prevented from even offering a word of rebuke in response to another's sinful action. Our Lord teaches us to intervene when a brother sins against us (Matt. 18:15-17). After all, Jesus offered many words of rebuke to many people in His lifetime (Matt. 11 and 23; John 18:23). More broadly, God ordained government to promote good and punish evil (Rom. 13:1-7). We most certainly can appeal to governmental authorities for protection and justice.
What Jesus is teaching is that we are not to respond to evil with evil. Like mom taught us, two wrongs do not make a right. Physical force may need to be used to restrain an evildoer. A person may need to be restrained from hurting more people than he already has; however, such restraint must not be administered in vengeful fashion.
As Paul considered living a transformed life in a sinful world, he wrote, "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:17-21). Paul is echoing the Sermon on the Mount.
As mentioned earlier, love is the ethical code of the kingdom. The love Jesus identifies is a love rarely known in our world. The love which we typically know and demonstrate is directed towards those we deem as lovable (Rom. 5:7). Jesus calls us to do the opposite—to love the very ones who would intend to do us harm.
The kind of love Jesus demands us to possess is daily exemplified in God. Jesus tells His audience how God causes the sun to rise on the evil and good and how He blesses the just and unjust with rain. Why does God do this? Why would God ultimately prove His love for those who were hostile towards Him by giving us His Son (Rom. 5:8)? It is so that we might lovingly give ourselves to His service.
God gave us what we did not deserve. This is called mercy. This is called love. In his book, Invitation to a Spiritual Revolution, Paul Earnhart wrote,
We have never looked more squarely into the face of the living God than when we stand by faith at the foot of the cross and hear His Son plead for mercy upon the ungodly men who are murdering Him. Here is power. Here is deity. We do not deny His absolute physical might. We cannot resist His wisdom. His perfect righteousness fills us with reverential awe. But when we have found access by Christ into the 'deep things of God' (1 Cor. 2:10) we will know that there is no truer description of the divine character than John's brief affirmation, 'God is love' (1 John 4:8) (Earnhart, 70).
If God is love and we are to be the people of God, we must learn to love our enemies. God wants us to extend not what we think our enemies deserve, but what our enemies most need: mercy. Absorbing injustice may be the only means whereby we can persuade our enemies to become our family. Suffering wrongdoing is another means whereby we advance the kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. If we respond to evil with vengeance and hatred toward our enemies, we will blend into the ever-present vindictiveness of the world. Refusing to love our enemies will render the power of God's love in us ineffective.
Perhaps we need to reassess our attitudes toward our enemies. The Jews of Jesus' day certainly had enemies. For example, Jews and Samaritans had a long, storied past of hatred and violence towards each other. On one occasion, Jesus and the disciples were traveling. James and John went ahead of the group to Samaria to secure a place to stay for the night. They returned to Jesus angry. The Samaritans did not want Jesus and the disciples to stay in their town. James and John asked Jesus if they should call down fire from Heaven to destroy the Samaritans. He responded by saying, "But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them…" (Luke 9:55-56). With self-righteous vengeance seething in their hearts, James and John wanted to kill the Samaritans. Their request was evidence of an evil spirit consuming their hearts.
Sadly, our views regarding responding to evildoers are all too often shaped by an evil spirit of vindictiveness residing in our hearts. It is amazing how we can sit around a breakfast table, sip coffee, and call for entire civilizations to be wiped off the map as a solution to the world's problems. We can watch our local news and complain about how the punishment is never enough for the crime. The jail sentence is always too short. The death penalty is always too kind. Yes, people should be held accountable for their wrongdoing. At the same time, however, the merciful, redemptive love of Jesus should renew our hearts towards such people.
Jesus' teaching is not about the kind of punishment evildoers deserve. It is about our attitudes towards evildoers. To be sure, Jesus did not condone the Samaritans' rejection of Him; however, their rejection of Him did not condone the evil spirit of James and John wanting to kill them. Like James and John, perhaps we do not realize whose spirit is in us when we speak so callously about vengeful retribution.
We must always remember Jesus did not come to kill people. He came to save people. Jesus did not come to bring death. He came to bring life in all its fullness. If we are going to aspire to be like Jesus, we must cultivate the same attitude of redemptive love, life, and salvation in our hearts even towards those who would do us harm. This is not easy; however, this is what is required to become part of God's kingdom.
Author Bio: David and his family have labored with the Thayer Street congregation in Akron, Ohio since 2008. The church website is thayerstreetcoc.org. He can be reached at dflatt85@yahoo.com.
