My mom was my high school music teacher, and she had a lot of really good ideas. She taught me how to do music, and I might not be the best testimony to her skill, but I'm marginally competent. C minus. That's pretty good. I can vaguely read music still from all the stuff that she taught me. One of the things that was fun was tormenting my mom a little bit as a student in her classes, and she was pretty good about playing along with it. But every now and then she would do something and be like, Mom, you're kind of killing me right now. And I don't know why she thought this was a good idea, but my high school choir class one day, there was something going on. We couldn't sing. And so we were at like a shortened period. We're in there for like 30 minutes. I don't know, whatever. And so she had us watch the buttercream gang. We were in high school. This is in the age of grunge and flannels tied around your waist and been there, done that, mad at my dad, irony, and she had us watch the buttercream gang. Everyone felt uncomfortable. And the message of the buttercream gang, and if you don't know what this is, ho ho ho, this is Christian pop culture from multiple decades ago. This is like a nice after school special with Christian values instead of just don't do drugs values like what they had on the ABC after school specials. And so in this one, the message was nobody can steal from you if you just give them your things. And so the buttercream gang, they got this hideout, and then the bullies come along, and you can tell they're bad because their shirts aren't tucked in. And they're like, hey, give me your lunch money. And then Kyle, I don't know any of their names, is like, well, you know, the Bible says that if I just give you my lunch money, I'm doing what Jesus wants. And they all would just like give away their stuff. And then the bullies were like, I don't know what to do. How could I become a Christian and accept Jesus? And they all changed. And we all made fun of it and thought it was real stupid, but obviously it stuck with me. So I guess mom gets the last laugh on that one. But I don't know. Is that what you're actually supposed to do? Just give away all of your stuff? Well, there's a very smart guy in church history named Augustine of Hippo. He's actually like one of the elite theological brains from all of the history of theology. And he suggested, no, Jesus' words here aren't saying that necessarily you give to everyone whatever they might request, because certainly we can think of examples of people requesting things that would be directly antithetical to the values of the kingdom, directly antithetical to the values of justice and mercy, you know, commanded by Jesus. You can't do that. And also, Augustine gives an allowance for saying there's certain things that if you give to somebody, you do what they want, you're actually hurting them badly. Like, what if somebody wants you to kill them? You can't give them that, or double kill them in keeping with the principle of going the extra mile. So clearly, some level of interpretive thought has to go into this thing. And if that's the case, well, then why did Jesus say any of this stuff at all? And again, here's the passage we're talking about. It goes like this Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 38. You've heard that it was said, eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, don't resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go a mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. If you've been paying attention to this program for any length of time, you've realized that there is always a likewise, and there's always a list. And in this particular list, there are two things. I think Jesus is doing two things here. Number one, he's advocating for radical kingdom values. Remember, Jesus isn't making a new Ten Commandments here. The Beatitudes were not a new Ten Commandments. These, you've heard it said long ago, but I tell you statements are not a new Ten Commandments. They are something different that is going to be thing number two, and we'll get to that in just a minute. They are on the simplest and most obvious level kingdom values. And kingdom values are hard. Because remember, the kingdom is an upside-down kingdom. That's how he introduces everything in Matthew chapter five. He walks up in front of his disciples, a bunch of other people gather around, and he goes on to say a bunch of backwards things. Blessed are the poor in spirit. What? Blessed are the rich in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Isn't it more blessed to be happy? Blessed are the meek. Isn't it more blessed to be powerful and run over people and get the things you want? Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Isn't it more blessed to be ambitious and hunger and thirst for success? Blessed are the merciful. Isn't it more blessed to win at things? Blessed are the pure in heart. Isn't it more blessed to be knowing and witty and street smart and know how to navigate the things of this world? Blessed are the peacemakers. Isn't it more blessed to know how to run over people and play court politics when you need to? Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. Isn't it more blessed to be not persecuted? And so we get to the end of all these statements, all of which come with a reciprocal reward for these things that seem like they wouldn't be good. And the only logical conclusion is Jesus is describing something that is backwards from everything you think. All the values are backwards, the currencies that we trade in, money, power, sex, fame, all of that is flipped around toward humility and grace and generosity and forgiveness. And this is a very different deal. And so as Jesus is explaining this beautiful upside-down kingdom, and he gets into the you've heard it said, but I tell you that statements on murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, revenge, which we're on now. What we got to remember first and foremost is he is playing out for people what it looks like to live out these upside-down kingdom values. You do things that are counterintuitive for getting ahead in the physical world, where we assume that the entire point of life is that you go to work so that you can get money, so that you can get food and drink, so that you can convert that to urine and feces, so that you can have an empty stomach to go back to work and have enough energy to get through the workday so that you can get more money. And then again, repeat the process with the urine and the feces and so on and so forth until you achieve some things and maybe some people like you and you feel good for a little while and then you die. Well, based on those standards, yeah, you better run over some people. If you want to make some World Kingdom omelets, you're gonna have to break a few eggs. But on Kingdom Kingdom standards, this take on revenge actually makes a lot of sense. God will handle the revenging, He's very, very good at it, his judgment is perfect. You don't want to step into that role and screw it up, or else then you gotta own that. So instead, we're gonna go with this almost rejectionist mindset that says the things of the world kingdom aren't really real things. There's a truer, realer thing, and that is going to be where my treasure and my heart lie, which is a preview of stuff that Jesus is going to talk about in Matthew 6, 19.
SPEAKER_00So just put a mental finger in that spot and we're gonna come back to it.
SPEAKER_01So the eye for the eye thing on the most basic level is these are kingdom values in action. It's getting weirder, isn't it? Like it's not that shocking to be like kingdom values in action, don't hate people. Uh, fine. Kingdom values in action, don't look on other people with lust. Uh yeah, okay. Kingdom values in action. Doing fancy paperwork doesn't make horrible immoral things. Okay. Uh, all right. Kingdom values in action, just saying a whole bunch of words and making gesticulations and oaths and promises doesn't make your lying any less lying. It's lying. You got to tell the truth. Yes, yes, no, no. Okay. Do you see how each one of these is cutting deeper and deeper into things that people would have compartmentalized apart from their religion, apart from their belief in God. And the further he gets into this, the more challenging it is to actually do it. And here's the number two. I told you there was a number two because there's always a number two. And the number two is that this is the fulfillment of the law. Remember that stuff? Matthew 5.17 didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them? That's what it looks like here. The fulfillment of the law on this one is that it's not just don't excessively revenge, it's don't revenge, even if it's legally mandated. You don't have to take it. You're not obligated to accept that retribution. So don't. Anybody coming out of Matthew 5, 17, 18, on through the end of that little chunk, who's thinking, well, I'm pretty righteous and pretty good because I've never murdered anyone. Now they've had that shot down. Yeah, but you've hated, and murder is hate, and hate is murder, at least in the moral standards of a perfect God. Well, I've never committed adultery. You've lost it. Same difference in the moral standards of a perfect God. Maybe not the same world consequences, but in terms of your insufficiency before God, it makes you just as imperfect before God as adultery. Yikes. Well, I did all the proper paperwork when I abandoned my wife and upgraded to a cheaper, younger model. Uh-uh-uh. You may have dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's on your paperwork, but you were wrong and sinful in shafting another person. Well, I said all the right code words when I lied, uh-uh-uh. And Jesus again is saying, fulfillment of the law. No, even if you did all of the right gestures and ovations while you were lying, that's still lying. By the time he gets to this eye for an eye stuff, this revenge stuff, I don't think anybody in the room is still like, well, I guess I'm pretty good, because he's fulfilled the law so dang much that everybody's fulfilled right out of any illusions they had of their own awesomeness. Everyone at this point is feeling guilt. And if that's not enough, wait till you get to the next one. Oh my goodness. I don't care how squeaky, clean, and awesome you are. I don't care how many plaques you got from Sunday school, marijuana for being the Christianest of all the Christians. This passage is going to take a gigantic dump on you when we get to the next one about loving your enemies. So the two things that are happening here is that one, Jesus is pointing out what kingdom values look like in action, and it's shocking. Two, Jesus is continuing on this theme of fulfillment of the law. And that fulfillment of the law demonstrates that all of our I didn't do a bad thing, negative orientation to the law is insufficient. And when we start to look at this from a positive proactive orientation, which is it's not just that I'm not supposed to take excessive revenge, it's not even just that I'm not supposed to take proportionate revenge. I'm actually supposed to turn the other cheek. I'm supposed to give to my enemy and serve the person who's trying to take advantage of me. Yikes! When you get to that level of Jesus' proactive fulfillment of the law, everybody comes up wanting. And again, the temptation here is gonna be to say, so I guess we're all just completely hosed. What are we supposed to do? The point is not to despair, sneaking ahead here. The point is to turn to Jesus in desperation, but we're gonna let him finish fleshing out that idea with this last one that is just crushing. In sum, kingdom values, fulfillment of the law, is this an absolutely literal prescription? Well, no, that would run contrary to a whole bunch of the other things that Jesus teaches. It's rather a statement about the radical rejection of the idea of feeling entitled to revenge and retribution. And rather the kingdom citizen thinks of opportunities for revenge in a new light, and that is that anytime I'm entitled to revenge, I have the opportunity to serve my enemy and to put kingdom values on display for the glory of God, for the benefit of my own soul, and for the benefit of my enemy. Next time around, we get into the really tough one. So I don't know if you do like push-ups or sit-ups, or if you drink milk, or if you get a good night's sleep, you just might want to do that in advance because the next one's gonna hurt a little bit. And I'm looking forward to it. We'll hurt together. I know it's weird right now, and I know a bunch of you are still supporting this podcast, which is a complete game changer for me and my family. No hard feelings if you can't right now. I totally understand. But for those of you who've been able to hang in, uh it's a world of difference for us, and I can't thank you enough. Matt is a 10-minute Bible hour podcast. Let's do it again soon.