WEBVTT 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.240 Matthew 5, verse 38. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.640 You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:21.280 But I say to you, don't resist the one who is evil. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:26.719 But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:35.200 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:40.479 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:47.200 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:49.280 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:52.079 And I will tell you this about the word of the Lord here. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.520 This is where the rubber meets the proverbial road. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:01.600 This is where the integrity of your Christian profession is put on display. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:06.799 So it's helpful to zoom out a little bit and remember what's happening in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:10.799 The Sermon on the Mount begins with a very clear explanation of the gospel. 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:18.000 It begins by Jesus saying in Matthew 5, verse 3, Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:23.040 Blessed are those who realize that spiritually speaking, their pockets are empty. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:29.200 Blessed are those who realize that when it comes to righteousness, they are impoverished. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:30.879 They're spiritually bankrupt. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:32.159 That's the foundation. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.439 So you can't really fit through the eye of that needle here. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:42.319 You can't get into this sermon and understand anything else, especially today's passage, if you didn't start in verse 3. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:47.760 If you encounter this passage and say, you know what, morally speaking, I'm pretty good. 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.280 Morally speaking, I am able to stand before God. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:53.359 I don't need an outside righteousness. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:02:02.239 I am actually okay when it comes to righteousness, then the kind of passage we read this morning is not going to make sense to you. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.640 You encounter this sermon by saying, I am spiritually broke. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:08.960 I do not have a righteousness of my own. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:14.000 Verse 4, that breaks to you, Matthew 5, verse 4, you mourn over your lack of righteousness. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:17.439 You grieve that you do not have standing before God. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:21.520 I mean, it's not it's not sufficient to know that you are spiritually broke. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:25.520 You have to move beyond that to grieving over your spiritual condition. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:30.319 And that still isn't sufficient, of course. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.759 Verse 5 is where the pieces begin to come together. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:36.000 Blessed are the meek. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:39.120 Blessed are those who have surrendered then. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.120 You realize your spiritual condition. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:43.280 You realize you're spiritually bankrupt. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:46.000 You realize you're spiritually in poverty. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.159 You mourn over that. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:55.520 And as a result, you throw yourself at the feet of the Lord and you say, Lord, I surrender to you. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.479 I need a righteousness outside of myself. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:02:59.759 That's where Jesus goes next. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.240 Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.039 I need a righteousness that is outside of me. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.280 I need to experience that righteousness. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:08.479 It cannot be my own. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:09.520 I don't have it. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:10.879 I don't deserve it. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:12.960 So I surrender myself to you. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:21.439 So being a Christian is not the same thing as believing in just that Jesus is true or the Bible is true. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.800 Hell will be filled with people who believe that Jesus is who he said he is. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:31.039 In fact, Jesus is going to say that later in Matthew 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:35.120 Hell is going to be filled with those who know that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:36.960 They know that the Bible is the Word of God. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:38.639 But they're in hell. 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:39.199 Why? 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:47.840 Because they never were broken over their sin, they never mourned their spiritual condition, and they never surrendered themselves to the will of the Lord. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:50.639 They never were converted. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:56.080 Or to use John's language, they were never born again. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.680 They lived their own life. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:01.599 They lived for themselves. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.039 They protected themselves. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:04.400 They put forward themselves. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.319 They trusted themselves. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.319 They were not meek. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.879 If you recall from our study of meekness, A.W. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:22.000 Pink wrote, A meek person patiently receives injuries and insults with the belief that it will be God who finds a way to defend us. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.120 That's the expression of meekness. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:27.759 That you surrender yourself to the will of the Lord. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:30.079 You say, I don't need to defend myself. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:31.920 I don't need to put myself forward. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.319 If the Lord wants to defend me, he can defend me. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:41.040 A person who is meek, who has surrendered to the Lord, says, Lord, listen, there's no point in both of us staying up all night. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:47.600 You don't sleep, you stay up all night, you watch out for me, you protect me, you defend me. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.319 A person lies about you and you say, you know what, I don't need to defend myself. 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.199 The Lord knows the truth, he can defend myself. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:56.720 It's up to the Lord. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:58.480 I think of biblical examples of this. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:00.480 David is, of course, the one that comes to mind. 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.480 David was the rightful king of Israel. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:03.920 He should have been on the throne. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:06.240 Saul had withheld that from him. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:11.839 Not only did Saul had taken that and persecuted David and pursued him, and David didn't avenge himself. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.439 David didn't put Saul to death. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:14.800 Rather, David fled. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:18.079 He removed himself from the situation and he fled. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:24.079 When he had the opportunity to avenge himself, he didn't take it. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.560 He'd surrendered to the Lord. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:32.480 The second time, when David was overthrown by Absalom, Absalom overthrew David, ran him out of the country. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:37.120 David's soldiers would have fought for him, and David said, No, he's not going to defend himself. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.279 He's going to be thrown out of the country, cross the Jordan River, and again, go weep on the other side of the Jordan, outside of Israel. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:47.199 And David said, Listen, if the Lord wants me back, the Lord can bring me back. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:52.879 David even told his soldiers, You don't need to go, don't kill Absalom. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:54.000 Let him live. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:56.240 And it was exactly what happened. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:57.759 Remember, David's soldiers did bring him back. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:59.759 David's soldiers did put Absalom to death. 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:02.800 And Joab rebukes David and said, You're disgracing your men. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.240 But in David's mind, you know what? 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:05.839 It's all up to the Lord. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.480 That is the picture of the person who surrendered to the Lord. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:19.600 That was not the picture of the Pharisees or the Jews by and large during Jesus' lifetime. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:21.680 They did want to defend themselves. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.439 They did want to put themselves forward. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:26.959 They had the motto if you don't defend yourself, nobody else will. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:37.920 I think so much of the Sermon on the Mount, I kind of have to show you what Judaism was like during Jesus' lifetime for you to understand what Jesus was critiquing. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.959 But not this one, because Americans are pretty good with this one. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:50.160 It's part and parcel of our Americana lifestyle that we have rights, we can defend ourselves, we have the right to defend ourselves. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:52.399 We have rights. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:54.160 Don't tread on me. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:56.319 It's on your license plates. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:09.920 And then Jesus comes along and says, if you've surrendered yourself to the Lord, you have given him the responsibility of defending yourself. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:14.079 Everything is hypothetical until someone slaps you in the face. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:17.759 And that's where Jesus goes. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:29.199 Now he gets there through the window of what's called the Lexalianus, the law of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, the law of justice in the Old Testament. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.759 He says in verse 39, you've heard that it was said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.279 He's quoting the Lex Talianus. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.079 It's a very well-known legal principle from the Old Testament. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:44.079 It's three times in the Old Testament: Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, Deuteronomy 19. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:49.920 It's a judicial principle that governs Old Testament legal ethics. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.879 The punishment must fit the crime, in other words. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.839 You don't put somebody to death for stealing. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:00.160 Somebody punches you in the face, you don't get to kill them. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:07.360 It's a legal principle that says there's the same set of laws for everybody in society, and those laws are just. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:08.399 That's the principle. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:15.920 And when Jesus says, you've heard that it was said here, remember he's not saying something that the Jews were quoting that's wrong. 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:22.000 All of the time so far, next week will be different, but all the time so far that he said this, he's followed it with a true statement. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:26.800 For example, you've heard that it was said, don't murder. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.279 Well, it's it's good not to murder, right? 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:30.639 The Old Testament does say that. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:32.399 That's the sixth commandment, don't murder. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:33.919 You've heard it was said, don't commit adultery. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:34.799 That's the seventh commandment. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:35.360 Don't do that. 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.000 The Old Testament is right when it says don't commit adultery. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:39.679 Don't divorce your wife. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:40.720 That's true. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.480 The Old Testament forbids that. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:43.679 It's a true statement. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.879 And here this morning, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:52.080 That is a true principle established in the Old Testament. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.559 By the way, we don't have time for this to go through all these passages. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.960 I wish we had an infinite amount of time, but you can study these in heaven. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:06.000 All three uses of Lex Talianus in the Old Testament, all three uses are in the courtroom. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:10.080 The first, Exodus 21, is about a fight. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:18.399 Two guys are fighting, and one dude punches the other and one throws a punch and misses and hits a pregnant woman. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.759 And what happens to the pregnant woman if she's injured? 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:26.000 If the baby is stillborn, if you killed the baby? 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.960 Or if the baby is maimed, or if the woman is maimed, what's the consequence for that? 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:32.720 And Exodus 21 spells that out. 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:36.080 If the baby dies, the person who hits her is put to death. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:42.720 But if the baby's just injured, then the person who hit the mom is injured. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:45.759 Or it can just be a fine. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.440 You negotiate the fine, and it should be equitable. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:52.960 That's the first time you see Lextelianus in the Old Testament. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:59.600 And it's interesting that you see it in the context of establishing the sanctity of the unborn life, the sanctity of human life. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:05.840 If a baby is in the womb and you hit that baby hard enough, the baby dies, you are put to death in the Old Testament. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:11.360 But somebody punches your pregnant wife, you may want that person put to death. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:13.039 Like who hits a pregnant woman? 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:14.240 Seriously? 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.720 But you can't put the person to death if the baby is fine and your wife is fine. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:20.879 The guy's got to pay you a fine and move on with it. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:26.879 And if you can't sort it out, Moses says, go before a judge, and the judge renders the fine according to Lex Teleonis. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:28.240 Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.240 The judge will punish accordingly. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.519 So notice it's a statement about what kind of verdict a judge should render. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.600 The second time you see it, Leviticus 24. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:41.440 And in that context, that's an insane story also. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.039 In that context, there's a guy who's half Israelite, half Egyptian. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.600 And he blasphemes Yahweh. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:53.679 And the Jews arrest him and they bring him before Moses, and they don't know if it would have if he had been a Jew, he would have been put to death. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:55.840 But he's half Egyptian. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:57.600 What do you do with him? 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:00.159 And the Lord says, here's what you do. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.440 First of all, all punishment deserves an equitable crime. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:05.919 If you steal, you repay four sheep. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:08.159 If you kill, you pay with your life. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.360 And that will be whether you're a foreigner or you're a Jew. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:12.960 Egyptian Jew doesn't matter. 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.279 Doesn't matter if one of your parents is Egyptian and the other not. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:16.320 Doesn't matter. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.519 Everybody gets the same punishment. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:22.720 Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:27.120 And then he says, so put the blasphemer to death. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.320 And you realize, whoa. 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.039 Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:34.879 So you blaspheme God and you die? 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:36.399 Is that the eye part? 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:37.360 What is that? 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.879 And you start to realize, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.399 It's a legal principle that means justice. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:52.240 You can't punish a foreigner more severely than a Jew, and you can't punish a foreigner less severely than a Jew. 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.080 It's one set of laws for everyone. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:55.679 That's eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.200 It's an expression that means justice. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.919 Don't show favoritism if you're a judge. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.039 A third time you see it in Deuteronomy 19. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:04.240 And this is great. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:05.679 False witnesses. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:11.360 If you testify falsely against somebody and you're found out, what punishment should you get? 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.159 America has moved away from this one. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:18.080 Like in America, if you're found out to commit perjury, nothing happens. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:22.799 You know, you might get, if you're a politician, you might get a bad news cycle. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:32.559 In the Old Testament, if you commit perjury against someone, whatever the sentence would have been for that person becomes your sentence. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:38.399 If you say, I saw that guy steal a sheep and you didn't see him steal a sheep, you lose four of your sheep. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.840 If you say, I heard that guy blaspheme and he didn't blaspheme, it's you that's put to death. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:46.879 And then Moses says, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:48.320 That's justice. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.360 Now, this is a good ethic. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:53.840 Jesus is not saying that's a bad ethic. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.600 It is a great ethic for the courtroom. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:58.480 So much American law flows from this kind of ethic. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.279 We have the same principle, you can't have unusual punishments. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:02.720 It's enshrined in our Constitution. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.960 In other words, it's eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:08.159 The punishment should fit the crime, in other words. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.559 It's a great legal principle. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.840 It is designed to have a just and equitable society. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:19.600 However, it is not designed to regulate individual relationships. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:24.000 It's not designed to regulate your dynamics with your neighbor. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.120 It's designed for a judge, not for you. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.720 You know, so your neighbor borrows something of yours and breaks it. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:37.840 You don't say, hey, eye for an eye, tooth or tooth, I'm gonna come into your house tomorrow and choose something to break. 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:43.600 Your neighbor drives on your grass and you're like, all right, eye for an eye, tooth or tooth, I'm driving on your grass. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:57.039 But if you approach your interpersonal relationships with this idea of justice means revenge, then you embrace this ethic, don't you? 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:06.559 If you're about keeping lists, checking them twice, not Santa Claus style, revenge style. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:10.799 You wrong me, you won't know when, you won't know where, but you'll know why. 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:17.440 That was so much of the Jewish ethic during Jesus' lifetime. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:25.360 Like I have rights, and I will defend myself, I will defend my rights, and if you wrong me, you will pay. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:38.799 And so Jesus steps into that world and says, verse 39, I say to you, do not resist the evil one. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:45.200 Somebody's doing evil, Jesus says, do not resist him. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:51.039 Now that bothers us. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:54.879 Because we are all about rights. 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.440 This is why you don't have to go back to Israel for this one. 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:00.000 You can be just happy with our American culture right here. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:03.840 If somebody wrongs you, you want to defend yourself. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.960 And Jesus says, do not resist the evil person. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.519 I don't often give you Greek words, but here's a fun one. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:13.039 The word for evil person here? 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:14.480 It's a great Greek word. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:15.919 We have the same one in English. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.360 It's anahistamine. 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:21.679 Oh, what a great word. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:30.080 Something's lodged in your sinuses or your nasal cavity, and it's aggravating you, and your body should be fighting it off, right? 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:36.799 Your body's designed to fight off those kind of infections, but this is like fighting your body back, and there's a war inside your nose over this. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.000 It's a great translation in English, the evil one. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.639 It's even from the Greek word for flower. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.720 You know, hay fever is evil. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:54.559 There's somebody evil in society, and he's after you. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.200 He should be driven away, but he's not, and he's after you. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:02.240 Jesus says, do not resist him. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.559 And you say that, come on. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:09.039 If I don't defend myself, who will? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.120 And the answer is pretty straightforward. 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:12.480 The Lord will. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.519 This is why I say it's like super practical. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:17.279 Your Christianity is on display here. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:20.639 Here's where your Christianity goes from being hypothetical to actual. 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.600 Do you really believe God will defend you? 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:36.399 Now, we approach a passage like this and we want to justify it, we want to make excuses, we want to define what it doesn't say, and I think that's that's helpful in a sense. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:38.639 It doesn't say don't resist evil. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:41.120 Because you know the Bible can't contradict the Bible. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:46.799 So if you're reading a passage of the Bible that contradicts somewhere else in the Bible, then you're reading one of those two passages wrong. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:49.679 The Bible definitely commands you to resist evil. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:53.279 James 4, verse 7, resist the devil and he will flee from you. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:56.799 So you are called to resist the evil one in all caps. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:16:59.919 He's not talking about the devil. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.159 This is not an ethic for nations. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.480 God designs nations to check each other. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.359 One nation rises, another nation puts them down. 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:13.680 God designs the world post-Babel for there to be conflict and wars to check evil. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:16.799 This is not designed for police. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.200 The police are supposed to check the evil worker. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:23.680 The police are supposed to come, and if you're a police officer and you see someone committing a crime, you're supposed to arrest them. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.240 You're not supposed to say, hey, I'm not supposed to resist you. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.079 This is not designed for church discipline. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:35.039 I've heard people say, hey, churches shouldn't practice church discipline because that's resisting the evil one. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:42.559 No, the New Testament commands very clearly to put the evil worker out of the church. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:54.079 It's not designed to talk about nations, it's not designed to talk about the devil, it's not designed to talk about the police, it's not designed to talk about church discipline, it is designed to talk about you. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.240 Do not resist the evil one. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.160 And Jesus doesn't leave you guessing. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.559 He gives us examples. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:07.119 And I want to work through those examples, but of the examples he gives us, there's four of them. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.799 The overarching principle behind all of them is that you don't have any rights. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.240 You don't have any rights. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:28.319 And that's why this rubs us so as an American, you know, we are con we have the Constitution, and it be it begins after the preamble, it begins with the bill of. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.519 So how can you say I don't have any rights? 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:36.799 But Jesus does. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.200 And he's gonna give some very practical examples. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:40.559 I've mentioned what it's not covering. 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:42.240 Let me tell you what it is covering. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:46.319 First of all, he says, you don't have rights over your body. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:57.359 He says in verse 39, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.759 This goes against everything in us. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.680 If somebody punches you, you want to punch back. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:13.440 I read an article in GQ magazine a while ago titled How to Win a Bar Fight. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:18.640 Step one is seize the element of surprise. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:22.640 Do something like throw your keys at the person or throw your drink at the person. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.279 Step two is punch first. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.440 Throw the first punch. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:28.640 It was a good article. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:29.599 I remember it to this day. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.160 Never been in a bar fight, but I know what to do. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:40.480 The Christian approach to that is probably don't get in a bar fight. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.519 But notice what Jesus is saying is so counter the way we think. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:48.480 It's not element of surprise and punch first. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.640 It's you get punched first, give him the other cheek to punch also. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:20:03.759 Now, commentators all point out, every every single commentator points out, that this is talking about a backhanded slap, which is apparently was a thing in Israel. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:09.759 You know that because you would strike with your right hand if you're struck on your right cheek, then you were hit with a backhand. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:14.079 I don't understand the dynamics of that, but this is what every book says, so I'll deliver it unto you. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:24.319 But I did read part of the law code that governed Jerusalem at this time says this if you commit assault, if you punch someone, it's a$200 fine. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:42.319 Unless your punch draws blood, or you pulled out their hair, you spit on them, you pulled the coat off their back, or you loosed a woman's hair, or you struck the person with your backhand, then it's a$400 fine. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:46.559 So it's like an aggravating circumstance, you would say, in our American system. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:50.720 It's not just simple assault, it's aggravated assault if it's your backhand. 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:52.079 So that's where Jesus goes. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:57.599 Somebody backhands you, which is more grievous than just punching you. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.200 Jesus says, give him the other cheek also. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:08.079 You don't have to defend your own face. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.559 And you think, but I do have to defend my own face. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:14.480 It belongs to me. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:17.279 That person wronged me. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:19.759 He needs to pay for wronging me. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:20.559 It's me. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:21.680 This is mine. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.759 Do you remember what Jesus said in our passage last week? 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:26.720 You can't. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.240 You think your head belongs to you? 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.680 You're gonna swear by your head? 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:33.599 You can't make your hair go gray, or you can't make your hair grow ungray. 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:36.160 You think your head belongs to you? 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:38.480 You can't even do anything with your head. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:40.400 Your head belongs to the Lord, not you. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.160 And now, two verses later, you're gonna be like, alright, I'm gonna fight over my head. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:46.160 Whose head is it? 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:47.519 We established that last week. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:51.039 Your head belongs to the Lord. 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:54.799 Turning the other cheek says, you know what? 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:56.640 You hit me once, do it again. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:05.839 The willingness to endure and Further insult and abuse shows the Christians resolve not to retaliate. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.720 The opposite of keeping score, the opposite of taking names and getting revenge is this. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:15.839 Here's my other cheek. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.920 Now, don't make this say more than it does. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.680 Because what it says should be sufficient to convict you. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.119 Somebody slaps you, are you really giving them the other cheek? 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:32.240 I mean, that's that's what we're talking about here. 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:37.680 Don't go further than what it says to make it become ridiculous. 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:42.240 You know, Jesus doesn't say if somebody's gonna murder you, let him murder you, for example. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.960 He uses the example of a slap, not of a sword. 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:49.279 He doesn't say if somebody cuts off your right ear, let him cut off your left ear also, you know? 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.000 We're dealing with somebody who's slapping you. 00:22:52.160 --> 00:23:04.799 And in that kind of context, if you actually want to play this out in your mind, in the kind of context where you're being punched, it is more likely than not that letting the guy punch you a second time is gonna diffuse the situation more than ramping it up. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:06.880 If we're just being honest. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:13.680 Somebody punches you, odds are decent you probably deserved it. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.240 He punches you a second time, it's probably gonna die there. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.640 Versus you being like, hey, I have the second amendment. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:25.119 That escalates. 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:27.200 That doesn't diffuse. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:31.839 Jesus is about diffusing the situation. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:36.720 He doesn't say surrender your body to somebody who is hurting you. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:41.920 He doesn't say don't get out of a dangerous situation. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.279 In fact, the way Jesus models this ethic in his own life is a very good window of it. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:52.079 Let's assume, for the sake of our discussion, that Jesus actually lives what he preaches here. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.680 When Jesus was threatened with violence, what did he do? 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:57.839 He got out of town. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:00.880 You know, in Nazareth, they're gonna throw him off a cliff. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:02.240 Jesus just leaves. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.240 You wanna throw me off the cliff? 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:06.160 See ya. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:08.880 And they can't do anything to him. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:10.000 He's gone. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:15.039 That's his normal way of responding to violence, is he just bounces. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:19.920 But the word here for striking, it's a very unusual word. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.960 It's used again in Matthew's gospel at the end of Matthew's gospel, when the soldiers grab Jesus and they blindfold him and they strike him. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:31.599 And he lets them do it again. 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:37.599 It doesn't say, don't call the police if someone hits you. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:42.000 No, you need to call the police if someone hits you, because it's their job to bear the sword. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:44.240 The point is, this is not yours. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:50.160 It doesn't say if somebody's gouging out your eye, let him do it. 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:52.079 And that's what Lex Taliana says, too, by the way. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.799 If somebody plucks out your eye, their eye gets plucked out. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:59.119 Jesus says here, listen, I'm not talking about gouging out the eye, I'm talking about somebody slapping you. 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:00.799 Somebody humili it's humiliating. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.880 Somebody who humiliates you in public. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:04.559 Don't get revenge. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:07.200 Let him do it again. 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:12.000 You don't need to defend yourself. 00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:14.000 You don't have the right to not be humiliated. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:15.039 You can be humiliated. 00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:16.960 It's up to the Lord's providence. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:26.559 Turning the other cheek is a principle that says, I will not fight back, but I will leave the execution of judgment to the Lord. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.400 Martin Lloyd Jones has a wonderful comment about this passage of scripture. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:34.720 He says, Christians become legalists at exactly this verse. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.759 We come to this verse and we say, I don't want to talk about the heart. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:39.680 I want to find the loophole. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:42.079 We become Pharisees with this verse. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:48.160 Lord, show me in this verse the exception clauses that I can hit the guy back, because that's what I want to do. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:53.359 We look for loopholes in the clear teaching of Christ to justify our own self-protection. 00:25:53.920 --> 00:26:00.000 But this passage is not about self-protection, it's about surrendering your own self to the Lord. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:02.640 Not just in your flesh, but in your mind and in your heart. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:10.240 Calvin wrote in this passage very clearly: Christ holds back our hands from revenge just as much as he holds back our minds. 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:12.240 That's the hard issue here. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.359