The Code of the Kingdom

Amen.

Last week, Matt helped me preach for us from verses 1-16, and there we saw Jesus choose

his 12 apostles, and instead of choosing the religious leaders of their day, the Pharisees,

Jesus chose a morally depraved tax collector.

Instead of choosing the theologians and scholars of his day, the scribes, Jesus chose the fishermen,

the uneducated fishermen.

Instead of choosing the politicians and people in power, Jesus chose a zealot, a fringe political

revolutionary.

Instead of choosing people with exemplary faith, Jesus chose a man who would become famous for

his doubting.

And instead of choosing those who would be loyal to him to the point of death, Jesus chose

a man who would deny him three times publicly, and a man who would eventually betray him to

arrest an eventual death.

So Jesus called these men apostles, the 12, that will form the foundation of the church.

And these head-scratching choices that Jesus made bring us to the passage for today, because

it leaves us wondering, what kind of people then are the citizens of God's kingdom?

And how does this kingdom really operate?

And Luke 6, 17-38 gives us an answer to those two questions.

So let's read together, verses 17-38.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples,

and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and

Sire, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured, and all the crowds sat to touch him,

for power came out from him and healed them all.

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said,

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you,

and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven,

for so their fathers did to the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

But I say to you who hear, love your enemies.

Do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you.

Pray for those who abuse you.

To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.

And from one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.

Give to everyone who begs from you.

And from one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same.

But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.

And your reward will be great.

And you will be sons of the Most High.

For He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Judge not, and you will not be judged.

Condemn not, and you will not be condemned.

Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to you.

Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your life.

But with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

I read to 38 because that's related, but I'll actually speak on 37 and 38 on the following week.

So we'll stop at 36 for today.

And the main point of this passage is that as the citizens of the kingdom of God,

we should love people selflessly and sacrificially.

And that brings us to two main points.

One, it's the citizens of what is, who are the citizens of the kingdom, verses 17 to 26.

And then what the code of the kingdom is in 27 to 36.

Verses 17 to 19 tell us this.

Read with me.

Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples

and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon

who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured,

and all the crowd sat to touch him, for power came out for him and healed them all.

So after choosing his 12 apostles on the mountain, he came down, it says, and stood on a level place.

That's why this teaching that follows in the rest of the chapter is often called the Sermon on the Plain,

Sermon on a Level Place.

In contrast to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 through 7.

There are a lot of parallels between the two sermons, and it's possible that they are the same sermon.

But Matthew 5 says that Jesus sat down on the mountain to teach,

while Luke tells us that he came down and stood on a level place.

This is not an irreconcilable difference, because a level place doesn't necessarily mean

that Jesus came all the way down from the mountain.

It could simply mean that he was looking for a flat enough space to stand on and to teach for people to gather.

So it could be the same sermon.

It's also possible that there are two different sermons.

Repetition is a time-tested and proven method of effective teaching,

especially itinerant preachers like Jesus would have often repeated the same messages for us to learn.

So it's not hard to imagine Jesus taught these messages in two different contexts.

So that's impossible to establish with certainty,

but what's important for our purposes is that whether it's one or two sermons,

Matthew and Luke have reproduced Jesus' sermon in ways that have distinct emphases.

So they have their own context.

So in order to appreciate what Luke has written for us,

we need to appreciate the sermon on the plain on its own terms,

instead of going back and looking at everything from the lens of the sermon in the mount.

And so in that way, we can appreciate the unique emphasis that Luke is trying to bring home to us.

In that introduction passage I just read,

we saw that there are three distinct audiences, three different kinds of audiences.

First, there are the twelve apostles that came down with Jesus.

And then there's a great crowd of his disciples, it says.

So there's a larger crowd of disciples that goes beyond the twelve apostles.

And then finally it says that there's a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem,

and it's equal to Tyre and Sidon.

So that third category is distinguished from his disciples,

the larger crowd of disciples,

which suggests that there are likely people who are not followers of Jesus.

Skeptics, unbelievers in the crowd as well.

And likely some hostile Pharisees and scribes that we saw earlier in the chapter as well.

And Jesus' popularity is explained in verse 18.

He says that these people came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured.

So these accounts of miracles are not just legends or quaint stories that were tacked onto Jesus' teaching.

It's easy for us as people living in the modern era to dismiss people from the ancient world as gullible and superstitious.

But actually people in the ancient world didn't believe that miracles happened regularly either.

Which is why this is extraordinary.

And that's why people are gathering.

Because Jesus is doing amazing things.

Verse 19 says,

And all the crowds sought to touch him, for power came up from him and healed them all.

It's hard to garner this kind of attention even with sleek branding and aggressive marketing.

But Jesus didn't have any of that.

In fact, he often intentionally withdrew from large crowds so that he would not be detained or distracted from his preaching.

So Jesus was drawing the crowds here for these two primary reasons.

Because he preached with authority and he backed up his preaching with demonstrations of God's power by healing diseases and exercising demons.

So preaching and power.

That's what the people came to see.

To hear him and to be healed.

And it says Jesus healed them all.

All who came to him.

But when the time came for him to teach, it says in verse 20, it says Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples.

So this is important.

Because he heals them all.

He heals all the people who come with need.

But when he's teaching here, he's specifically addressing his disciples.

Those who follow him.

Yes, the multitude can listen in to learn from this.

But Jesus is specifically addressing his disciples.

Telling them this is what it means to be a follower.

This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

This is the profile of a disciple.

That's what the next few verses are about.

This is what the citizens of the kingdom of God are like.

In verses 17 to 26, now Jesus first describes positively what the disciples are like.

And then with four matching statements, opposite statements, he describes what the disciples are not like.

Maybe.

The blessed are you statements, the four of them here, are often referred to as the beatitudes.

Which comes from the Latin word for blessed.

It was common in the ancient world to refer to people as blessed.

It refers to a state of happiness, a contentedness, a blessedness.

It's really not that dissimilar from that overused hashtag, blessed.

You guys have seen that, right?

If you search for the hashtag blessed on Instagram or Twitter, you will literally find millions of posts that are tagged that way.

And for example, there will be a picture of someone sipping margarita on the beach.

Blessed.

Someone hugging or kissing their downtime, you know, and it will say blessed.

A lot of times, people who use the term blessed don't even believe in God.

So they don't even believe in being blessed, but they're just saying that they're happy.

They're fortunate.

And the word blessed was used in similar ways in the ancient world.

Now think about what you would typically associate with the idea of being blessed.

Blessed are you who are poor.

What you would use that hashtag for.

And then be Jesus' shocking future.

Blessed are you who are poor.

For yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who are hungry now.

For you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now.

For you shall last.

Blessed are you when people hate you.

When they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

Blessed are you who are blessed.

It's the exact opposite of what people then and now would call blessed.

People post pictures of their handsome paycheck or a thick wad of cash.

Or pictures of themselves eating delicious meals, foods from fine restaurants.

Or pictures of themselves laughing with their friends and family.

And then they say blessed.

Blessed.

Not when you're poor.

Hungry.

Weeping.

Hated.

Excluded.

Reviled.

And spurned.

What in the world is Jesus talking about?

The parallel structure of this passage suggests that blessed are you spavans.

There's four of them.

They're not referring to four different kinds of people.

But they're all different ways of referring to the same kind of people.

One group of people.

So who exactly are these people that are blessed by God?

First, verse 20 says,

Blessed are you who are poor.

For yours is the kingdom of God.

Bible commentator Robert Welich helpfully explains the biblical concept of the poor this way.

He says,

The poor in Judaism are referred to those in desperate need, the socioeconomic element, whose helplessness drove them to a dependent relationship with God, the religious element, for the supplying of their needs and vindication.

So that the idea of the poor combines the socioeconomic and spiritual elements.

The two elements are related because the socioeconomically rich, the well-off, are often self-sufficient.

While the socioeconomically poor often realize the insufficiency and depend on God.

This is confirmed by the way Luke uses socioeconomic categories to refer to spiritual realities.

He uses them almost metaphorically.

He says, for example, in Luke chapter 11, verse 4, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray,

Luke 11:4

Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

The language of debt.

Financial debt.

He uses metaphorically to refer to our debt of sin.

Verses 22 to 23 tell us that these poor that God's referring to, that Jesus is referring to, are people who are persecuted on account of Jesus Christ.

So these are people who are cut off from the pleasures and privileges of this world because of their allegiance to Christ and their citizenship in the kingdom of God.

So the poor are those who are dependent on God.

Which is why Jesus said later in chapter 18, verse 17,

Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

A child is by definition dependent.

Right, we file them in our taxes as dependents.

Those who humble themselves before God spiritually are often materially poor.

And that's why, that's why, well, I'll come at you later, but there are exceptions to that, which is why in chapter 19 in Luke, the rich tax collector, Zacchaeus, is saved.

Because even though he was rich, he humbles himself.

He becomes poor in spirit.

So the poor is a generalization of the type of people that turn to God for salvation.

So Jesus says, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Notice that the statement is in the present tense.

The poor possess the kingdom of God now.

This is a call to faith.

Because being poor in this world feels miserable.

You can't get what you want when you want it.

Sometimes you can't even get what you need.

It's humiliating.

You are looked down upon and it feels miserable.

It does not feel good to be poor.

In a similar way, the poor in spirit, likewise, feel miserable.

They feel that they're miserable sinners.

They feel helpless and unworthy.

But Jesus says to the poor, the kingdom of God is yours.

Your poverty might feel like a curse.

You might feel no comfort in this life now.

But yours is the kingdom of God.

The corresponding woe to you statement, look at it in verse 24, says this.

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

Woe is the opposite of blessed.

It's an explanation of pity for someone's misfortune.

Instead of the kingdom of God, the rich in this life have their riches and what they can buy with their riches as their consolation prize.

The phrase, you have received, in Greek, is a technical commercial term for accepting the receipt of payment.

In other words, the check has already been cut.

Those who put their hope in riches, for those who live for riches, those who are self-sufficient in their riches,

those who they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The riches that they enjoy in this life is their full payment.

That's why when I pray for you guys, when I pray for other believers,

I never pray that God will make them rich.

Amen.

Jesus says later in Luke 8, 14,

Jesus says again in Luke 18,

Basically impossible, apart from God's work.

Verse Timothy 6, 10 says,

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Being rich, generally speaking, from a biblical standpoint, is not spiritually desirable.

It's in fact dangerous.

Yes, it's helpful and useful in this life.

Riches can buy you mansions.

Riches can buy you beauty.

It can buy you power.

It can buy you sex.

It can buy you comfort.

It can buy you toys and gadgets.

It can buy you cars.

But guess what?

If that's what you live for, that's all you're going to get.

That's your prize.

Or you will not have the kingdom of God.

Many of us are wealthy by global standards.

How then are we supposed to live?

1 Timothy 6, 16-17 teach us this.

As for the rich in this present age,

charge them not to be haughty,

nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,

but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good,

to be rich in good works,

to be generous and ready to share,

thus storing up treasure for themselves

as a good foundation for the future,

so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Only the rich who are poor in spirit,

only the rich who do not depend on the uncertainty of riches,

but instead depend on the God who richly provides,

only the rich who are rich in good works,

not just to themselves,

but toward others and toward God,

and are generous with their wealth.

Only the rich who are concerned with storing up treasures in heaven,

rather than on earth,

only those rich possess the kingdom of God.

Jesus continues with the attitudes in verse 21.

Blessed are you who are hungry now,

for you shall be satisfied.

One of the most difficult and amazing things

that poor people in our world experience is hunger.

And they who have no money to buy food for themselves,

they cry out to God to fill their hunger.

They mourn the injustice of this world

and the callousness of people who let their fellow men go hungry.

So they look to God for his provision.

That's what the hungry being referred to here are.

But once again, like the term poor,

it refers to more than just the physically hungry.

Psalm 107 speaks of our hunger of soul for the Lord.

And a parallel verse in Matthew 5, 6

draws out this meaning when he says,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

Do you long for righteousness in this world?

Do you see how woefully inadequate

your own righteousness is before God?

Do you hunger for more of it?

Blessed are you who are hungry now.

If you mourn your sins,

if you long for that righteousness,

if you pray and you cry out for that,

you hunger for it, you thirst for it,

then you will be satisfied.

A just kingdom, a righteous kingdom

will be your possession forever.

And notice that the tense shifts here to the future.

He said,

Be poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

But here, he says,

Those who are hungry now will be satisfied later.

You shall be satisfied.

The kingdom of God is in the possession of the poor now,

but the satisfaction of their hunger lies in the future.

This points to the already but not yet reality of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God has already been inaugurated,

but it's not yet consummated.

You could think of it this way.

Our towns, our homes,

were under occupation of the enemy army.

But Christ has won a decisive battle in the front lines

that guarantees our victory in the Lord.

The effects of that decisive battle, however,

are still being worked out in all the towns.

So for now,

there is still hunger.

There's still poverty.

There's still weeping.

There's still persecution.

But because victory is won,

its effects will soon spread

and be experienced in fullness everywhere.

That's why we're hungry now.

That's why we still wrestle with our sins now.

That's why we still have to mourn

the lack of righteousness in this world now.

But that day is coming

when that will be fulfilled

and that hunger for righteousness will be satisfied.

Similarly, Jesus says in the second half of verse 21,

Blessed are you who weep now,

for you shall laugh.

The poor and the hungry

is like wheat because of the sins

and sufferings of this world.

Are you too busy amusing yourself

with diversions from life

that you fail to mourn

the great injustices of life?

Are you too busy laughing

and pursuing the pleasures of this world

that you never weep

about your own sinfulness?

You have an awareness

of your own depravity,

your own selfishness and pride

that makes you weep.

If so, then take heart.

Blessed are you.

Those who weep now

will get their final laugh.

The converse is also true.

It says in the second half of verse 25,

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you who are full now,

for you shall be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now,

for you shall mourn and weep.

People who are satisfied

with their righteousness now.

Those who are self-righteous,

those who are self-satisfied,

those who are not looking for justice

and righteousness on the earth,

those who laugh derisively

at the followers of Jesus,

those who pay no attention

to the sins and sufferings

of this world,

their laughter now

will be replaced by weeping.

Jesus continues that radical teaching

in verses 22-23.

We read with you.

Blessed are you

when people hate you

and when they exclude you

and revive you

and spurn your name

as evil

on account of the son.

These verses reveal clearly

that Jesus has more than

physical poverty,

hunger, and weeping in view.

He's referring to those

who experience these things

on account of their commitment

to Jesus.

And the four verbs

get increasingly worse,

increasingly more hostile

and intense.

First, they hate you.

Instead of just hating you

in their hearts,

they actually exclude you

from their social circles.

And instead of merely

excluding you,

they revile you,

slandering you

in front of others.

And then finally,

they spurn your name

as evil.

To spurn someone's name

is to reject the whole person

as an evil person.

And note that

this harsh treatment

is not

in and of itself

a sign of blessedness.

Sometimes,

Christians

are hated

and excluded,

reviled, and spurred

not because

they're being committed

to Christ

and representing Him

but because

they're just being jerks.

That's why we have to

read the whole statement.

It doesn't say

blessed are you

when people hate you.

That's not a virtue

by itself.

Blessed are you

when people hate you

and when they exclude you

and be violent,

spurming the name

as evil

on account

of the Son of Man.

If you are persecuted

because of your

commitment to Christ,

and then

that should

not cause you

to doubt

or make you

more depressed

but instead

it says in verse 23

it should make you

rejoice

in that thing.

Leap for joy

for behold

your reward

is great

in heaven

for so

their fathers

did to

the prophets.

This is

the only command

in this entire

section of the

Beatitudes.

On the day

you are persecuted

for Christ's sake

he says

rejoice.

Leap for joy.

That exact wording

leap for joy

was used earlier

in Luke chapter 1

Luke 1 · chapter mention

to refer to John the Baptist

leaping for joy

in his mother's womb

when the mother of Jesus

pregnant with Jesus

approached him.

Being near Jesus

coming to Jesus

causes joy

brings joy

and that's how

we are to be joyous

and that's what we see

in the book of Acts

throughout the book of Acts

which is the sequel

to the book of

the Gospel of Luke

people

the followers of Christ

are persecuted

they're beaten

they're stoned

and left for dead

and they rejoice

that they have the honor

of being persecuted

for Christ's sake.

Why should this be the case?

Verse 23

gives us two reasons

why we should rejoice

first

for behold

your reward

is great in heaven

and second

for so their fathers

did to the prophets

so even though

we suffer now

in heaven

we will be vindicated

and receive a reward

for our faithfulness

to Christ

that's the first reason

and the second reason

is that the fact

that we're being persecuted

reveals our nearness

to God

because the prophets

of God in the past

were persecuted

in the same way

that we are

persecution

is evidence

that we are citizens

of the kingdom of God

and not of this world

that's cause to rejoice

and the corresponding statement

is in verse 26

woe to you

when all people

speak well of you

for so their fathers

did to the false prophets

if all people

speak well of you

that's actually a problem

because in John 15-20

Jesus said

remember the word

that I said to you

a servant

is not greater

than his master

if they persecuted me

they will persecute you

also

those who faithfully

follow Christ

will be persecuted

and being spoken well

by all people

indicates that you

have compromised

in some measure

with the world

even a dead fish

can drift

with the current

but if you

want to be

swimming upstream

like salmon

you have to be alive

and strong

those who belong

to this world

drift

with the sinful ways

of this world

but those who belong

to the kingdom of God

will again

stick hard

in spite of the persecution

so to which of these

sides do you belong

there's a clear

separation here

between Jesus'

disciples

and the rest

of the crowd

Jesus lifted up

his eyes

on to his

disciples

and taught them

directly

saying

blessed are you

but he spoke

of their fathers

who persecuted

the true prophets

and welcomed

and loved

the false prophets

you

they

poor

hungry

weeping

persecuted

do you belong

to that category

or are you

rich

full

laughing

and universally

white

some of you

know this morning

that you belong

to this latter category

you know that

you don't know

what it's like

to weep

for sin

or the sufferings

of this world

to hunger

for righteousness

to be poor

and persecuted

and if that's you

you must acknowledge

your sins

and repent

turn from your sins

and humbly receive

Jesus'

love for you

the grace of God

given to you

and Jesus dying

for your sins

to save you

2 Corinthians 8

9

puts it this way

for you know

the grace of our Lord

Jesus Christ

that though he was rich

yet for your sake

he became poor

so that you

by his poverty

might become

rich

the righteous

son of God

Jesus died

on the cross

for sinful people

like you

and me

and he was raised

from the dead

so that the poor

in this world

that Jesus is describing

here

might inherit

his riches

so that the sinners

of this world

might inherit

his righteousness

so that the spiritually

dead

in this world

might inherit

eternal life

it's through Jesus

that you become

citizens of the kingdom

of God

so that's the profile

of the citizen

of the kingdom

now let's turn

to the code

of the kingdom

these are the people

of the land

what is the law

of the land

that we are to live

on

and that law

is love

radically

selfless

and sacrificial love

but before

we dive into

that commandment

let's first note

the relationship

between the beatitude

and the commandment

to love

that we see here

because Jesus

is not saying

to us

if you love

this way

then you will

be blessed

if you love

this way

then you will

enter the kingdom

of God

that's not what

Jesus is saying

the commandment

to love

is given

to those

who already

are blessed

those who already

are in the kingdom

of God

no one earns

their way

to heaven

through their

obedience

rather

obedience

characterizes

those who are

already heavenly

citizens

with that in mind

let's dive into

verses 27 to 28

but I say

to you

who hear

love your enemies

do good

to those

who hate you

bless those

who curse you

pray for those

who abuse you

the Old Testament

had commanded

Jews to love

their neighbor

as themselves

but the Jews

had restricted

their definition

of neighbor

to people

who weren't

like them

people who share

their religious views

people who share

their ethnic heritage

and Jesus here

challenges that notion

and radically

expands the category

of neighbor

here to include

even our enemies

those who hate

and oppose us

and let's be

over spiritualize

this command

to love our enemies

and we say

to ourselves

well okay

well I really

don't want

anything to do

with that enemy

of mine

but fine

I will love

him

in my heart

that's not

what Jesus

is talking

about

Jesus

adds specific

ways in which

we ought to

love our enemies

and he says

do good

to those

who hate you

bless those

who curse you

pray for those

who abuse you

Jesus is not

merely speaking

about vaguely

loving attitude

that you should

just have

for his people

Jesus is

commanding us

to do something

concrete

and active

do good

to your enemies

seek their

welfare

when they curse

you

seek

when they

seek your

harm

bless them

and seek

their welfare

when they

slander and

mistreat you

instead of

retaliating

and kind

pray for them

that's actually

a great

advice

when you are

having trouble

loving someone

or when you're

having trouble

forgiving someone

that has hurt you

or offended you

one of the best

things

that you can do

for them

is to pray

for them

one of the best

things you can do

for yourself

is to pray

for them

because as you

pray for them

and you're

appealing to God

on their behalf

on the behalf

of your enemies

God actually

enlarges your

heart to love

them

as you're

praying for

them

to forgive

them

and having

given us

four general

commands

Jesus gives

us vivid

illustrations

in verses

29 and 31

first he says

to one who

strikes you

on the cheek

offer the

other also

so Jesus

is not

teaching us

to line up

to volunteer

to get pummeled

by our enemies

until we're

unconscious

so striking

on the cheek

is most likely

a reference

to a slap

on the face

with the back

of the hand

it's

intended

as an insult

it's a picture

of rejection

this is an

illustration

of someone

who rejects you

when someone

insults you

don't retaliate

or withdraw

from them

but continue

to love them

and do good

to them

of course

that might mean

that you're

risking

getting slapped

on the other

side as well

if that's the

kind of people

they are

that's exactly

Jesus' point

love your

enemies

even if it

means making

yourself

vulnerable

again

to their

hatred

to their

abuse

when someone

insults you

and speaks

harshly to you

don't respond

tit for tat

and fight back

don't cut off

contact with that

person

vying never

to speak to

that person

again

befriend

them

again

love

him

again

even though

that means

you might

find yourself

on the

deceiving end

of verbal

abuse

again

instead of

being consumed

with getting

even

getting your

rights

focus on

loving

your enemies

retaliation

in kind

will not

overcome

hatred

it's love

and the

demonstration

of the

grace of

God

that overcomes

evil

please note

that what I'm

talking about

here

what Jesus

is teaching

here

is this

non-retaliation

ethic

is a personal

ethic

it's not

an institutional

or societal

ethic

Romans 13

4 says

that governing

authorities

bear the

sword

in order

to carry

out God's

wrath

on the

wrongdoer

it's the

government's

job

to protect

the innocent

and the

vulnerable

and to

punish

abusers

but Jesus

is teaching

us not

to retaliate

personally

ourselves

Paul

summarizes

Jesus'

teaching

hopefully

in Romans

12

19

21

beloved

never

avenge

yourselves

but leave

it to the

wrath of

God

for it is

written

vengeance

is mine

I will

repay

says the

woman

to the

contrary

if your

enemy

is hungry

feed him

if he

is thirsty

give him

something to

drink

for by so

doing

he will

keep

burning

holes

on his

head

do not

be overcome

by evil

but overcome

evil

with

good

I saw

a short

documentary

last year

entitled

Befriending

Her Shooter

I don't know

if you guys

have seen

that

we've told

the story

of a

13 year

old boy

Ian

Manuel

who's

in a

gang

and he

shot a

young

mother

in the

face

in downtown

Tampa

Florida

and was

sentenced

to life

in prison

and this

woman

Debbie

Debbie

Baby

publicly

forgave

him

and

campaigned

for him

so that

his

sentence

could be

reduced

after

establishing

communication

lines

with him

and befriending

him

and that

story

kind of

shows

that

interface

between

personal

forgiveness

and

institutional

justice

she

personally

forgave

the shooter

but that

did not

reduce

the young

man's

sentence

because

justice

still has

to be

served

but she

still

obeyed

the call

to forgive

personally

Jesus

continues

in verses

29-30

and from

one who

takes away

your cloak

do not

withhold

your tunic

either

give to

everyone

who begs

from you

and from

one who

takes away

your goods

do not

demand

a lie

if someone

steals

your outer

garment

Jesus

is saying

don't

withhold

your

undershirt

sounds

crazy

doesn't

it

but this

is

exactly

what

Jesus

taught

be

generous

to a

fault

forgive

people

to a

fault

don't

be

vengeful

give

to

those

who

ask

the

ESV

if you're

looking at

the same

version

I'm looking

at

the

Bible

use the

word

beg

but the

actual word

that's used

here is a

more general

term that

means

ask

and likely

it's

referring

not only

to people

who are

begging

on the

streets

but also

to those

who are

seeking

to borrow

money

from you

so this is

confirmed by the

summary in

verses 34

to 35

which focuses

on lending

money to

people

without expecting

the same

favor in return

we should give

to everyone

who has need

and ask us

for help

that's the idea

even at the risk

of being taken

advantage of

and Jesus

sums it up

in verse 31

in a memorable

way that we

have come

to know

and as you

wish that

others would

do to you

do so

to them

this is what

popular in

the golden

rule

and we

find

variations

of this

command

all throughout

different

cultures

for example

in the

first century

Jewish

Greek

philosopher

Philo

he writes

whatever

things

anyone

hates

to

suffer

let it

not

do

similarly

Chinese

philosopher

Confucius

writes

in his

analytics

what you

do not

want

done

to

yourself

do

not

do

to

others

but

Jesus'

formulation

is the

most

emphatic

and positive

of them all

instead of

simply telling

us not

to treat

others

as you

don't

want

to be

treated

Jesus

calls us

to be

proactive

in being

sensitive

toward

others

needs

as you

want

others

to look

out

for

your

own

we

should

treat

others

as we

wish

them

to

treat

us

most

of the

variations

of the

golden rule

you find

in other

cultures

are based

on the

idea of

equality

and reciprocity

and they're

often selfish

actually at

their root

do this

for others

so that

they

would do

this

for you

don't

do this

to others

so that

they don't

do this

to you

but

Jesus

here

calls us

to a

selfless

and sacrificial

love

that goes

beyond

that

giving

even

when

it

hurts

forgoing

our

desires

to meet

the needs

of others

not just

so that we

can get

something

back

but for

the sake

of loving

the other

person

if you're

not

squirming

in your

seats

right now

with

discomfort

you're

probably

not

understanding

rightly

this is

a radical

teaching

Jesus

puts it

in an

absolute

and shocking

way

intentionally

to confront

us

and force

reflection

on this

it's a

teaching

that makes

no sense

from a

worldly

standpoint

why in

the world

would I

do that

it only

makes sense

for the

citizens

of the

kingdom

of God

who are

poor

hungry

weeping

and hated

now

because if

we're hoping

for riches

in this

life

if we're

hoping for

fullness

in this

life

if we're

hoping to

laugh

in this

life

if we're

hoping to

be well

liked

and highly

regarded

in this

life

this ethic

of

selfless

sacrificial

love

makes

absolutely

no sense

but for

the citizens

of the

kingdom

of God

it makes

all the

sense

in the

world

because

with every

act of

personal

forgiveness

even in

the absence

of institutional

justice

for ourselves

we are

declaring

that the

God of

justice

will make

all things

right in

the end

we're hoping

for the

kingdom

that is

coming

because with

every act

of sacrificial

giving

when we

give

even though

it hurts

it means

we don't

get to do

what we

want to

do

so that

we can

help

someone

else

when we

give

sacrifice

in

that

way

we're

declaring

our

faith

that

this

world

is

not

all

there

is

for us

that

there's

a better

world

coming

and we

will be

rewarded

that we

are storing

up

treasures

in heaven

not just

in this

world

that we

are ready

to part

with

consolations

in this

life

because we

know the

prize of

the

kingdom

wins

us

it's

only

if you

are a

citizen

of the

kingdom

of God

that this

selfless

sacrificial

love

make any

sense

and then

verses

32

34

Jesus

contrasts

the love

that he's

commanding

from the

love of

this world

around us

read with

him

it says

if you

love those

who love

you

what benefit

is that

to you

for even

sinners

love those

who love

them

and if

you do

good to

those

who do

good to

you

what benefit

is that

to you

for even

sinners

do the

same

and if

you lend

to those

from whom

you expect

to receive

what credit

is that

to you

even

sinners

lend

to sinners

to get

back

the same

amount

the phrase

to get

back

the same

amount

is literally

just to

receive

the same

and I

think it's

not speaking

actually

restrictively

about

wanting to

get paid

back in

full

for the

loans

you give

out

it's

actually

speaking

about

lending

to

people

who

are

able

to

give

you

some

other

kind

of

favor

in return

giving

something

to

others

lending

something

expecting

something

in return

expecting

the same

to receive

the same

so then

it's

consistent

it's

parallel

with

everything

all the

other

ideas

that

are

expressed

here

the idea

the worldly

mentality

is

you

scratch

my

back

and

I

will

scratch

yours

but

Jesus

is

directly

contradicting

that

idea

he's not

say

don't say

I did

you a favor

this time

so do me a favor

next time

we shouldn't

only lend

to people

whom we

expect

something

from

in return

isn't it

true

that

people

tend to

decide

each other

all the

time

no matter

where you

go

no matter

what kind

of society

you're in

is this

fellow student

of mine

able to

offer me

help

in other

subjects

if I

spend

time

helping

them

in this

subject

I

should

be

nice

to that

person

because

that

person

has

a car

he can

drive

me

to

places

I

should

be

nice

to

this

manager

get

gifts

for

this

professor

because

he or

she

has

power

and

influence

that

can

help

me

take

me

places

stop

sizing

people

and

stop

showing

favoritism

to

people

who

can

do

something

for

you

Jesus

is

saying

love

people

who

can

do

nothing

for

you

loving

expecting

a

return

favor

lending

to

those

whom