The Sermon on the Mount, Section 42 D, Retaliation and Love

MATT. 5:38-48
LUKE 6:27-30, 32-36

Retaliation and Submission

"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.  -Matthew 5:38-42

"Lit., the jaw. The cheek is παρειά. The blow intended is not, therefore, a mere slap, but a heavy blow; an act of violence rather than of contempt." -Vincent's Word Studies

"It is a blessed possibility that Jesus opens for us, that our kindly emotions towards men need not be at the mercy of theirs to us....Think of what any community, great or small, would be, if enmity were met by love only and always." -MacLaren

"Generally the first forgiveness will prevent the second blow (Pro_25:22). Note: It is the return blow that makes the quarrel."  -MacLaren

"We must be kind to those from whom we have received injuries. We must not only love our enemies, and bear a good will to them, but we must do good to them, be as ready to do any good office to them as to any other person, if their case call for it, and it be in the power of our hands to do it. We must study to make it appear, by positive acts, if there be an opportunity for them, that we bear them no malice, nor see revenge. Do they curse us, speak ill of us, and wish ill to us? Do they despitefully use us, in word or deed? Do they endeavour to make us contemptible or odious? Let us bless them, and pray for them, speak well of them, the best we can, wish well to them, especially to their souls, and be intercessors with God for them." Matthew Henry

"Shall compel thee (aggareusei). The Vulgate has angariaverit. The word is of Persian origin and means public couriers or mounted messengers (aggaroi) who were stationed by the King of Persia at fixed localities, with horses ready for use, to send royal messages from one to another. So if a man is passing such a post-station, an official may rush out and compel him to go back to another station to do an errand for the king. This was called impressment into service. This very thing was done to Simon of Cyrene who was thus compelled to carry the cross of Christ (Mat_27:32, ēggareusan)."
-Vincent's Word Studies

"We leave our homes on a given morning, anticipating no evil. Suddenly and unexpectedly there are sounds of horses’ hoofs and a great demand is thrust upon us. We are sent off in a direction we never contemplated and are compelled to go one mile. It is the second that tests character; and your actions with respect to it will determine whether you have entered into the spirit of Christ and are willing to serve others for love’s sake and at cost of peril and inconvenience to yourself." -FB Meyer

Reconciliation

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

Conciliation is of superior value even to public worship. -Caleb Morris, BI

The Golden Rule

Luk 6:31  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 

"Christ then crystallizes His whole teaching on the subject of our conduct to others into the immortal words which make our wishes for ourselves the standard of our duty to others, and so give every man an infallible guide. We are all disposed to claim more from others than we give to them. What a paradise earth would be if the two measuring-lines which we apply to their conduct and to our own were exactly of the same length!" -Alexander MacLaren

The Heart As Source

THAT THE LAW IS KEPT OR BROKEN IN THE HEART.
1. Acts are good or evil as expressions of the heart.
(1) This was the reverse of the teaching of the elders. Especially so in the school of Hillel. Hence the Pharisees took the technical observance of the letter to be the fulfilling of the Law (see Luk_18:11). -Pulpit Commentary

(2) But an act apart from the will would be automatic and mechanical. It would cease to be moral (see Mat_15:19). -Biblical Illustrator

Psa 66:18  If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Love, love, love

Christian ethics not merely recognizes the duty of love to men, but sets it as the foundation of all other duties. It is root and trunk, all others are but the branches into which it ramifies. -MacLaren

Love is the badge of Christian discipleship.
(1) Discipleships in general have their distinguishing marks. Hindu spots and strings. Monkish tonsure. Opinions.
(2) So the Christian (see Joh_13:34, Joh_13:35). The end of the commandment is love. Love is the means to the end.
(3) But in what sense is this commandment (Joh_13:34, Joh_13:35) new? It is not new in principle, for nature teaches it. It is distinctly taught in the Mosaic Law (see Le Mat_19:18). It is new in its measure. Moses says we are to love our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus says we are to love our brother better than ourselves. So he loved us (cf. Php_2:17; Col_1:24; 1Jn_3:16).—J.A.M., Pulpit Commentary

It is a hard lesson, but clearly here, as always, the chief stress is to be laid, not on the outward action, but on the disposition, and on the action mainly as the outcome and exhibition of that. -MacLaren

Love to one’s neighbor appears in many passages in the Old Testament. See Exo_23:4-5. But we have to love enemies and resemble God’s sun and rain, Mat_5:45. You say that it is impossible! Remember those sweet old words: “I taught Ephraim to go,” Hos_11:1-4. Ask your Heavenly Father to teach you to love. Remember Gal_5:22. Dare to believe that He will perfect what concerneth you.  -FB Meyer

Personal Thoughts

I often don't know how to properly love difficult people and fall short.  Forget the homeless for a moment.  If I'm honest, there are people in my extended family that I struggle to love.  Some of them are difficult.  Furthermore, I could "flip" the law and say they do not care that I have "things"---legitimate hurts--against them.   And some of them are not believers--does this alter the picture as well? It's hard to know how close to the original context we are to stick.

All the things Jesus says here are relationally true---it's easy to love the lovable.  It's difficult to love and give to the ungrateful.  I fall short in these areas regularly.  Does all of this, like the beatitudes, point me to a need for a Savior?  Is that the fullness of the intent here?  Or, am I commended to do these things and do them well?  If so, how do I not become an object of abuse myself?

These are a handful of the many, many questions that bump against my mind in reading these passages.  I want to justify my own actions and motives.  I want to meet His standard.  The impulses and the interpretation of these principles are very challenging.