December 13, 2008 (Matthew 5:33-42)

Today’s reading features some famous “hard sayings” of Jesus: I say, don’t resist an evil person! If you are slapped on the right cheek, turn the other too…Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. (Matt. 5:39, 42)

It’s been my experience that after reading such passages in the Sunday assembly, almost immediately someone will pipe up and say, “Well…we can’t take those verses literally…” Is it that we can’t, or simply that we don’t want to?

Lest I be accused of hypocrisy, let me confess that I do not now—nor have I ever—practiced these commands literally. Furthermore, I have yet to meet a Christian who does so. However, what does that prove? Just because my form of disobedience is popular…that doesn’t make it any less disobedient, does it?

Why are so many so certain that Jesus didn’t mean what He said? I tend to think it’s because we’re afraid that practicing this in its entirety would result in Christians being permanently poor (at least, materially) and persecuted.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume this dire prediction is right. So what? Have we read some passage where Jesus said, “Hey guys, follow Me and everything will be great all the time. You’ll make lots of money. You’ll never get sick. People in the world will love you and say nothing but nice things about you”?

I suggest to you that Jesus was being 100% literal when He gave these commands. I suggest to you that trying to dodge the demands of this passage by saying, “That was under the Old Covenant…” is nothing more than a cop out. I suggest to you that Jesus meant exactly what He said in 5:20, …unless you obey God better than the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees do, you can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all!
I suggest that a proper response to Matt. 5:39 & 42 is not to act as if these verses don’t exist. Rather, we ought to:

(1) Face up squarely to their plain meaning.
(2) Strive, each day, to move a bit closer to the standard of righteousness
practiced by Jesus
(3) Fall on our knees in repentance and gratitude that God accepts us in spite of
our failure to meet the true standard of righteousness
(4) Get comfortable with Julian of Norwich’s prayer: “I do not love Thee as I
ought. I do not even want to love Thee as I ought. But I want, to want to love
Thee as I ought.”

At least, that’s what I think. What will you do with Matt. 5:39, 42?

-- Justin

This song really sums up my struggle with verses like the above (and with discipleship in general). I STRONGLY encourage you to listen to it and give some time to meditate on its meaning. Somewhere in the Middle

For the Kids: Peace coloring page