Practice What He Preached
First of all, let’s suppose that you’re a Jew walking down a street in Jerusalem, & you see some folks gathered over here talking politics. And they’re arguing about some changes Herod wants to make in the Welfare program. And you know some of them, so there you are, standing on the outskirts of their circle, listening to it all. Then someone turns to you & asks, "What do you think?" So you begin to express your opinion.
But as you talk you become aware of a man whose face is getting redder & becoming more & more angry as he listens to your comments. Finally, he steps up right in front of you & says, "That is the stupidest reasoning I’ve ever heard in my life." Then, BAM, he hits you.
What are you going to do? The Law says, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." The Law entitles you to hit him back.
In the Old Testament, it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was not revenge, but it was justice. Revenge happens when we feel that justice was not served, so God in His wisdom said that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth would make sure that people would not seek revenge.
When Jesus pointed out this well-known Law, He was quoting directly from three Old Testament passages: Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; and Deuteronomy 19:21. There the principle of exact justice was put forth. The justice required in this law is that the punishment must fit the crime precisely. In Exodus it speaks of "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Additionally, in Leviticus it speaks of "fracture for fracture."
A farmer followed this principle of justice. He had been annoyed by people parking their car on the back side of his orchard, climbing the fence and eating his apples without asking permission. One day, as he walked up to them, one of them said, "We hope you don’t mind that we took a few of your apples." "No, not at all," said the farmer, "and I hope you don’t mind that I took some of the air out of your tires."
It’s the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And you’ve all heard the saying, “I don’t get mad, I get even.”
Retaliation has been the way of human beings since the beginning of time. This is how gangs work. You come on our turf, we come on yours. You mess with our women, we’re gonna mess with yours. You shoot one of us, we have to shoot one of yours. I’m sure you’ve driven enough to see one driver get cut off by another. Many times, right after giving that special salute, the driver who was cut off retaliates by “getting even”. People love the idea of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. We think that this is justice. The only problem is that sooner or later the entire world will be blind and toothless.
But Jesus says, "Don’t retaliate. Instead, turn the other cheek, because I’m not talking about getting even. I’m talking about love.”
Our problem is we don’t see in this statement what Jesus wants us to see. We see somebody getting hit and we don’t see more because we are thinking about this in terms of 21st century culture. In the culture of Christ’s time, a backhanded slap was the greatest insult possible. As a matter of fact, it was twice as insulting as being slapped with the palm of the hand. It was very humiliating. So, if you turned the other cheek you were, in effect, saying, “you’re not going to humiliate me!”
Jesus goes on to say in verse 40, “and if anyone wants to sue you and take you coat, give your cloak as well.” The coat that He was talking about refers to the sack-like inner garment worn by men. It could be long-sleeved or short-sleeved, depending on the season, and reached from the shoulders to the knee, much like what we call long underwear. Even the poorest man owned more than a single tunic.
The cloak, on the other hand, was their outer garment. It cost much more than the coat and only wealthy men owned more than one. When traveling, men often slept under their cloaks. It was like a long poncho and served as both tent and bedroll. The cloak was such an important part of the Jews wardrobe that the law protected it. We are told in Exodus 22:26-27, “If you take your neighbor’s cloak as pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbors only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep?”
So what is basically being said is don’t just give him your clothes give him your undies too. Give him your undies and see how embarrassed they get. Nakedness is taboo in Jewish society.
Jesus continues on, “and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” Here is a picture taken from an occupied country and Roman soldiers had the legal right to pick on anyone to carry their bags for a mile. I’ve read that as a result, every Jew who lived in the country had marked off a mile each way on the road from his house & had driven a peg down to mark that spot exactly. It’s tough for us to even imagine what Christ is talking about because we can’t imagine being forced to do anything.
But, go the second mile and see what that does to the soldier. Imagine how embarrassed he will be when he tells his fellow soldiers what you did and they don’t believe it.
In the crucifixion story these three things come up again:
The soldiers slapping Jesus’ face.
Them stripping his clothes off his back and
Making him carry a cross,
And EVEN AFTER ALL THIS, Jesus said “Father, forgive them.”
Jesus didn’t retaliate. No “eye for eye”, no “tooth for tooth”.
But Jesus isn’t done. No, He continues on and interprets the law of loving your neighbor. It is true, the law commanded you shall love your neighbor; but the scribes and Pharisees put words in God’s mouth by saying, “hate your enemy”. This is the only place in the Bible you will find this phrase.
God meant you shall love your neighbor in the sense that all people are our neighbors, even our enemies. Note here, Jesus says we will have enemies and the way to respond to them is with love, trusting in God to take care of our enemies by turning them into friends. In doing this, we are imitating God, who shows love towards His enemies by making his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sending rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
Jesus has given a series of challenges. Turn the other cheek. Take off your clothes and go without for others. Go the extra mile. Love your enemies. All tough challenges. Finally, in verse 48, Jesus presents the ultimate challenge, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
If a man could live the way Jesus has told us to in this chapter, he would truly be perfect
a. He would never hate, slander or speak evil of another person
b. He would never lust in his heart or mind, and not covet anything
c. He would never make a false oath, and always be completely truthful
d. He would let God defend his personal rights, and not take it upon himself to defend those rights
e. He would always love his neighbors, and even his enemies!
Such a man would truly have righteousness greater than the scribe and the Pharisees mentioned in vs. 20. But we all know there is only one man who has ever lived like this: Jesus Christ. Jesus, in our scripture for today, told us how to live, but further, JESUS PRACTICED WHAT HE PREACHED. Jesus showed us what to do and how to do it. By following Jesus’ example, I’m convinced that the greatest sermon we can preach is the life that we live, & the way that we live it.
One of the most moving stories in all of scripture is the story of the hard, callused Roman Centurion standing at the foot of the cross. He has studied Jesus now for several hours. He watched Him when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He saw Him as He stood before Pilate. He watched them mock Him as they put a crown of thorns on His head & a reed in His hand, & a purple robe on His shoulders.
He listened to the insulting remarks that were made again & again. He watched Jesus being beaten. He watched carefully as Jesus carried His cross, & when the nails were driven into His hands & feet. He heard Jesus cry out, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And he watched as Jesus breathed His last breath. Then that hard, callused Roman Centurion said, "Truly, this was the Son of God."
Do you know why he said that? He said that because Jesus turned the other cheek. He said that because when they stripped Him of His robe, Jesus didn’t retaliate. He said that because on the cross, Jesus went the second mile.
If we follow Jesus’ example of turning the other cheek, going the second mile, etc., then we too can show the same love for others that Jesus did. And when we do this, I believe we can have the same effect on people. And trust me, we won’t end up blind and toothless.
