12/24/2023 0 Comments An eye for an eye![]() I’ve noticed something interesting in our fight for rights. That doesn’t cut it with the human heart. That’s antithetical to everything in human society. And if anybody needs what you’ve got, give it or loan it.” If somebody asks you to go a mile, go two. If somebody sues and takes your coat, give him your cloak. But Jesus said, “If somebody hits you on the right cheek, give him your left. It had become a license for vengeance, it had become a basis for a vendetta, it had become a sort of a biblical permission to have a grudge, to strike back. That’s the way it was being applied in Jesus’ time. That’s part of human nature, to not let anybody get away with anything until you’ve told them or let them know they can’t do that to you.īasically, that’s at the heart of the Jewish miscomprehension of an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: give them what they’re due. I was trying to analyze why America was so in love with John Wayne and why it was such a tremendous loss to the country to lose him, and I think it was because John Wayne, in a sense, is the national symbol of the crusty, tough, take-nothing-from-nobody kind of folk hero that really symbolizes American attitudes. They are the strong and the tough and the courageous and the macho, and our society looks down on the meek and the non-retaliating, the gentle, the forgiving, the gracious, the merciful person who demands nothing from anybody, and we say he’s a weakling and a coward. Why, you can’t do that.” He said, “That’s one.”ĭeep down in the human heart is this retaliatory, get-even kind of thing, and in our society, frankly, we make heroes out of the kind of people who take nothing from nobody, who don’t stand any guff. I always remember the story of the bride and groom who got in the horse and buggy days and rode off on their honeymoon, and the horse bolted, and the guy said, “That’s one.” Horse bolted again, he said, “That’s two.” The horse bolted yet again, he said, “That’s three,” took out a gun and killed the horse. ![]() Part of the curse of sin, and it’s there in all of us, and it comes out in most strange ways. That was him demanding his rights to a certain area of the freeway upon which no one was allowed to infringe.ĭeep down in the human heart is a retaliatory, vengeful, spiteful spirit. And so for the next five miles, he was behind me, flashing on and off his bright lights, then honk, on and off with the lights. I didn’t think I hit him, but apparently, I dented his psyche. The other night, I was driving home with my family and we pulled onto the freeway, and apparently pulled in front of somebody a little more closely than he thought. In fact, it’s not uncommon in our society to hear somebody say, “You’ll never get away with that. We have unions to demand rights for the employees. We have had movements along the line of civil rights and women’s rights and children’s rights and prisoners’ rights. In fact, maybe in our society we’ve never been bigger on rights than we are nowadays. One element of the great American philosophy of life is that we all have certain inalienable rights. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him two. And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’ but I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. We come this morning to a very, very potent, insightful, and misunderstood passage of Scripture, Matthew 5, verse 38. We’ve been doing it on Sunday night and just the last two weeks have moved to Sunday morning for our study of Matthew. ![]() This is message number 44 in our Matthew series.
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