chapter 5. The text is going to be found in
verse 38. We're going to be looking at the law of an eye for an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth. Our text will be found in verse
38. The Scripture says, "...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. And if
a man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him
have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain. give to him that asketh of thee,
and from him that would borrow of thee, turn thou not away."
Now, I've entitled this, The Justice
of the Law and the Fulfillment of Grace. the justice of the
law and the fulfillment of grace. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, in
beginning this Sermon on the Mount, and as we study this,
we can see that our Lord's Sermon here gives us the intent, His intent,
of expressing these laws. He says in verse 17, "...think
not I am come to destroy the law or the prophets." I am not
come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till
heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called
the great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. And so what the Lord begins to
do now is teach concerning the law. He said, look, I didn't
come to destroy the law or the prophets. I come to fulfill the
law. And I want you to know that the
law, not one jot or one tittle shall ever pass away until it
be fulfilled. See, Christ came to fulfill the
law. And so then in this sermon, Jesus
here is exposing the true nature of the law. He says there's a
reason why your righteousness must exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, because their righteousness is
no righteousness at all. Their righteousness, what they
think is obedience to the law, is actually much less than the
law demands. The law demands much more. And
so then he is exposing the true nature of the law, that sin is
not just outward actions, but rather inward thoughts and motives. Remember, Jesus said, out of
the heart. Precede evil thoughts adulteries
fornications murders. So then outward obedience does
not rectify the inward sin But in order to obey the law it must
come from within and work its way out and so he's exposing
the true nature and you know, he does this through the he said
if you kill it to kill a man the law says don't murder and
But listen, if you're angry with a man, you've killed him already.
If you commit adultery, don't commit adultery. But if you've
lusted on a woman in your heart, you have committed adultery with
her already, Christ said. So it has to do with the true
nature of the law. And because man is full of evil,
therefore we must see that in Christ's exposition here of the
law, the impossibility of our obedience, the impossibility
of our obedience concerning the law. And I want you to know that
I realize that this law that I'm dealing with, what the religious
men would call a governmental law is the law. It's just as vital a portion
of law as thou shalt not kill. It's just as vital a portion
of law as thou shalt love the Lord thy God. That's just as
vital a portion of law as any other. He shows us the impossibility
of this. This is because the old man is
at enmity against God. The reason we can't do these
things... Every one of these things that
Jesus is going to mention here is good. And you can't say one
more thing against it. It's good. Everything He mentions
here is good. And it should be done. You know
it should be done. And yet you cannot do it. and
possibility. So let's look at this law together.
Verse 38, He said, You have heard it said of old, an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now, this law is found in three
portions of Scripture, Exodus 21, 24, Leviticus 24 and verse
20, and Deuteronomy 19, 21. You know what they all say? They
all say the same thing. I'll read the portion in Deuteronomy. It says, Thine eye shall not
pity. But life shall go for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. This
is very self-explanatory. This is a judgment. Now, what
these things have in common is this. This law was not directed
to individuals. This law was not individually
directed to people. This was directed to the magistrates
that God gave authority over so as they should execute judgment
in the nation, that they should execute judgment among the people. And this is because of sin that
such a law was needed. You see, if we were all just,
there would be no need of this law. If every man were just and
would exact a just recompense of reward, then there would be
no need. But because we are sinners, because
we are not just, therefore God instituted this law in order
to maintain or to keep men and restrain them from sin, to keep
them in check. Now, Paul mentions this same
thing in Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13 and verse 1, He said, Let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers
that be ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation. For the rulers are not a terror
to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of them. For he is the minister of God
to thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword
in vain, for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, you must needs be
subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake."
Paul is telling us that even under Nero, Consider that. Paul wrote this while he was
in prison, falsely accused, waiting the sentence of death, and he
said, look, God ordained these men. God put these men in here,
not for evil, but for good, to restrain evil intentions. Do you not thank God that we
live in this nation? Now, this nation is supposedly
a nation of laws. It should be. It was before. But now, you know, our laws are
somewhat laxed, aren't they? They're somewhat... It's no longer
eye for eye, is it? It's no longer a just, recompensive
reward. You have some people who commit
small crimes being put in prison for long terms, and you have
some people who murder who are in prison for just a few years.
You see, that's not real justice. But it's better than other places
who are over-abounding. You know, in some countries,
if you steal a stick of bubble gum, they'll cut your hand off.
Well, that's not justice either, is it? That's not justice either. But this law, this law here is
to prevent both excessive judgment and lax judgment. An eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth, is just JUST. It is right. It is right. And we know this
because God is just. God is just. And so then, the
second thing, the true nature of this law, the Pharisees misinterpreted
and did not fully understand this law. Matter of fact, they
understood in a very aggressive and self-righteous way. They
understood it as the individual's right to exact justice. This
is what, as reading this, they called this the law of retribution. The law of retribution. That
it was everyone's right to exact this law as they saw it was just. But again, this was not written
for individuals. It was written for magistrates
to execute judgment. This was because by nature we
are not just people. When somebody hurts you, what
do you want? You want justice. You say, I want this. I want
them to suffer what they did to me. No, you don't want justice. You want revenge. That's not
justice. That's revenge. They pluck out
our eye, we want both theirs. We want more than justice. We want revenge. I'll tell you this, if someone
hurt my family, I would want more than justice. If someone hurt my children,
I'd want more than justice. I'd want to make them pay more
than I hurt. More than I hurt. But we know
that this is the nature of man, not to seek justice but revenge. Therefore, Christ Jesus expresses
the true nature of this law as it should be in the heart of
the victim. Look at your text. You heard
it said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you..."
Now He's giving us the true nature of this, the true heart of one
who has been offended, one who has been hit, one who's lost
a tooth, one who has lost an eye. He says this, "...resist
not the evil." Resist not the evil. What does He mean by that? I'll tell you several things
it's not. I guess I'll take Gil's commentary. He does this. He tells you what
it's not before he tells you what it is. Well, Jesus is not
saying that we should be pacifists. That's not what he's saying.
A lot of people take that verse and they say, well, see, you're
supposed to let them take your eye. You're supposed to let them
take your tooth. No. As we're going to see, this is
after they've already taken, after they've already offended.
Not before. So he's not saying be a pacifist.
He's not saying get rid of the police. He's not saying... And
people use that. I'm telling you, in this generation
of anti-police and government authority, that's what they would
use to say, look, well, Jesus didn't believe in that. He said,
don't resist. Don't resist evil things. You
don't need police. That's not what he's saying.
This nature... This is not the nature of this
law, nor is it what Jesus is teaching. And second, it's not
teaching that He is adding to the law of an eye for an eye,
but rather showing the individual's part in the law. That it's not
retribution that is to be shown after the fact, but love, grace. by the individual. Now, the government,
the law, should exact a just recompense, but the individual
is not to resist what the law had stated to be just. He's not
to resist it. Thirdly, he is not teaching us
not to resist sin. Now, that would be foolish to
think he's saying, don't resist evil temptations. No. The Scriptures are full. Resist
the devil and he will flee from you. Little children sin not,"
John said. And Paul says about false religion,
he said, let them be accursed. Anybody who's preaching the false...
So we are to defend the gospel. You're allowed to defend yourself.
If someone is attacking you, he's not saying just lay down
and be passive. No. Not what he's teaching at
all. So what is he saying? Resist
not the evil. Go over to Romans chapter 12,
and Paul will explain this very clear. Romans chapter 12 and
verse 17. Here it is. Recompense no man
evil for evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. if it be possible, as much as
lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." Resist not the
evil. Recompense no man evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thy enemy
hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.
For in doing so thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome with evil, but
overcome evil with good." This is what Christ is saying the
law is intended here. Jesus is teaching us That we
are taught to give place to wrath or vengeance or to avenge ourselves,
but rather give wrath to whom it belongs. Now, who does vengeance
belong to? Who does wrath belong to? It
belongs to God. It doesn't belong to us. It belongs
to God. Yet it is our nature to take
revenge. But the nature of the law is
that of justice, is in the hands of God and not our own. To obey
the law, then we must fully, constantly, perpetually resist
the evil urge of revenge and rely completely on God for to avenge us. Now then, let me
get down to it. Alright, who's done that? Who's just among us? And, after you've been hurt,
who among us has not felt the need for revenge? That's what
it is to obey this law. That's what it is. It is to leave
vengeance where it belongs, in the hand of God. Jesus here gives
us four examples of this, of resisting not evil. Look at these
examples here, these things. He says, "...but whosoever shall
smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him also the other."
If any man shall sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat,
let him have thy cloak also. Whosoever shall compel thee to
go mild, go with him too, and give to him that asketh thee
from him that would borrow thee, turn thou not away." So the first
thing is injury to body or our integrity. Whosoever shall smite
thee on the one cheek, turn the other also. We are injured by
others. Jesus is not telling us not to
defend ourselves, but this is after we have been struck. After one has struck us. If somebody wants to hit you,
you put up your hand. It's not saying you shouldn't
defend yourself. But after the blow has been made, are we then to retaliate? against
him. No. He says, turn the other cheek,
give them a fresh one to hit. In this, we see the command of
forgiveness and forgetfulness. Most of our injuries, though,
are not physical in nature, but emotional, aren't they? They're
verbal. Injuries today most of us. I
mean, we're not all of us being hit or beaten and some countries
I'm sure that Christians face these things, but in most of
ours are words They try to ruin our character by lies and Jesus
says after it's done resist it not But give them give no thought
of revenge I Who's done this? Who's done this? Secondly, the
loss of one's estate. If any man will sue thee at the
law and take thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. These words,
sue at the law, is not necessarily an open court, but one that strives
or contends over your coat. One that takes something that
belongs to you and rightfully belongs to you and takes it away
from you. You see, this law is leave it,
leave it to the court, leave it to the magistrate. In other
words, let them have it. And if they take it, give them
your cloak also. Don't resist. Here it is. Take
my coat. Take that. Take more. We've all had someone contend for our material possessions. And it is our nature not only
to take back what's ours, but take more. I do remember when
they were little kids, Andrew went in and took something from
Audrey's room. And when she found out, she went
into his room and not only took back what was hers, but took
more. Why? That's our nature. We don't
want just what they took. We want more. We want more. Jesus says, no. Matter of fact,
whatever they took, give them more than they took. Let it go. And thirdly, wrong done to our
liberty. Look at that. He said, he that
will constrain you to go mild, go with him too. And this word
constrain, it doesn't mean ask. It means by force, by force. I was talking to Joe this last
week and he had said something that this was not only, it was
a Roman law at the time. that the Roman could come to
a Jew and make him, by force, carry his stuff for one mile. And Jesus said, no, don't go
with him one. To obey the law, you should go with him two. Go
with him more. Whatever he asked, do more. Some of our, your bosses, let's
put, I'm just going to, rubber meets the road here. Your bosses
ask more than they pay you for. Ask more of us. I remember, that's
what happened to me many times. And you know what? Was my heart
to go twain? No! No! I resisted at every turn,
not to go any more than I had to. We have this mentality, if
the minimum wasn't good enough, it wouldn't be the minimum. That's how some people work.
No, that's not what He says. He said, look, if He's forcing
you, you should just willingly go and take it. Now then, the fourth thing is
giving. He said, verse 42, "...give to him that asketh thee, and
of him that would borrow thee, turn thou not away." Now listen,
this is talking about the man that hits you. The man that took
your coat, the man that compelled you to go one mile, made you
go one mile with him, and you went too, now he comes to your
door and he's hungry. And what is the law concerning
this? Give it. And don't think twice about it.
Give. Give it to him. We, by nature,
surely would give to our friends. But would you give to the man
that stole from you? Would you give? And I'm not talking
about just giving like this. I'm talking from a pure heart
of love. Give it to him. Give it to him. So now then you know the true
nature of this law. All right. Have you done it? Have you done it? And I'm not asking, have you
done it once? Have you done it continually? Anyone who desires
to be under the law, remember, whosoever shall live under the
law shall live in the things of the law continually. Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. This included. This included. So again, as I reiterated this
morning, anybody who wants to go by the Ten Commandments must
also go by this law and obey it fully, completely,
perfectly, daily, forever. Have we always turned the other
cheek? Have we always been of the mind
to give the thief that took from us even more than he took? We have never been really just. We are only revengeful people
by nature. We are only sinful, wicked people. This is who we are. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight." But listen, I'm
going to tell you of one who has done every one of these things.
Now listen, the law is good if it is used lawfully. Now, we
who believe on Jesus Christ, we know this, that Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. In
other words, this law we do not obey in order to obtain righteousness
or being justified before God. This law, we do not seek to obey
it to obtain righteousness. That has already been done by
Jesus Christ. But I tell you what, this law
is good and profitable for us in that we may see Christ in
it. You see, using the law lawfully
is good. Isn't that what we use the law
for? To see Christ? I want to see Christ by faith
in the law and the prophets. We don't exclude the law now.
I know some people, there are some people who don't even use
the Old Testament at all. Well, that's foolishness. How
else did Paul know Christ except to see him in the Old Testament
scriptures? And so that's what we should
do here. First of all, I want us to know this. This law shows
us that God is just, that He demands justice, that He Himself
will exact justice, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now what does God just demand
for sin? What is the just punishment for
sin? Eternal damnation. One sin is worthy of a just reward
of eternal damnation. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. And because God is eternal, all
sin is against Him is eternal. God cannot and will not ever
excuse sin. And yet we have all sought revenge,
we have all not turned the other cheek, we have all coveted our
possessions, we have in anger been forced into labor without
compensation, and we do not give without begrudging. This is who
we are. We by nature deserve the justice
of God. Yet Jesus said, I am come not
to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law." Fulfill the law. How then can we see Jesus in
this law? Okay, first of all, look at this. He turned the other cheek. Go over to Isaiah chapter 50. Isaiah chapter 50 and verse 5. It says, "...the Lord God," this
is Christ speaking, "...the Lord God hath opened mine ear, and
I was not rebellious, neither turned away back." I gave my
back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the
hair. I hid my face, hid not my face,
from shame and spitting." And here was his confidence, "...for
the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like steel." like a flint. And I know that I shall not be
ashamed." Here, He who is God, very God, became man, very man, for this purpose. He came into
the earth in the form of a servant. That's what it is. He opened
mine ear as they open the servant's ear with the awe. He became a willing servant of
God. Because God would save His people,
because He would not write us a bill of divorcement, We who have sold ourselves into
slavery by our iniquities. Yet he was not rebellious. When
he opened his ear, he was a willing servant and he turned his back
to the justice of God and gave his cheeks to the smiters. And from our shame, our sin, You realize that He was despised
and rejected of men. Here's His first smite, isn't
it? The rejection of those He came to save. Our rejection is
the first smite. And what's the second one? That
one was from God. He was rejected of men. A man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. And you know, when our sins were
made His own, He did not despise to take them. He turned not away from the work
of our salvation. knowing the full measure of it.
In Gethsemane, He had sweat as it were, great drops of blood,
because He knew of the condemnation and shame that He must face for
our sins upon the tree. And yet He did this willingly.
He willingly gave a fresh cheek to God. He alone earned a great recompense
for our sins. Yet how did He bear it with us? Did He not give us a fresh cheek
of grace? After He had been stricken of
God and afflicted, how did He come to you? Did He come to you
in anger? Did He come to you in malice,
or did He come to you with a heart of grace and mercy? Did He not
turn the other cheek? Yes. He did not resist the evil,
the wrath of God He did not resist, but He bore it for us. And yet does He not still every
day extend a fresh forgiveness and grace to us every day? How often do we wound Him? And yet every day He gives grace. Every day. Died He for me who
caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued
amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for
me?" Secondly, He did not give to us who would rob God of His
glory. Did He not give us more? We who
strive to take the glory of God, Yet, we who believe on Christ,
do you realize that He gave us all the glory? His own glory? We, by nature, contended to God
for His glory. Man, by nature, always strives
to rob God of His glory. That's what our Father did, didn't
He? When Adam took the fruit, he took what belonged to God.
He robbed God of His glory. God said, this is My glory. And
he said, I'll have it for myself. Isn't this what works religion
does? God says, my glory is Christ. My glory is in my Son. And what
do we seek to do? We seek to have cooperative salvation,
as though we are to share in the glory of God. Christ did all He can do, and
the rest is up to you. What is that but trying to rob
God of His glory? in our sin we as thieves, like
our fathers, seek to rob God of His glory. We lost communion
with the Father, we lost everything, fellowship, but this man Jesus
restored to the robbers even more than we took. He by His one offering hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Jesus said, of His elect." He
says this in John 17, 22, "...and the glory which Thou hast given
Me." Listen, I have given them. What you took, He gave more. He gave more. And thirdly, He was made to go
a mile, yet He went to. He was constrained. He was constrained
because of our sins. The only hope for us was for
Him to redeem us by His one offering for sin. And He was, listen,
He went willingly. But I tell you this, He was constrained
to go. He was constrained by that covenant
of grace in eternity between Him and the Father. He was constrained
to do the work. And he was constrained by the
justice of God. You remember, in that covenant
of grace, he was to restore the glory of God. He was to magnify
the law and make it honorable. He was constrained by the glory
of God to do that. And yet, not only did he do this,
he did it doubly well. He not only went one, He went
all the way. Isaiah 40 and verse 2, listen
to this, tell me if it doesn't say it. Speak comfortably to
Jerusalem, crying to her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand, what? Double. For all her sins. His blood didn't just barely
cover, it doubly covered all our sins. Believers see at the comfort
of this that Christ's blood was more than sufficient, of more
value than all your sins. You realize that if He wanted
to, He could have saved 10 billion worlds with His blood. And it's
still been double. and it's still been that's how great of value his
blood you not suppose that he can cover just your Yeah, He has. And thirdly, and
fourthly, He gives to us without regard of our sins, but according
to His grace. Listen to this, "...give unto
him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of
thee turn thou not away." Think for a moment that any blessings of this life
are because of His goodness. Any blessings we receive is because
of His goodness. Men ask things of God that aren't
even God's children, and yet He still, in kindness, gives
to them. How much more to us who are His
children? Did you not find it so when you
came to Him first and asked of Him grace? Did He turn you away? Did He
turn you away? to every sinner in need of mercy,
and comes asking for forgiveness and salvation through Christ
alone, he will never cast out." He said that in John chapter
6. John chapter 6. He said, "...all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." I will in no wise cast out. He will not cast out one sinner
who comes empty." Now that's important, isn't it? Empty. Empty
of what? Righteousness. Empty of merit. Full need of mercy. He said,
I will not turn away, but give unto them what? Eternal life. And to us who even come now,
does He not always give you fresh grace? Do you not ask of Him daily?
Yet, you're the one that smote Him. You're the one that sought
to rob Him. You're the one that compelled
Him to go the mile. It was because of your sin. He
must be compelled to go, Twain. And yet, what does He do? Does
He require justice from you? No. He gives you mercy. He gives you mercy. And so then, as believers in
Christ, can you not see then the value of this law? The law that you could not do,
Christ did. Now then, that law to me is valuable.
Not that I should obey this law for justification, but that I
should see Christ has done this on my behalf. Not only the weightier
matters of the law, but the smaller matters of the law were necessary
to obtain mercy, or to obtain justification. And yet He did
it all. He did it all. See, this is how
the law is to be used lawfully. And I'm not to go around trying
to obey this law for justification. But what I do, as believers in
Christ, should we not then imitate Him? I mean, can you not find this
useful in your daily life? So as to imitate Christ. How? Vengeance is mine, I will
repay, saith the Lord. When one man strikes, should
we not turn the other cheek? When one takes from us, should
we not just freely give? Aren't these possessions going
to be burned up anyway? What use are we to these things? We've
got no use for them. What do we do when someone contends
and forces us? What if we become slaves? What
are we to do? Obey your masters. This is good. And what are we to do when someone
who's hurt us or abused us should come to us and seek things? Should
we not freely give? Now why would we do all these
things? Are we doing these things because they're the law? No. No. Matter of fact, we do more
than what the law requires. We follow Christ. We follow Christ. We live as He lived because we
love Him. Love is the constraining motivation
for these things. Faith in Christ is the constraining
motivation for these things, not law. All the law does is
show me my guilt and point me to Christ. Now, what that did,
did that law not point you to Christ? Do you not see Christ
in the law? Yes. Now, that's the law being
used lawfully. God's Word is beautiful, isn't
it? Just when you think you knew
everything, you find out something else.
God teaches us something new and fresh concerning His Son.
I pray that God give us grace to take this to heart. Learn
what Christ has done. Why? Then we can rejoice and
find peace and rest. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.