Jesus said to the crowds, "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 an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." --Matt. 5:38-42
In a world that is so revenge-driven, these words of Jesus sound like fingernails on a chalk board. "What do you mean I can't get even? Do you know what that person did to me? Do you have any idea? Oh no, I'm getting even. I have my rights." Even today, as it was back then, these words of Christ are earth-shattering.
And yet they sound so wishy-washy and mamby-pamby. It makes it sound like Jesus is saying "Just sit there and take it. In fact, put yourself in a position to take some more of it. Even better, volunteer to take more and more of it." Yeah, great Jesus; just what I wanted to hear: when your life is crappy, seek out more crap. This saying of Jesus is really hard to understand...unless one looks at it from the vantage point of the Cross.
Easter and Lent were not so long ago in our Church Year. In fact, Easter was celebrated just about two months ago, which means Good Friday wasn't far away either. The yearly reminder of the Passion of Christ. A remembrance of how Jesus bore it all: the lies, the verbal barbs, the flogging, the shame, the pain, the suffering, the dying. All of this we sum up in the word "Passion." In the Passion, Jesus lives out these words from Matthew.
He doesn't follow his own advice to become a non-violent protester ala Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr., et al. In the Passion, as he takes all the abuse, Jesus is picking his fight. His real fight isn't with the people who are abusing, beating, and crucifying him. His real fight is with the unseen forces and dark powers that are holding these same people captive by God's perfect law. His real fight is with the sin that these people fail to recognize. And so, Jesus doesn't treat the symptoms, he goes straight for the heart of the problem.
So it is with revenge. It's not our role as Christians to make sure that we are "even." We will never be even; we will always be in debt to the one who endured the suffering of the Cross. It is our role to pick our fights and rather than fighting with the symptoms of sin in our life (i.e. those who would persecute us, harm us, etc.), we are called to love them, walk with them a bit in their sin, and preach the Cross in the hopes that they would be forgiven. We endure it not because we are weak and can't change our lot in life. We endure it because we have been made strong by a God who has endured more than we can imagine. And, in enduring it, we hope to win the ultimate war by losing a battle or two.
In a world that is so revenge-driven, these words of Jesus sound like fingernails on a chalk board. "What do you mean I can't get even? Do you know what that person did to me? Do you have any idea? Oh no, I'm getting even. I have my rights." Even today, as it was back then, these words of Christ are earth-shattering.
And yet they sound so wishy-washy and mamby-pamby. It makes it sound like Jesus is saying "Just sit there and take it. In fact, put yourself in a position to take some more of it. Even better, volunteer to take more and more of it." Yeah, great Jesus; just what I wanted to hear: when your life is crappy, seek out more crap. This saying of Jesus is really hard to understand...unless one looks at it from the vantage point of the Cross.
Easter and Lent were not so long ago in our Church Year. In fact, Easter was celebrated just about two months ago, which means Good Friday wasn't far away either. The yearly reminder of the Passion of Christ. A remembrance of how Jesus bore it all: the lies, the verbal barbs, the flogging, the shame, the pain, the suffering, the dying. All of this we sum up in the word "Passion." In the Passion, Jesus lives out these words from Matthew.
He doesn't follow his own advice to become a non-violent protester ala Ghandi or Martin Luther King Jr., et al. In the Passion, as he takes all the abuse, Jesus is picking his fight. His real fight isn't with the people who are abusing, beating, and crucifying him. His real fight is with the unseen forces and dark powers that are holding these same people captive by God's perfect law. His real fight is with the sin that these people fail to recognize. And so, Jesus doesn't treat the symptoms, he goes straight for the heart of the problem.
So it is with revenge. It's not our role as Christians to make sure that we are "even." We will never be even; we will always be in debt to the one who endured the suffering of the Cross. It is our role to pick our fights and rather than fighting with the symptoms of sin in our life (i.e. those who would persecute us, harm us, etc.), we are called to love them, walk with them a bit in their sin, and preach the Cross in the hopes that they would be forgiven. We endure it not because we are weak and can't change our lot in life. We endure it because we have been made strong by a God who has endured more than we can imagine. And, in enduring it, we hope to win the ultimate war by losing a battle or two.
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