Matthew 6:1-4

In this chapter Jesus continues to call men to a righteousness that exceeds that of the religious experts.  But He now moves from common issues of life (like hatred, revenge, adultery) to what we might call religious practices.  In 6:1-18 He talks about giving, praying and fasting.  In each He calls into question the way people called attention to themselves as they performed these duties or disciplines.  Instead Jesus calls men to do them in secret before God.  

Verse 1 is probably an introduction to the entire section.  Jesus says, do not do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by men (NKJV says charitable deeds both here and in v2).  The acts He refers to are giving of alms, praying and fasting.  Note that He does not eliminate the need for acts of righteousness.  God created us for good works (Eph. 2:10).  Christ redeemed us that we might do good works (Titus 2:14).  True faith produces good works (James 2:20).  

Rather the issue is doing dead works (Heb. 6:1; 9:14; Phil. 3:4-11).  A dead work is a religious activity done so as to earn the favor of God.  Even more, the issue is with doing works for the favor of men (v1: to be seen by them).  Do we not understand this?  We are to live lives of good works that those around us might be turned in their attention to God (Matt. 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12).  But we are not to do those works in such a way as to turn their attention to us.

Take the matter of charity.  We are called to give to the needy.  It is part of loving our neighbor.  The act of charity, done in the name of Christ, can be used by God to draw the heart of the needy to Christ.  But in the process of doing this work we can, in fact, draw attention to ourselves.  We can announce in some way to others what we are about to do.  We can make sure we are seen as we do our work.  But to do this is to be a hypocrite.  The Greek term speaks of an actor, one who plays the part on stage, a pretender.  Thus the one who honors himself by his religion is a pretender; he is not serving God, regardless of the size of the gift or the sacrifice involved in the work.

Jesus calls people to an intentional privacy in the matter of giving.  His words imply we are to be as secret as possible.  Obviously our actions will at times unavoidably be known by some, but as in the previous chapter, so here, Jesus is concerned with our hearts.  We know down inside why we are doing what we are doing in the matter of charity.  And so does God.  The one who simply serves Him He will reward openly.

Perhaps you are a person who attends church regularly.  This is certainly the right thing for a Christian to do.  So now we must ask ourselves:  why are we there?  Why are we involved in ministry in that church, or in our neighborhood or community?  Is there even the hint of pride, of hoping to be seen by men?  Jesus calls us to own up to our hypocrisy.

Matthew 5:43-48

If you think Jesus is confronting us with an impossible righteousness, this passage makes the impossible harder.  He here refers to a law (love your neighbor) found in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18) and joins it to a commonly accepted thought (hate your enemy) not found in the Old Testament.  While not found there it was nevertheless inferred from passages like Deut. 23:3-6.  The distinction between Israelites and foreigners, based in Israel’s relationship with God, often came to mean in Jesus’ day that Gentiles (all non-Israelites) were to be hated.  

For people today we also understand and tend to accept the idea that it is okay to hate your enemy.  It goes along with the idea of retaliation as well as the issues of hatred and divorce referred to earlier by Jesus.  How can one possibly be asked to love someone who intentionally is at enmity with him?  And yet that is exactly what Jesus says (v44, But I say to you).  The impossible gets harder. 

This love is to be expressed in acts of kindness.  It is to pray in faith for them.  It is to reject the tendency to only be nice to those who are nice to us.  It is to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.  The impossible gets harder.

While this may seem a bit much, in fact Jesus’ explanation makes perfect sense.  He is calling people, created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27-28) to be like God.  The Creator continues to be kind to all mankind, both those who love Him and those who reject Him.

Let us be sure we understand the enemy.  The term is related to the term enmity, both in Greek and English.  The idea is that our enemy is simply someone who is at odds with us.  It’s not just the buffoon who lives next door but is separated by a well-built fence.  It’s not just the self-centered relative two states away that we just have to avoid at the occasional reunion.  The enemy might be our spouse, our partner, or our friend.  This person close to us may be treating us with enmity, and is thus in the role of enemy.  Whether they are far away or nearby Jesus calls us to a God-like relationship with them.  As God loved us while we were sinners (Rom. 5:8) so we are to love and speak well or and be kind to those who speak ill of us and hate us.  The impossible gets harder.

Remember Jesus’ words earlier in the chapter.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20).  Jesus loved those He spoke to.  He loves us.  He desires we enter His Kingdom.  But to enter His Kingdom means we leave the kingdom we are now in; and many of us are trying to be at home where we are.  Jesus knows the result of that thinking is disastrous (remember the references to hell in 5:22,29-30 as well as the sadness of living lives of hatred).  

Consider your relationships.  Who are your enemies?  Do you love them?  Do you speak well of them?  Are you reaching out in kindness?

Matthew 5:38-42

Again Jesus reaches outside the Ten Commandments, and again He makes reference to something with which everyone who hears His words can identify.  Lex talionis is the law of retaliation.  In different forms it dates back to earliest times in human history.  It is referred to three times in the Old Testament (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:30; Deut. 19:21).  The original intention was to restrict unlimited revenge.  It was not intended as an excuse for individual retaliation but generally belonged in the law court.  Nevertheless an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth was taken literally (Ex. 21:22-25; Lev. 24:19-22; Deut. 19:15-21).

In our own day retaliation or revenge is often not only a right but a heroic and admirable trait.  It is a common movie line where the hero chases and finally kills the villain who has done some unjust thing.  Everyone has a feeling of justice and satisfaction as the revenge is taken. 

Jesus words are sometimes misunderstood, and it is assumed that He calls for a lifestyle that is impossible.  Let us consider each verse.

·        v39: The slapping signifies disrespectful or insulting treatment, much as a backhanded slap might indicate today.  Jesus does not, we believe, deny the validity of the justice system.  Nor is He requiring, for example, a woman to passively submit to physical abuse from her husband.  Rather this is a principle further explained in 1 Peter 2:20-23 and 4:14-16 involving unjust treatment for righteousness sake.

·        v40-42: Likewise He is not requiring a person to leave the courtroom naked (the tunic is the undergarment, the cloak the more expensive outer garment).  Rather He calls for non-retaliation, leaving personal revenge in God’s hands (Rom. 12:17-21).  Giving more than is demanded, going the second mile, and generously giving to all who ask are means by which one overcomes evil.  They are also life-choices that are good to the one who follows Jesus in this way.  Revenge might gain an immediate victory but long term leads to poor relationships.  What Jesus calls for is, in fact, good for all involved.

However, let us be clear.  The issue with revenge is not seeing that it is good for us.  The authority is found in the words: But I tell you (v39).  This is what Jesus says.  He strikes at our tendency to get even and then to feel good about it.  What Jesus calls for He lived.  It is no more clearly seen than in His forgiving attitude towards the very ones who crucified Him (Lk. 23:34).

Will you acknowledge that in your life you have disagreed with Jesus in that matter?  Have you reacted vengefully when people disrespect you?  Have you become angry with those who have taken advantage of you?