Do Not Resist The Evil Person

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

Do Not Resist

the Evil Person

Matthew 5:38-42

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

Why do wars start?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (Js 4:1-2, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (Js 4:1-2, ESV).

• James‟ words ring true regardless of the “war.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

How do we prevent wars?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• In this morning‟s text, Jesus tells us how!

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.

▫ These words have been interpreted in different ways.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.


Some have taken these words to advocate non-violence & non-retaliation.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.



Some have said these words are just hyperbole.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.



Some have said these words are just hyperbole. His reaction to his betrayal, arrest, & crucifixion demonstrate otherwise.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Matthew 5:38-42.



Some have said these words are just hyperbole. His reaction to his betrayal, arrest, & crucifixion demonstrate otherwise.

▫ If neither of those interpretations is entirely accurate, what does Jesus mean?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Jesus is speaking of dealing with adversaries through legal means.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ “Resist” means “to oppose in a courtroom.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ If someone wants to sue you & take your tunic, give him your cloak, too.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ If someone wants to sue you & take your tunic, give him your cloak, too.

▫ If a Roman soldier compels you to go one mile, go a second one.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• The picture Jesus paints is that we care so much about people we don‟t care about getting even.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• The picture Jesus paints is that we care so much about people we don‟t care about getting even.

• We want to study these words in their original context & apply them to today.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

AN OLD PUNISHMENTv 38

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Evil Person

• “You have heard that it was said, „An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth‟” (v 38, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• God put retaliation into the Law of Moses.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• That‟s the way the Jews of Jesus‟ day read these words.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ But, that is a gross misinterpretation of what Jesus said.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ But, that is a gross misinterpretation of what Jesus said.

▫ The purpose of these words are not to encourage retaliation, but to limit it.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal‟s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him” (Lev 24:17-20, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal‟s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him” (Lev 24:17-20, ESV).

• The point was to keep the judges from imposing unfair penalties.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Those living under the Law of Moses could not take justice into their own hands.

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Evil Person


▫ Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves.

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Evil Person


▫ Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ Instead, they were to love their neighbors as themselves: (Lev 19:18).

▫ God certainly allowed for justice, but it was the judges who were to execute justice.

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Evil Person




“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman‟s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Ex 21:22-25, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




Ex 21:22-25.

The only time I was permitted to “take justice into my own hands” was if a person who killed a family member was outside a city of refuge.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




Ex 21:22-25.

The only time I was permitted to “take justice into my own hands” was if a person who killed a family member was outside a city of refuge.

Otherwise, judges meted out judgment & they were limited by “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

Aren’t we often like the Jews

& willing to mete out justice

for a wrong done to us?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

For the disciples of Jesus,

there is another way!

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

A NEW PARDONvv 39-42

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (vv 39-42, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Jesus encourages his disciples not to resist the evil person.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ Again, this is the idea of taking him/her to court.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ Again, this is the idea of taking him/her to court.

▫ That idea becomes quite obvious when Jesus says,

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (v 39b, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ The vast majority of people in this world have always been right-handed.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ The only way a right-handed person could strike you on the right cheek is with a back-handed slap.

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Evil Person




In Jewish Palestine, that was the ultimate insult.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




In Jewish Palestine, that was the ultimate insult.

The insult was so grievous that both Jewish & Roman law allowed you to take one to court for it.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• But, Jesus says, “Don‟t go to court—just endure it.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well” (v 40, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ The poorest people in the Empire only had two garments—their tunic, the inner garment, & their cloak, the outer garment.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ What Jesus says here is radical, for the cloak was an inalienable possession.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. If ever you take your neighbor‟s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep?” (Ex 22:25-27).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




Ex 22:25-27.

No one, under any circumstances, could take my cloak.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• But, Jesus says, “If someone wants your tunic, let him have your cloak, too.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (v 41, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ Roman soldiers could compel the Jews to carry their packs for 1,000 paces (a Roman mile).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ Such an action could hardly have sat well with Jesus‟ hearers.

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Evil Person




One of Jesus‟ disciples was “Simon who was called the Zealot” (Lk 6:15, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




One of Jesus‟ disciples was “Simon who was called the Zealot” (Lk 6:15, ESV). The “Zealots” were those who advocated revolution vis-à-vis the Roman government.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person





When Jesus spoke about freedom, the Jews said, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone” (Jn 8:33, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person





When Jesus spoke about freedom, the Jews said, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone” (Jn 8:33, ESV). If you think you aren‟t enslaved, you won‟t be happy about carrying a Roman soldiers‟ pack.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• Jesus says, “Forget what‟s legally required. Go twice as far.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (v 42, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ The Old Testament required interest-free loans.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ The Old Testament required interest-free loans: “You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit” (Lev 25:37, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ The Old Testament required interest-free loans: (Lev 25:37).

▫ But, Jesus goes beyond that & teaches his disciples to be generous.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” (Acts 10:1-2, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person




Acts 10:1-2.

“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35, ESV).

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Evil Person




Acts 10:1-2.

Acts 20:35.

• Let us, as the people of God, be a generous people!

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

What’s the point of all Jesus

has said?

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Evil Person

• Jesus speaks about legal recourse, speaks of dealing with oppressive Roman soldiers, & then closes by speaking of generosity.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Jesus speaks about legal recourse, speaks of dealing with oppressive Roman soldiers, & then closes by speaking of generosity.

• There are several factors at work here.

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Evil Person

• The passage certainly speaks of forgiveness.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• The passage certainly speaks of forgiveness.

• How could I ever forego taking someone to court unless I have forgiven him/her?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

God surely expects his people

to be forgiving.

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Evil Person

• Unless we are forgiving, God will not be forgiving.

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Evil Person

• Unless we are forgiving, God will not be forgiving.

• “If you forgive others their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt 6:14-15, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Because of the mercy God has shown us in Christ, we are to forgive.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• Because of the mercy God has shown us in Christ, we are to forgive.

• “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:32, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• There can be no limit to our forgiveness.

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Evil Person


• “Peter came up and said to him, „Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?‟ Jesus said to him, „I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven‟” (Mt 18:21-22, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ The Jews of Jesus‟ day limited forgiveness to three times.

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Evil Person




▫ But, Jesus ups the ante & says “seventy times seven” or perhaps “seventy-seven times.”

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person





• Seven is the number of perfection/completeness in Judaism.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person





• Seven is the number of perfection/completeness in Judaism.

• Jesus, thus, points Peter beyond a specific number to a completely forgiving spirit.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

How forgiving are we?

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Evil Person

How forgiving are we?Shall we forget the wrongs committed against us?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• The text also speaks of the kindness we are to show to others.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• The text also speaks of the kindness we are to show to others.

• Instead of rushing to court to right a wrong or closing my heart against the needy, I‟m to show kindness & compassion.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

God surely expects his people

to be compassionate.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh” (Is 58:6-7, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh” (Is 58:6-7, ESV).

• But, do we not have a tendency to hide ourselves from our “own flesh”?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• We remember the “Good Samaritan,” because he—unlike the priest & the Levite—involved himself with the wounded man.

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Evil Person


▫ Are we willing to do likewise?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


▫ Are we willing to do likewise?

▫ Do we seek to help those who are “down and out”?

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

• The word of Jesus here calls us out of our comfort zone to care for our abusers & the down trodden.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person


• But, Jesus isn‟t asking us to do anything he hasn‟t done.

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▫ “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Mt 14:14, ESV).

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Evil Person



▫ “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Mt 14:14, ESV). Jesus did not simply “feel” compassion, but he acted.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person



▫ “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Mt 14:14, ESV). Jesus did not simply “feel” compassion, but he acted.

▫ “I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven” (Lk 7:47, ESV).

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

The Lord is waiting to

demonstrate that kindness &

compassion toward you.

Do Not Resist the

Evil Person

The Lord is waiting to

demonstrate that kindness &

compassion toward you.

Will you allow him to do so this morning?

Do Not Resist The Evil Person

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