Daily Devotion

I’ll give a little warning at the start here. This post is a little longer than normal. Normally, I try to keep the blog posts to a few paragraphs, but I felt this topic needed a little more.

Evil is all around us.

We live in a fallen and sinful world and we can’t go a day without someone doing something that harms us…or we doing something that harms someone else.

But how are we, as Christians, to respond when being harmed in some way?

The passage from Matthew 5:38-42 can guide us, but we need to understand it in its proper context. At first glance, this passage can seem to take a different approach than Jesus’ previous statements in the Sermon on the Mount. In previous statements, Jesus expounded on a commandment, taking the listener from a purely surface level understanding (don’t kill), to a deeper understanding of the principle behind the command (don’t hate or harm).

In this passage, Jesus seems to be completely changing the Law. However, He’s not.

The original command,

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,”

is recorded in Exodus 21:24-25 and Deuteronomy 19:21. Unlike the 10 Commandments, which were given for all people, the context of this command is where God is giving commands for how the new Israelite government is to be run.

Basically, God is telling the government that the punishment should fit the crime. It both enables and limits the government. It enables the government to give adequate punishment and restitution but limits it from excessive punishment. If the perp took a tooth, you don’t just give him a stern talking to nor do you take off his head.

The issue, however, is that many people were taking that command and applying it to themselves, personally, rather than keeping it for the government. This person hit me. Instead of letting the judge deal with him, I just punched him in the face. That’s a misuse of the command.

The key to understanding this passage is the doctrine of the two kingdoms as well as the doctrine of vocation. The doctrine of the two kingdoms says that God operates in the world through two kingdoms…

• The church which offers grace and mercy.
• The government which has laws and the power of the sword.

The two kingdoms are distinct and should not be confused or mixed.

The doctrine of vocation is simply that we all have roles that we play in our lives that have different rules and responsibilities. Our vocations are things like our job, our relationships (father, son, husband), and our role in society, such as being a neighbor and citizen. I can and should do things as a father related to my children that others who are not their father cannot do. A police officer can do things in their job that others cannot do. Etc.

What is Jesus saying in this passage?

What Jesus is saying here is that the Christian does not seize the power of the government and exact revenge on those who wrong them. They should allow the government to perform it’s role, while they perform their role, to love and forgive.

I think there is an analogy in the game of Football. There are times in games when one player breaks the rules and pushes another player after a play. For the player who is pushed, their responsibility is to let it go and keep playing football, that’s their role. They are to let the officials call a penalty on the other player, that’s the role of the officials. A problem occurs when the player who was pushed, pushes back. Then they take on the role of the official, to punish the penalty, which is not their role. What happens? Usually, that player who pushed back gets called for their own penalty.

So, how are we to respond when someone harms us?

This is a little tricky at first, but it makes sense if we keep the two kingdoms separate and we consider our vocations. Each of us, as Christians, have multiple roles in life. I am a Christian/child of God, but I am also a father, husband, citizen, neighbor, etc. Each of these roles brings different responsibilities and we must live them out simultaneously.

Christian: In my role as a Christian, Jesus is saying that I should not resist evil out of selfishness and should not seek to avenge myself when I am wronged. My concern is not with worldly things and I am to love all people and seek their forgiveness and salvation. Can I, however, act to help the assailant to avoid sin either with my words or actions? I think this requires us to seek wisdom in the situation.

Citizen: In my role as a citizen, I am to obey the laws of the land and uphold my responsibilities. The law of the land is to report crimes or potential crimes, including crimes against me, so I should do that. The law of the land also permits me to defend myself. So, I may do that, but I should try to avoid causing undo harm. Also, I do not avenge myself, but I allow the government to fulfill its responsibility in punishing wrong-doing.

Father/Husband/Neighbor: My role as a father, husband, neighbor, etc. is, in part, to protect and defend my children, wife, neighbor, etc. So, if someone threatens my family or neighbor, etc. I am to act to defend them. This also applies people who are police officers, soldiers, and other government officials who are to fulfill their roles of protecting the citizens. One could also argue that self-defense is also included here as to allow myself to be killed is to deprive my wife of her husband, my children of their father, and so on.

Where these two kingdoms collide is where we find that Jesus is actually doing something very similar in this passage as He had in previous passages. He isn’t throwing out the old command, he is correcting those who would take the role of the government into their own hands and addressing the condition of the Christian’s heart.

We should also keep the examples Jesus gives in mind. The slap was a form of insult, not an intent to cause serious harm or death. Let the insult slide. Then we have a law suit where someone feels wronged and you are to go above and beyond to bring peace in the relationship. Next, the forced walking. Under Roman law, a soldier could force someone to carry their pack for a mile. Jesus says to go an extra mile. Again, this brings peace…and protects you from harm from the soldier. Finally, we have the beggar and borrower and giving them what they need. 

In all these examples, the drive is love your neighbor and bring peace, even sacrificially going the extra mile to do so. None of these are life-threatening situations where a person would need to defend themselves. After all, the Law is summed up as love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul love your neighbor as yourself. That includes the 5th Commandment. We are to love and protect our neighbor and family as we are to love and protect ourselves, though there may be times when we choose not to protect ourselves.

In all these situations we should seek God’s wisdom to know how to act, but as a Christian, we at least know that are to love all people, seek their well-being, and forgive their wrongs. We are not to harbor hatred or malice in our hearts nor seek revenge. We are called to keep this condition in our hearts as we also live out our other roles, where we are under the authority of the government and are to protect and seek the well-being of our family and neighbors.

Unfortunately, our sinful natures constantly push us in the other direction, demanding revenge, demanding that we should be able to retaliate, and justifying our “righteous” cause the whole time.

Thankfully, Jesus deals with us the same way He commands us to deal with others. He loves us and seeks our forgiveness and salvation. When we seek revenge or hold malice and hatred in our heart, we can go to Him and confess our sin and receive forgiveness. We can also ask for help that we might forgive  and have self control and He will help.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Protect us this day and every day from the evils of the world.  When those evils do come, help us to respond with love and forgiveness in our hearts.  Help us also to allow the government to perform it’s duty instead of taking matters inappropriately into our own hands.  Please also be with our government officials, that they might rule justly perform their roles faithfully as your stewards.

Amen.