Sermon Audio

"Blessed are you...because of me," we heard Jesus proclaim. "I did not come to destroy [the Law and the prophets,] but to fulfill [them]," we heard Jesus proclaim. "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven," we heard Jesus proclaim. And, we heard Him tell how the Law puts it with regard to murder, adultery, divorce, and oaths.

Now, four weeks after starting it, we come to the end of St. Matthew's fifth chapter, yet not the end of the Christ's Sermon on the Mount. We'll save that for two chapters down the line.

Now, we come to a real heavy hitter. Now, we come to what is perhaps the most difficult part of the Law. Now, we hear Jesus tell how the Law puts it with regard to enemies:

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

Old Adam is certainly crafty. Last week we heard of his craftiness with regard to murder, adultery, and oaths. But through it all, Old Adam always looks out for ol' number one. He's only in it for himself, and everything he does is for the sake of self-preservation. And that's what makes the Law with regard to enemies so difficult. After all, enemies are those we are supposed to hate, right?

The laws of the land are easily, often overly, retributive—an eye for an eye, as it were...as it once was. Get even, those laws state; get ahead, if you can. It all breeds litigiousness; just look at the number of commercials for personal injury lawyers, urging you to call them to "get more" or not to sign an insurance check until you have talked to them. "Damages" are milked for all they're worth; for more than they're worth it seems, sometimes. And so, outrageous monetary values are demanded for such things as "emotional damages" that could probably be fixed by a cup of tea and a long conversation with a good friend.

"Do unto others before they do unto you," someone once quipped. Funny, sure, but such are the laws of the land these days.

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Would that the laws of the land were still written like this. These laws of retribution, perhaps originally codified by Hammurabi in ancient Babylon, were designed to thwart the kind of indiscriminate escalation that we see legal retaliation taking these days. An eye was all you could get for the wrongful loss of an eye; a sheep was all you could get for the wrongful loss of a sheep. Equal pay for loss—that was the law, from the time of Hammurabi and into the days when Jesus walked the land, and beyond, perhaps.

"Not so fast," Jesus says. Don't resist an evil person. If you're slapped on one cheek, give them the other to slap, too. If you are sued for your tunic, give him your cloak. If someone convinces you to go a mile with them, go two. Don't turn away someone asking to borrow from you. No, there is no keeping score, no getting even (or ahead), no doing unto others what they have done unto you (or before they have). Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs comments,

Jesus calls His disciples to lives of reckless generosity and naiveté. His teaching is hyperbolic—but that does not mean that He is not serious. His words are to reform our instincts, our quick reactions, our unwillingness to sacrifice...Those who fervently grasp their rights and live their lives in defense of the same are the walking dead. To be generous and willing to be taken advantage of is to invite abuse. So be it! To be grudging, ungenerous, and unwilling even to go the first mile, you see, is to flirt with damnation.

St. Paul reiterated Jesus' teaching when he wrote, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord." (Romans 12:19)

Furthermore, Jesus is quick to quash the idea that neighbors are the only ones you are supposed to love and enemies you are free to hate, a common thought among the people of Jesus' time, that prospers even to this day. There is no license given in all of God's Word to hate one's enemies (though a passage from the Psalms comes close); however, through myriad interpretations and misinterpretations (mostly from that Psalm passage, I would wager), this license was appropriated and considered meet, right, and salutary.

Jesus counters by telling His disciples to love their enemies and bless those who curse them. Do good to those who hate them. Pray for those who persecute them. This should have been nothing knew to His hearers, who despite believing they could hate their enemies, also heard, most likely through the pen of Solomon, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the LORD will reward you." (Proverbs 25:21-22) No, do not hate your enemy, but "kill him with kindness," as someone else once quipped. Your love for your fellow man should know no bounds, either of status or stature, class, or love or hatred of you.

So, as a matter of review, your righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Don't kill or call your brother an empty-head. Don't commit adultery, which includes lusting after another. Don't divorce. Don't swear falsely; don't even swear, but let your word be your word. Be recklessly and naively generous, even and especially to those who hate you. Love your enemies. "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

It is all more than we can bear. It is certainly more than Old Adam wants to handle. Especially all of this business of loving one's enemy. And by this is perfection met? Simply not going to happen. It is far easier to hate those who hate you. And I'm sure every last one of you can recount a time—multiple times—when you have harbored or in one way or another expressed your hatred for an enemy, especially in these days of heated political fervor and threats of Islamicism. The right hates the left, the left hates the right. Democrats hate Republicans, Republicans hate Democrats. Muslims hate westerners, westerners hate Muslims. It's tempting to call out, "Can't we all just get along?" as someone else once quipped?

No. The simple, factual, and true answer is, "No." We cannot all get along. So long sin reigns and Satan retains his God-given dominion over this world, no one will get along. In fact, Old Adam can often find reasons to hate someone where legitimately and sensibly (as the world would define those terms) no reason would exist—but then the world would probably embrace those illegitimate and senseless reasons. "The desire to limit one's loving deeds to a particular group manifests itself wherever sinners are found," Dr. Gibbs points out, and I dare you to find one place on this planet where sinners are not found. You won't find it here...

No, there were only two times when you could find one place where sinners could not be found. And more recently, that was simply in one Person. I urge you, dear hears, to look to that one Person, for in Him will you find perfect love for neighbors and enemies. In Him will you find reckless and naïve generosity, even toward those who hated Him. In Him will you find one who never swore falsely, but always kept His promises. In Him will you find one who never divorced, never committed adultery, never murdered. He was and is perfect, as His Father in heaven is perfect. And all of this, not as your example, as pointed out last week, but for your sake and in your place.

Therefore, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) He takes away—took away—not only the sin and sins of those who loved Him, but of those who hated Him, too, those who were His enemies. According to what St. Paul wrote, that would be all of us, for "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [W]hen we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (cf. Romans 5:8, 10), but that would certainly also include the scribes and Pharisees who clashed with Jesus as ever turn of the page of the Gospels and those who acted to kill Him by handing Him over to the Roman authorities, and even those Roman authorities themselves. It includes every last person who even now would rather have nothing to do with Him.

Moreover, it was this spotless Lamb of God who embodied perfect love for His enemies and reckless generosity as He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, bound and beaten by temple guards and Praetorian guards, and nailed to a cross by Roman soldiers. Not once did He call out against them; not once did He lift a hand to strike back. The whole time He remained silent, receiving the condemnation due us and the ones leveling the accusations against Him, and turning the other cheek as He received the punishment due us and the ones beating Him to within an inch of His life and nailing Him to a cross to die.

In so doing, He embodies the perfect fidelity a husband should have for his wife, never committing adultery, as He gives His life for His Bride, the Church, in order to present Her to Himself as spotless. Hear that again another way: the spotless Lamb of God takes upon Himself His Bride's imperfections and wrinkles and spots and blemishes and dies with them, in order that He might present Her to Himself perfect—with His perfection—without wrinkle or spot or blemish. This is the perfect love a husband has for his wife, as St. Paul described the great Bridegroom's love for the Church: "Christ...loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25b-27)

And He is still faithful to His Bride, committed to Her, through thick and thin, despite the myriad times She would rather go it without Him—no, there is no divorce to be found here.

For He has promised to be faithful to Her. It was a promise made all the way back in Eden and was echoed as Jesus hung on the cross and called out, "It is finished." The work for your salvation was finished—it is finished. The work that made you a member of His Bride and made you as a member of His Bride spotless, clean, without blemish or wrinkle or any such thing was completed when our Lord died with all of that which was your spot and blemish and wrinkle and every such thing—every last murder and calling your brother empty-head; every last adulterous act and glance; every divorce; every lie; every bit of hatred for your enemies. It was all taken from you and nailed to the cross with Christ to die. Through this, you are made a co-heir with Christ of eternal blessing, and His Father is now your Father. Yes, "It is finished," and, thankfully, there is nothing you can do about it, otherwise it wouldn't be finished.

Now, you are perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. Now, your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Now, you are blessed, because of the Lamb of God, the Bridegroom, the Christ, the one preaching on the mount. It is finished; therefore, you are forgiven for all of your sins.