So, during this past week did you experience any unexpected good news? Did mercy appear when judgment seemed inevitable? I pray so.

This week let’s begin by asking ourselves: How am I being slighted at the moment? How is my reputation being mishandled? How is my dignity being mistreated? How are my rights being ignored? And, what is my response to the large or little injustices I am facing?

ANCIENT STORYLINES

As we venture into the second to last leg of our Lenten Journey, we will explore the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Embedded in Jesus’ most famous sermon is perhaps his most scandalous teaching—and it’s a teaching that will ultimately cost him his life.

As you read these words of Jesus captured in Matthew 5:38-48 consider that his audience (his fellow Jews) were living in the throes of Roman occupation. In those days obtaining justice required a dogged fight. Yet, Jesus teaches:

You have heard that it was said, ’Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Jesus’ instructions seemed to undermine the very strides in justice Israel had gained. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” represented the ancient Near Eastern law of retaliation. This approach was considered an advance in justice because it limited revenge to the equitable measure of loss. In Israel, as in other neighboring cultures, the courts enforced this principle.

A strike on the right cheek was considered one of the fiercest insults in the ancient world. And in this shamed-based culture, both Jewish and Roman law permitted prosecution for such an offense.

Taking your tunic and giving your cloak was basically the modern-day equivalent of losing all your possessions, including the shirt off your back. A tunic was an undergarment and a cloak was an outer garment that many used as their blanket at night. Since it was vital to sleeping, Old Testament law prohibited anyone from taking one’s cloak overnight as a pledge (see Exodus 22:26-27, Deuteronomy 24:12-13).

Forced to go one mile referred to the legal right Roman soldiers had to require a certain level of human or animal labor. This right exposed the unwieldy relationship the Jews had with their Roman occupiers. The Jewish hierarchy supported the status quo; others revolted against the Romans. While Jews varied in their degree of compliance with the Romans, to offer to go beyond Roman requirements would no doubt be shocking to all Jews.

Then Jesus went from calling for counter-cultural behavioral responses to heralding an all out revolution of the heart with these words:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Hebrew Scriptures teach the love of one’s neighbor (Leviticus 19:18) and do not explicitly teach hatred for one’s enemies (Exodus 23:4-5, Proverbs 25:21-22). Yet during an age of occupation, love of one’s enemy was both scandalous and dangerous, with concrete consequences.

PROVISIONS FOR YOUR LENTEN JOURNEY FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

REFLECTION: Jesus’ message cuts at the heart of self-protectionism, reputation management, and fairness issues. Instead of calling people to maximize their legal rights for revenge, Jesus beckons them to show mercy. Instead of people being concerned about insults, he calls them to ground their identity in something beyond their culture.

Throughout Jesus’ sermon he has reminded his listeners that they aren’t to treat others like transactional beings (only giving what they know they’ll get back). Jesus challenges them to move beyond fairness and engage others generously. I believe Jesus bases his counter-cultural teachings on two truths: 1) We’re to treat people this way because each person is marked with the very image of God (one’s neighbor and one’s enemy) and 2) We are to live out this radical love because that is how God loves.

Jesus wraps up this section by calling people to be perfect as his heavenly Father is perfect. This seems impossible at best, a cruel and crushing command at worst. No one is perfect, right? The Hebrew and Aramaic word for perfect carries these connotations: whole, mature, complete. The idea is that our love should be like that of God’s—a love that is inclusive and expansive, that is so generous and seemingly indiscriminate that it defies logic.

Jesus will be called upon to live out his most revolutionary teaching in the most costly way. His teaching of Matthew 5:38-48 will dramatically be played out during his trial, crucifixion and resurrection.

DISCUSSION: Who are our oppressors today?

What do we risk loving our enemies?

What does it require for us to love like God?

Feel free to share your thoughts; go to the DISCUSSION BOARD.

IMAGE OF GOD: How does Jesus’ description of God as one who loves inclusively and perfectly square with your own vision of God?

CONFESSION: I crashed into Jesus’ teaching of loving one’s enemies multiple times during my trek from Rome to Jerusalem. My scrappy soul got most exposed as I dealt with taxi-drivers. I was determined not to get gypped. And, when I did get ripped off, things got ugly (i.e. almost getting arrested in Syria because of one altercation). Oops.

My wrangling with taxi-drivers strewn across the Balkans and Middle East wasn’t really about my frugalness; it was about my fear. I have lived with this sentiment through the years: If I don’t protect myself no one else will. If I don’t pursue what I need it won’t come my way.

HOPE: Jesus’ radical call for fighting for love over demanding one’s rights still feels desperately difficult to me. It’s a way of living that I can only embrace in the moment, and only with reliance on God. Yet slowly—more and more—I am trusting that I am not alone. God fights for my protection; God vies for good things for me. And yes, evil and my own selfishness and the brokenness of this world stalk me. Yet as I gaze at Jesus’ willing sacrifice and devotion to revolutionary love I can’t help but hope.

SCRIPTURE: Read Matthew 26-27 alongside Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38-48. A friend named Steve Mast made these connections:

Text: "You have heard that it was said, ’Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person.”
Consider: Romans and Judas arrest Jesus.

Text: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Consider: Jesus receives multiple lashes and is struck on the head repeatedly.

Text: “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”
Consider: Soldiers cast lots for his robes.

Text: “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”
Consider: Jesus is forced to carry his cross.

Text: "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Consider: Jesus prays on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Text: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Consider: The sky darkens as Jesus dies between two thieves.

Text: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
Consider: Disciples and followers greet enemy Roman soldiers as they put His body in the tomb.

Text: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Consider: Jesus dies for the sins of the world and then rises from the dead.

LENTEN ASHES FOR YOU: Steve created a graphic novel that connects the teaching and Jesus’ Passion Story. To view the panels go to: www.warehouse242.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=228&Itemid=63

INVITE OTHERS INTO IT: Pray each day for God to give you sacred encounters. Meet for coffee or go on a walk with a friend this week to share how you are wrestling with your rights and being challenged to love your enemies.