A Man of his Word Helps and Loves Others

Matthew 5:33-48

No Prideful Oaths 

33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Go the Second Mile

38 "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Love Your Enemies

43 "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 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, 45 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. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

A man of his word should not make false promises but say he will or will not do something after he soberly counts the cost to know it is possible and right.  Our yes and no should be just that (James 5:12) and without the bravado of empty boasting or posturing to impress beyond our abilities or intent to follow through.  It was so bad in the time Christ came among His people that they were swearing by heaven where God ruled from His throne, by the earth of God’s creation and His footstool of His sovereign reign, and by the holy city of Jerusalem which was His place to meet His people to be worshipped.  They basically leveraged God and His greatness with His works as if they were backed up by just mentioning His name to stop their empty promises with royal authority and reliability to gain the confidence of the hearers.  These boasts were and are from the proud evil one and must not be ascribed to by us as humble servants of the Most-High God.  We are to keep to a direct yes or no to what we can or cannot do and will or will not follow through on based on our abilities and commitment like the man who built a tower but could not complete his promise (Luke 14:28-30).  Leaving all to follow Christ incudes our boastful pride of self confidence and great achievements which often do not even come to fruition.  

Jesus then spoke of helping others instead of seeking vengeance.  He told us not to resist an evil person set against us by setting ourselves against that one, but rather showing grace and doing good in return for their wicked intentions and acts against us.  Remember how we were set against the Lord before our conversion (Romans 11:29-31, Ephesians 2:2-3) when He showed us forgiveness (Ephesians 2:4-5) in mercy to deliver us from sin and its bondage like Israel out of Egypt.  We are not to live out of the context of Exodus 21:23-25 and Deuteronomy 19:21 which dealt with the law of the land for punishment of unrepentant criminals and not with interpersonal relationships that Jesus addressed here.  We are called not to seek harm from our enemies to match the harm they have inflicted on us in return.  Instead we are called to the mercy and grace of forgiveness in love as we have received from our Father in heaven.  We are to go the extra mile and give generously even to our enemies.  

This last part of the passage addresses this love further concerning loving our enemies and not just those who love us, which is a terribly difficult task for most of us to follow through on.  It goes against our proud natures to not strike back with at least disdain if not outright rage and hate in words and actions.  We are called to not only do good to those who persecute us, but to pray for their welfare and salvation!  Just as God gives common grace as each new day to everyone in the world, so we are to imitate Him instead of Cain whose anger against his brother Abel (Genesis 4:6-8, 1 John 3:11-12) was his judgment of punishment for not accepting the grace shown Abel.  We are likewise to love even those who would rise against us as a mark of our changed lives conforming to Christ.  Our sanctification demands a godly response of love to all, not just to those who love us and treat us well.  To be perfect as our Father in heaven demands that we pursue (1 Corinthians 5:15, Hebrews 12:14) righteousness  in this manner as we have been called to do.  A man of His word and his word helps and loves others, friend or enemy, like this.  This is not easy, but is worth pursuing to conform to the image of Christ!