Jesus is telling them to love their enemies, do
good to those who hate them, bless those who curse them, and pray for those who
spitefully use them. When someone hits them on the face, don’t hit back but turn
their cheek and allow them to hit them again. When someone demands their coat,
give them their shirt also, give to anyone who asks, and when things are taken
away from them, don’t fight or sue them to get them back. (vv. 27-38)
Basically, Jesus is teaching us, that true happiness and
blessedness in life does not come from our circumstances, from people, from
things, or even from ourselves (our success, our achievements, or even our good
deeds), but it comes from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is
only by His grace, and by the control and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our
lives that we can have the attitude and heart to do the things Jesus is
describing above.
Jesus concludes this section in verses 37-38 by saying, “judge
not, condemn not, forgive and give. Four things that sum up the attitude we should
have toward people who offend, hurt, and abuse us. Two things we should not do
and then two things we should do. Two negatives, don’t, don’t, and then two
positives, do, do! Now these days we have been programed to dislike negative
preaching in our churches and only want to hear the positive. But if we follow
and study the Bible and God’s way we must respond to the negative first.
This reminds me of the Ten Commandments, that are the basics
of the Moral Law of God for our lives. The first three are negative: No other
gods, no idols or images, no misuse or blasphemy of God’s name. Then two positives:
Keep the sabbath, honor your parents. Then five negatives: don’t murder, don’t
commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t covet. The negatives are
needed to remind us that we are guilty of breaking God’s law and His ways and
pave the way for us to trust Him for mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and then for
the strength and wisdom to do what we should do to please Him.
So, after the two negatives, don’t judge, don’t condemn, Jesus
says to forgive and give. How do you know if you really have forgiven someone
for their offence or abuse of you? (By the way, this does not mean that you don’t
hold them accountable for their actions. You report their abuse to the proper authorities
and remove yourself from them and from further abuse.) At the same time, in
your heart, and in your attitude, you turn it over to the Lord, and you also pray
for God to deal with them by convicting them of their sin. You pray for their salvation.
When in your heart you forgive others for the hurt they
have caused you, it will be evidenced by how you “give” them your prayers. True
forgiveness is evidence of God’s love at work in our hearts that allows us to
be free to give. One of the most powerful illustrations of this kind of love and
forgiveness is the story of Corrie Ten Boom. In September 1944, the Nazis
deported Corrie and her sister, Betsie ten Boom to the Ravensbrück
concentration camp for women in Germany.
Life at Ravensbrück was almost unbearable, as they were
abused. But Betsie and Corrie spent their time sharing Jesus’ love with their
fellow prisoners. Because of
mistreatment Betsie died in Ravensbrück on 16th December 1944, aged 59. The
last words she had spoken to Corrie before she died, were, “You must tell
people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so
deep that God is not deeper still. They will listen to us Corrie, because we
have been here.”
After the war, Corrie Ten Boom learned how to forgive those
who had caused her so much pain and suffering. Please take the time to go the
blogs on my website to read the rest of Corrie’s story and also a great article
I found on forgiveness. What Forgiveness is and what it is not. https://www.pmiministries.org/post/corrie-ten-boon-and-forgiveness
God bless!
