Matthew 5:38-48
Before I begin the gospel reading, I believe we need some context for this part of the Sermon on the Mount. First, the old saying “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” was not always so famous. For ancient Israelites, this meant a defined end to what could’ve been decades of blood feuds and retribution. Next, it’s important to know that Roman soldiers had the right to tell any non-Roman to carry their equipment, but only for one mile, and then they had to find another sucker to carry their stuff. And finally, it is of note that many Bible scholars believe that the author of Matthew may have been a tax collector himself, since numbers and math and order are very important to the construction of Matthew’s Gospel, more so than any of the other gospels. Remember that fact, as I read my personal translation of the original Greek, The Gospel According to Matthew, chapter 5, verses 38-48:
38 You have heard people say, ‘An eye in place of an eye and a tooth in place of a tooth.’ 39 I however say to you not to resist the evil one. But if anyone hits you on your right cheek, turn your face and give the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 To anyone who asks from you, give, and if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not refuse them.
43 You have heard that people say, ‘You shall love your neighbor and shall hate your enemy.’ 44 I however say to you, Love your enemies and pray over those actively persecuting you, 45 so that you may become sons and daughters of your Father who is in the heavens; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you will be perfect, as your Father who is heavenly is perfect.
Let us not place a period where God has placed a comma; God is still speaking.
Matthew, Matthew, Matthew. You would tell us at the worst possible time in American history that loving our enemies is how to be perfect Christians, wouldn’t you! Not only that, but the word Matthew uses for the ones persecuting us really means actively persecuting us, as in, at this moment. Right now, someone is persecuting me and I have to pray over them. It’s absolute madness, isn’t it?
Ok, I just had to say that. On to the actual homily. So the common lectionary had us read this particular Psalm on the same day as this particular part of the Sermon on the Mount, I suspect to reinforce a particular aspect of Matthew’s gospel. You see, the gospels all have personalities, like people or iPhones. Mark is passionate and emotional, Luke is about the Baby Jesus, John is the theological one, and Matthew is the Jewish one. No, they were all Jewish, but Matthew is the one who’s clearly talking to/by/about/for Jews. Even the Greek words he chose suggest, not only that he’s talking to Jews generally, but that he’s speaking to Urban Jews more specifically. All of this is to say that Matthew constructed his gospel in a way that makes it clear he’s trying to give the Good News to other Jews in Palestine at the time. We can know this by comparing the stories Matthew chose to tell, against the stories the other gospel writers chose to tell. Scholars generally believe Mark to be the first Gospel written, probably the first generation after the Crucifixion, because of some comments made about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which we know, as an archeological fact, happened in the year 70. So Matthew’s gospel actually contains about 90% of Mark’s gospel. But, he made some changes. He cleaned up some of the Greek. He took out all the stuff about Jesus sweating and getting angry and any time Jesus acted as though he didn’t know what was about to happen. Whenever Mark uses the word kome, meaning village, Matthew uses polis, meaning city. But here’s the kicker: Mark explains some stuff. When he quotes someone saying something in Aramaic, he follows that up with a definition of the word. When he talks about a Jewish Custom, he either explains the custom or says As is according to custom. Matthew takes out the explanations. He knows his readers are either Jewish or are living in a predominantly Jewish city, so no need to explain.
This lack of explanation is good for economy of space and brevity of word, but when he gets to the Sermon on the Mount, I feel like you need a bit more explanation, right? You can’t just say, love your enemies and the ones actively persecuting you. So thankfully, after the Beatitudes, Jesus gives us a bit more explanation. We’re not supposed to love our neighbors only, because everyone is supposed to do that. Even the Gentiles and tax collectors know that much! Jesus is trying to reverse that though. We read this gospel along with the Psalm that says Teach me O Lord the ways of thy statutes, give me understanding so that I may keep your law. Whose law? Mosaic law, Levitical law, Deuteronomic law, Talmudic law, all the stuff that they’ve been following for centuries. God’s law, the thing that sets Israel apart from the nations around them. One practice of this Jewish law is called Binding and Loosing the law, sort of like the tales of Solomon and the baby with two mothers. Rabbis were often called upon to be judges of disputes, especially in situations where the Jewish law and custom was unclear because of how it interacted with a real situation. Rabbis would Bind and Loose the law depending on the situation. Binding the law meant that it was applicable to a particular situation, a general law applied to a concrete event. Loosing the law meant that following the word of the law isn’t what was intended, and although generally we should follow it, in this specific instance it’s ok to ignore. Good examples here are murder, which was often Bound, especially by Jesus. However, Jesus loosed the laws on things like the observation of the Sabbath, which the Pharisees were always trying to catch him on. Yes, Jesus said, we should observe the Sabbath, but not so tightly that we can’t take care of ourselves or heal one another. Teach me O lord, the ways of thy statutes, but give me understanding so that I may keep your law.
Which brings us back to our gospel reading. Jesus states a law, and then says, but I say the EXACT OPPOSITE. No more binding, no more loosing. We’re in new territory now, where it’s akin to a loosing of the law, saying that yeah, we know what the law is, but in the Kingdom of Heaven, things are on a whole other level. You need to act THIS way in order to get there. The meek will inherit everything, the merciful will be shown mercy, those who mourn will be comforted, everything is upside down. Richard Neibuhr, a legendary American theologian, called this the Transvaluation of Values. This is the crux of Jesus’s argument. When someone asks for your undershirt, give them everything. When someone wants to sue you, give them everything. When someone is actively trying to break you down, hit you on the face, ruin your life? Love them. Pray for them. Give them everything. Why? Transvaluation of values. Jesus is upsetting the turnip truck. Strength is found in weakness. Boldness can be found in meekness. Jewish custom said that the Messiah would come from the house of David, the warlord King, the commander of armies, Lord God Sabaoth, who would restore the nation of Israel under the might of his arm and crush the enemies of Zion. Instead, Jesus. A baby is born in the outer edges of some Roman colony at the end of the Iron Age, a baby who lives and breathes and then dies. This is strength? This is God’s strength: not an army of swords but a legion of people who love each other and their enemies more than they love themselves, who when someone asks them for a dollar they give them two, if they need a ride for a mile they take them two, if they see you on the side of the road and recognize you as their enemy they pick you up, bind your wounds, and take you to shelter. Do you hear this? It’s absolute madness! It’s a complete reversal of everything humanity had come to know before then and nothing has come along like it ever since!
I wasn’t telling the whole truth earlier when I said that the phrase Transvaluation of Values came from Niebuhr. He did use it a lot in his theology, but the phrase originally came from Nietzsche, famed atheist. He believed that Christianity was the scourge of the world because it asked humanity to value the weak and the pitiful instead of the joyful and strong, that Christianity consists mainly of a struggle against sin instead of a struggle for life. Instead, Niebuhr says, that’s not our weakness. That’s our FOUNDATION. Our laws go further than anyone else ever has or ever will towards creating a true Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, where the immigrant and the refugee and the queer and the woman and the poor and the disabled and the old and the unemployed and the frail, these are what IT’S ALL ABOUT. Loving someone who’s rich and healthy? Easy. Loving someone who hates you? That’s a Christian. Amen.
Embodied Theology 