Self-Assertion and Retaliation (v. 38-42)
“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” reads the classic basic rule for the justice which demands compensation and retaliation. It is called jus talionis and was a common practice in ancient times, even in the law of Moses (Lev 24:20). Jesus now turns against this, and against all kinds of retaliation. There is another order in God’s kingdom. There one does not retaliate. Children of the kingdom rather waive their rights. They know that they are members of the Kingdom only because God has remitted all what they are guilty of, even though he should demand it. Therefore, they shall also waive their rights. If one is beaten, one does not retaliate, but turns the other cheek. If someone wants to sue, then he should be given more than he demands. (Jesus here mentions the two standard clothing of the time, an ankle-length tunic which they wore closest to the body, and a cloak on top of that, if the etiquette or the weather demanded that. Both these articles of clothing have been preserved to our days in the vestments of the church.) The next example is talking about being obliged to go one mile. The one who oblige is some kind of government official, maybe from the occupying power, who forces a civilian to carry his baggage or show him the way.
Once again, we see that this way of living cannot be made the norm for the civil society. There, right must be right, and the greatest task of the society is to keep up these rights. This is also what the New Testament says. As a servant of the legal system, a Christian may be obliged to keep up the rights. When Jesus was beaten by one of the servants before the court, he did not turn the other cheek, but asked a question that really was a rebuke (John 18:23). Paul was also able to refer to his legal rights against obvious injustice from the hands of the judge. But that order which prevail - and must prevail - in this world, is not valid in God’s kingdom. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world. There one has received forgiveness and forgives. There one is able to answer an injustice with kindness or with a favor. There one rather suffers injustice than demand to receive what was one’s “right”.
To Be Like One’s Father In Heaven (v.43-48)
Finally there is yet another point (the sixth one), where Jesus sets the new order of the kingdom of heaven against the order that prevails in this world. He quotes the commandment: “You shall love your neighbor” with the addition “and hate your enemy”. That addition is not in the Old Testament, but it shows a common attitude among the Jews. Members of one’s own people were counted as neighbors. The enemies of the people did not belong here. After all, they were enemies of God. They wanted to destroy faith in God. One could say concerning them: “I hate them with complete hatred” (Ps 139:22). Against this, Jesus again sets the new order of God’s kingdom: to love enemies and pray of those who persecute. Even in this world, there is much natural goodness and kindness, but it is obviously directed toward those whom one sympathizes with. This is relatively good, but it is not Christianity. That which characterizes God’s children should be that the are like their Father in heaven: just as good, as generous, equally lavish in their love even against the evil and unrighteous.
So this part of the sermon on the Mount concludes with the summary: You must therefore be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. No one of us can fulfill this requirement. And yet it is reasonable. God’s children shall be like their Father. They shall act like he. If this was a requirement that had to be fulfilled before we could become God’s children, everyone would be on the outside. But this is not the meaning of the sermon on the Mount. It is therefore it begins with the beatitudes. They are directed to those who really want to be God’s children, but who know that they are not worthy. They now hear, that the kingdom of heaven are for them. So it is, because God’s Messiah make the impossible possible. But those who gets to enter in to the Kingdom, completely undeserving, they want, from their hearts, to live as it befits the children of the Kingdom. Thus, something new begins in their lives. It is not perfect, but it is there. It is this new righteousness which Jesus here talks about. It is greater than that of the Pharisees and the Scribes. It is not a requirement for being a child of God, but a consequence of it.
Thus, the sermon on the Mount is misunderstood, if it is taken to be rules for an earthly society. People cannot be forced by earthly laws to live like one lives in God’s kingdom. The society cannot treat those who violate rights, as it is said in the sermon on the Mount. In the same way, we cannot reject the legal system of the civil society (with its laws concerning divorce, oaths, police, prisons, defense and so on) because it is not the same order as in God’s kingdom. As long as this world stands, there must be earthly societies. They are built on rights and punishments. But in the middle of this old order, there is also something new: the order that prevails in God’s kingdom and which is embodied in those who, for the sake of Jesus, are able to love their enemies and waive their rights.
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