Sermon Passage: Matthew 5:42
Sermon Commentary Notes
“Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away” (Matthew 5:42).
“Give to him who asks you” (Matthew 5:42). What do we do with this statement? These are the words that someone who wants something aggressively pushes on me. In each illustration given by Jesus, someone initiates the activity. In the first illustration, a person backhanded me on my right cheek, trying to pick a fight. This is the “evil person” Jesus tells us not to resist. In the second illustration, this evil person tries to take legal action to obtain everything I own, even the necessities of life. In the third illustration, this evil person wants to use me for their advantage. They interfere with my schedule and demand inconvenient actions from me. This final illustration may be worse than any of the previous three. This person demands I give them what they think they need.
They are not called an “evil person” because they do evil deeds. They are evil, and their deeds are a consequence of this condition. Evil is their self-focus. They are “poor in spirit” (Mathew 5:3), helpless! If they do not live in the awareness of their helplessness, they act as if they are not. They use all their energy to grab for themselves. They use every situation to their advantage. They reach into the lives of others to sustain their own existence. No wonder they constantly want something from me!
But the One proposing this statement is not “an evil person;” it is Jesus, and He has no personal agenda. He is a helpless Man filled with the resource of His Father. He lacks nothing. His only motive is redemption. His focus is on how to be redemptive. Evidently, Jesus views everything that a person has as a means or avenue for redemptive influence. His expression of the Father’s heart is driven by this redemption. Material things are a platform for redemptive action.
Herein lies the problem, PRIORITY. Material things take greater importance than people. The dictionary definition of materialism is “a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort more important than spiritual values.” Let me be very clear, physical and material things are never considered evil. In our definition of materialism, possessions and physical comfort are not the issue. How you view them becomes the element of destruction. What priority does physical materialism have in your life?
Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). Money is never the problem; the problem is money’s priority in the heart. The physical is always a platform on which the spiritual condition of the person demonstrates itself. The physical does not dominate and control the spiritual; the spiritual expresses itself through the physical. When the helpless person refuses to embrace their helplessness and be filled with Jesus, they can easily substitute material things for the resource and security of life. Jesus proposed the perspective of the Father’s heart. Material things are to be instruments for redemption. The physical is to be a display of the “never think about yourself” cross style of the Kingdom person. Jesus revealed this to the Pharisees who criticized Him for healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:9-14). He presented the fallacy of their priority. They openly admitted they would rescue a sheep that had fallen in the pit on the Sabbath day. However, they would allow a man with a withered hand to continue in that condition because it was the Sabbath day. Jesus challenged their materialistic view, “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?”
Herein lies the problem, POINTER. Material things, the physical, become the measure of success. The person who accumulates the most things is the most successful. The helpless person who attempts to live out of their helplessness naturally has this fallacy. They scramble to establish security in their lives. Because their security is not in their spiritual resource, it quickly becomes a physical resource. This helpless person focuses their life on materialism. Do not fall into the trap of assuming all wealthy people are self-centered. The problem with materialism is not how much you have but having your focus center on how much you can obtain. A person can live in financial poverty and still be dominated by materialism.
Luke beautifully described this truth (Luke 21:1-4). After a day of controversy and trick questions from the leaders of Israel, Jesus wanted to leave Jerusalem. The disciples were admiring the great buildings of the city as if their spiritual security resided in these temple structures. Jesus told them what would happen to these structures soon. Where would they find spiritual security when these material things were gone? As they moved out of the temple, Jesus suddenly stopped. He ushered His disciples into the shadows as if some spectacular event was about to occur. As they waited an older woman moved slowly into view. This widow went to the offering box and deposited two coins and departed. Jesus seemed amazed. The disciples must have reported how they viewed a Sadducee who gave an abundance compared with the small amount of the widow. Jesus just shook His head at their lack of understanding. The focus was not on the amount given but, on the amount, kept. The widow gave everything she possessed!
This is the problem with the religious rules that govern materialism. The Old Testament rule of tithing focused on amount, giving the sense of ownership and self-centered pride. I earned the money; I decide how to spend the money; I determine whether to be generous. I have not been embraced by my helplessness. I have not realized that all my material possessions come from Him! How is this displayed in the Kingdom person? In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus exclaimed repeatedly, “do not worry” (Matthew 6:25, 28, 31). This command focused on the materialistic essentials of life. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added” (Matthew 6:33). That is the cry of the Kingdom person.
Herein lies the problem, POWER. Materialism offers a false sense of control and security. We deem everything solid and dependable based on the physical provisions and circumstances. Materialism becomes a covering for the helplessness of the inner spirit. Our material possessions provide power over others, a sense of superiority to those who express their need, and it dominates our spiritual lives. Instead of our spiritual lives controlling our physical lives, we become controlled by possessions. We try to measure how much God loves us by materialism.
People often see God’s blessings in the physical instead of the spiritual. The disciples seeing a man blind from birth asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind” (John 9:2)? The disciples viewed the spiritual condition of this family by the physical circumstances of their lives. After the rejection of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23). The Greek word “dyskolos” is translated “it is hard for,” referring to “great difficulty.” In other words, material things are not a blessing from God; they are a handicap or obstacle to spiritual victory. Materialism is something we must overcome to be a Kingdom person. Materialism provides a false sense of security and power; it hides our helplessness.
With this background, we are ready to investigate our passage.
The Command
The overall statement of Jesus about materialism is not an imperative. “But I tell you not to resist an evil person” (Matthew 5:39). The Greek word “anthistemi” is translated “to resist” and is an infinitive verb focusing on purpose. Jesus’ focus is redemption; redemption is His purpose! Each illustration magnifies a response to a person filled with evil intent. The key response word in each illustration is an imperative. “Turn” (imperative) the other cheek to the one who slaps on the right cheek (Matthew 5:39). “Let him have” (imperative) your cloak, if he sues you for your tunic (Matthew 5:40). “Go” (imperative) the second mile with the person who compels you to go the first mile (Matthew 5:41). In our passage, “Give (imperative) to him who asks you” (Matthew 5:42).
“Give” is a translation of the Greek word “didomi,” used 413 times in the New Testament. “Didomi” refers to an activity, which normally has a direct object. This word is never just a disposition or attitude of a person, giving always extends a gift. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is what He is by God’s gift! “For God so loved the world that He gave (didomi) His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Jesus considered the, “works which the Father has given (didomi) Me to finish – the very works that I do” as gifts of the Father’s giving (John 5:36). The Father gave the disciples to Jesus. “All that the Father gives (didomi) Me will come to Me” (John 6:37). According to John the Baptist, “The Father loves the Son, and has given (didomi) all things into His hands” (John 3:35). “All things” are a gift from the Father! The death of Jesus on the cross is described as a gift resulting from the act of giving (didomi). Jesus said, “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give (didomi) His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
We should note that this word, “didomi,” serves the same purpose in writings outside of the New Testament. “Didomi” is traditional for the death of Jewish martyrs and Greek soldiers. “So he gave (didomi) his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name” (1 Maccabees 6:44). The fathers and the prophets gave (didomi) themselves (Thucydides II, 43, 2). Having established this “didomi” is an act of giving, which points to a gift, we should also note that the disposition of “love” is most often expressed by “didomi.” In all the above references, the gift given was motivated by love, either stated or indicated. This motivation is important in our passage. Jesus did not give a list of new rules in the Sermon on the Mount. The premise of the Sermon on the Mount demands we embrace our helplessness until the nature of God merges with us. The nature of God could not tolerate a sinful world without responding in redemption. He could not have a fleeting concern about sin and move on to other pressing needs. The commanding force of His nature demanded the gift of redemption through Jesus! If the merger of His nature and mine is the New Covenant, will this activity of redemption not continue through me? If this loving force is not present in the act of “Give,” it does not qualify in the context of Jesus’ statement.
The Condition
Jesus gives further content to the act of “giving” when He qualified the one asking. “Give to him who asks you” (Matthew 5:42). The Greek word “aiteo” is translated “who asks,” expressing the simple idea of a request. However, this word presents a consistent situation, the inferior asking of something from the superior. Herod, the King, was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. “But they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked (aiteo) for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country” (Acts 12:20). The Greek word used consistently for begging. “And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask (aiteo) alms from this who entered the temple” (Acts 3:2). Jesus uses “aiteo” to describe a son asking his father for bread to eat (Matthew 7:9). “Aiteo” is used often for a man asking something from God. In each case it is the inferior asking for something from a superior.
The inferior asking of the superior gives us the context of what Jesus’ said. The superior one is not coming to ask a favor from us. We would be honored to serve him, and he would be in our debt. If we gave to him, it would be to our advantage. This is not our best friend making a request. We always help each other; we give back and forth to the advantage of each. This is “an evil person.” In some sense he is my enemy who tries to take advantage of me. This is true in the other illustrations. He is someone who initiates a fight by slapping me on the right cheek. He sues me attempting to take life’s necessities from me. He uses legal powers to take advantage of me and compel my help. Now in his inferior position, he wants me to bail him out of some predicament his foolishness created for him, but this is not my responsibility. I cannot help everyone; I have all I can do to maintain my life and needs (I could go on and on with these kinds of statements!)
The Conclusion
None of the above statements should determine my decision to give when I am asked. Jesus did not make up a new rule. He wants you to see the presence and direction of God’s heart in the daily occurrences of life. We are merged with His nature. I isolate myself if when confronted by evil people I build walls between them and me. Jesus cry is, “Be redemptive!” He did say we should give everything we have away for the sake of giving it. Redemption means we reach into the life of the evil person and bring him or her into the heart of God. We will not do this by responding to them as they respond to us. They want to pick a fight; so, we fight back. We become like them. They sue us; so, we sue them. If we build walls between us, they will never see the heart of God. They compel us, and we do the minimum to get rid of them; this does not demonstrate for them the heart of God. They ask something of us, but we show no concern and express no desire to help them. How will they ever know the love of Christ?
Could the purpose of your materialism be the redemptive process? Was not the physical established to be the visibility of Him invisible? John clearly stated this in his first epistle. “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). The Greek word “teleioo” is translated “has been perfected,” expressing the sense of finished or accomplished. God is invisible, and He merges with us in the physical so that His heart and nature can be demonstrated through us to our physical world. The purpose of our physical existence is to give visible demonstration to the nature of God. This is exactly who Jesus was in the flesh (Colossians 1:15).
Could the purpose of the physical things I possess be for the demonstration of the loving nature of God? Would anything less than spreading God’s loving nature be a squandering of the material resources God granted me? Do I need to view each physical confrontation as an opportunity to manifest His nature? Each situation is different, and my response needs personal shaping from the inner presence of God. Will I allow Him to direct me?