Sermon Passage: Matthew 5:40
Sermon Commentary Notes
“If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also” (Matthew 5:40).
Forgiveness is amazing! Finding forgiveness between two human beings is a wonder, but to think of God’s forgiveness is beyond comprehension! Forgiveness demonstrates the correlation between the physical and the spiritual. When you forgive your offender, that forgiveness alters your physical expression. Forgiveness changes your spirit toward that person. You cannot treat your offender with disdain once forgiveness has been granted. Thus, forgiveness is in the realm of attitude and physical action, the spiritual and the physical. In our passage, forgiveness is the undercurrent of this truth. “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also” (Matthew 5:40). The Greek word “aphiemi,” translated “let have,” displays this attitude of forgiveness. A forgiving attitude is required if we fulfill the command of this passage. “Aphiemi” is used in the sense of “to allow, to permit the presence of, or permit an activity without opposing or prohibiting it.” When Jesus finished preaching, He “sent the multitude away” (Matthew 13:36). “Aphiemi” here is translated, “sent away.” At the crucifixion, Jesus “yielded up His Spirit” (Matthew 27:50). “Apheimi” is translated here as, “yielded up.” The primary meaning of the word is “to send forth or away, to let go from oneself.”
The idea of releasing is more often related to debt or possessions. In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, the servant was forgiven an insurmountable debt and would not forgive a small debt. Regarding his forgiveness, Jesus said, “Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave (aphiemi) him the debt” (Matthew 18:27). This word is often used for the forgiveness of sins. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used it in His teaching on prayer: “And forgive (aphiemi) us our debts, as we forgive (aphiemi) our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Jesus told the Pharisees, “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven (aphiemi) men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (aphiemi) men” (Matthew 12:31).
The consistent use of “aphiemi” for forgiveness in the New Testament helps to shape the concept. The idea begins with “embracement.” Forgiveness cannot be offered unless the person offended recognizes and acknowledges the sin of the offender, but beware of the self-centered attitude of how wrong the offender was or how much they hurt you. In other words, I am not to embrace the consequence of their offense in my life; I am to acknowledge the result of the sin in their life. It is not self-centered condemnation or criticism. I embrace the plight, misery, damnation, and destruction they experience. Jesus did this for the Trinity God. Did He not become one of us to embrace sin with all its aspects? There is no forgiveness without such an embrace. Listen to Paul’s explanation: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We are not expected to embrace the sins of others toward God because we have no power to do so, but what about those sins against us? How can we possibly forgive others, if we dwell in self- centered hurt and self-pity?
When we embrace the sin within the offender, we can move from “embracement” to “elimination.” To forgive sins is not to disregard them and do nothing about them. God did not choose to forget we did wrong! His love passionately moved Him to eliminate sin in our lives as He paid the consequence of our sin. Again, listen to the apostle Paul: “And you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:13-15). Jesus’ crucifixion did not guarantee that all would experience forgiveness. Jesus’ death and resurrection simply provided both the “embracement” and the “elimination” of forgiveness for every person.
Jesus calls the Kingdom person to this heart’s physical response! If I am to forgive the person who insults me, or plots to take my basic necessities, I must embrace the consequences of his sin. I must not be their “care taker” or allow them to abuse me physically, verbally, or emotionally. However, my forgiveness replaces their self- centered consequences with love. Although I am not capable of or expected to forgive another person’s offense against God, can I do it for their offense against me?
This is our only means to evangelize our world. Jesus proposed redemption! “Embracement” is the first step. In the style of the cross, I embrace the person who offended me, as I am deeply aware of the destruction in his or her life. I am not to focus on what is happening to me because of their sin, but I am moved by what is happening to them. This enables me to act; my action is “elimination.” In forgiveness, I do not forget what they did, but I embrace the consequences of their sin to eliminate it in their life. This is what Jesus did for me! He embraced the consequences for my sin within Himself to eliminate sin in my life. His redemptive act revealed the love of God and opened the door for me to know God’s forgiveness. To forgive others does not mean to separate myself from them, but through my contact with them I allow them to know God who can free them from their sin. Thus, we should do everything in our power to see that the sins of others are removed from them through the grace and power of Jesus Christ, which we make known to them. We participate in the redemptive action of God! That is evangelism!
That we might not miss the impact of Jesus’ message, let us step back and view His message in its totality. We can see the strength of what He said in the context of the Scriptures.
Concept of Redemption
In the first words of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls for a merger between God and man. Any contact with Him outside the merger is trite and does not redeem. I am to bring all that I am and all that I have to this merger; God will do the same. What resource do I have to contribute? Jesus proposed, “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3). I have no resource! It is not that I am needy or lacking in some areas, I am totally helpless; I have nothing to bring to the merger. God created me this way; it was a result of His Divine plan in creation. I am created to be dependent not independent. In mourning (Matthew 5:4) or fully embracing my helplessness, He will merge with me; a new creature is created called “the Kingdom of Heaven.” The rest of the Beatitudes flow from this merger. The human life is taken to a new level, righteousness exceeding “the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5:20).
This merger is God’s nature united with the helplessness of man. When the helplessness of man yields to the resource of God’s nature, His focus becomes my dominant expression. If “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), and “No one has seen God at any time” (1 John 4:12), His love will be known through us because, “we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (1 John 4:13). Redemption will become my distinction just as it is His! The expression of the merged hearts is redemption. Any deviation from this purpose strays from God’s heart. We dare not become “program centered,” “career centered,” “statistic centered,” “success centered,” or even “ministry centered.” We must be redemption centered. While every ministry will have programs, career involvement, records and statistics, desires to accomplish, and ministry activities, the moment these become central we are “self-centered.”
Jesus highlights the value of this expression in the imagery of salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). He chose salt and light because it expresses imagery not dependent on activity, and it always redeems. You cannot “do” salt nor can you “perform” light. In the context of the picture Jesus gives, these imageries are always redemptive. They give value to physical life and reveal the redemptive heart of God. The Scriptures are fulfilled in the expression of God’s redemptive heart (Matthew 5:17). Everything the Trinity God wanted to express in the Old Testament is in the pure expression of His nature, redeeming love. Fulfillment of the Scriptures is not in keeping the activity (law) but in the expression of God’s redeeming heart.
Murder in the physical realm is the same as anger in the spiritual realm (Matthew 5:21-26). Therefore, the redeeming heart cannot tolerate anger. The redeeming heart cannot have relationship with God and not be reconciled with his brother (Matthew 5:23-24). While the redeeming heart may have adversaries, he can never be one (Matthew 5:25-26). The redeeming heart cannot allow his sexuality to exist for his own pleasure. His viewpoint influenced by his sexuality is always redemptive not self-consuming (Matthew 5:27-28). The focus of marriage is redemptive (Matthew 5:31-32). The main concern of the redemptive heart is “what do I cause?” Deception is always self-centered (Matthew 5:33-37). It is truth that is redemptive; we are expressions of “‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’” (Matthew 5:37).
This redemptive idea continues into our present illustration of “malice” (Matthew 5:38-42). If someone “slaps you on your right cheek,” the question of God’s heart is, “How can I be redemptive?” “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic,” the heart of God asks, “How can I be redemptive?” This is the driving concept in every situation.
Concern of Redemption
The old standard was, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Matthew 5:38). This was a step toward fairness and limiting self-centered retribution. Self-centeredness will always exaggerate its expressions and desires unless kept in check. Limiting the expression of self-centeredness was the best approach of those of old. But Jesus suggested a death to self-centeredness and “living” in the nature of God. He struck a blow at the heart’s concern. What is it that you and I really want? Will I be concerned about others or myself? What about my feelings? Personal feelings are not the concern of the redemptive heart! But he slapped me; how do you think that makes me feel? This is not the concern of a redemptive heart! What he is doing is not fair. He has no right to do that to me. This is not the beat of the redemptive heart.
In one of his books, Watchman Nee wrote of a true event. There was a man who had a rice field located on the side of a mountain, and a neighbor had a rice field located just below his. The man with the rice field above his neighbor’s was a Christian and regularly attended the Wednesday evening prayer service. One evening he shared with the group a problem he was having with the neighbor just below him. Each morning the Christian pumped water into his rice field to help the rice grow. He built banks around the field to help contain the water. When he returned one afternoon, he found that his neighbor had poked holes in his banks, which allowed the water to leave his field and run into his neighbor’s field below. This occurred repeatedly. It simply was not fair and must cease. What should the Christian do? As they prayed about it at the altar a fellow believer knelt beside him and asked, “What do you want, really want?” The answer was obvious. I want my neighbor to stop stealing the water from my field. “No,” the fellow believer said, “What do you really want?” Upon prayer consideration, the Christian replied, “I want my neighbor to know Jesus!” He went home and pumped water into his field and also into his neighbor’s field. He did this day after day until his neighbor, through this process, began to come to church and encountered Jesus!
“What do you want, really want?” This is the question of our passage. When a person wants to take from you the very necessities of life, “What do you want, really want?” Are you more interested in your material possessions or his spiritual state? When he insults you with a backhanded slap, “What do you want, really want?” Are you more interested in your pride, appearance, and cultural honor or in his eternal destiny? Perhaps this reflection reveals your spiritual state and eternal destiny! If someone tries b to remove the necessities of life from me, I respond, “But this is all I have!” What does this indicate? My security is based on what I have. You might respond, “But I am not speaking about my spiritual life, I am referring to my physical. It is all I have in the physical.” It is a tragedy to divide the physical from the spiritual. Jesus teaches us the bare necessities of life (tunic) are not all we have in the physical or in the spiritual. If they are all we have, we are of all men most miserable. We are not free to be redemptive unless our necessities of life are in Him!
Consequence of Redemption
This freedom is the consequence of our redemption. Have you ever felt trapped in the prison of reaction? What other people do to you seemingly forces you to respond in like manner. You despise what they do to you; yet, you respond in the same awful way. It appears the same evil force working in the person who slaps your right cheek causes you to slap them in response. The same selfishness that causes them to sue you, demanding the necessities of your life, are now working in you. You justify it in the name of fairness. Yet, there is the haunting reality of imprisonment. You are not free, but mastered by those around you. Your action is dictated by their action.
Circumstances control us in the same way. When we have a good day, we are happy and joyful. However, when we have a bad day, we respond in like manner. We spend our lives responding to the master of our circumstances. The witness of the New Testament church was pronounced. They were not controlled by their circumstances; Jesus was Lord of their lives. In the midst of persecution, they were free to rise to a new level of victory. They praised when surrounded by unfair treatment and misunderstanding. It was this freedom in the Spirit of Jesus that ushered redemption into their surroundings repeatedly.
Jesus proposed this in our passage. When our fellowman insults us, we are free to be redemptive. While you may control the outward response, it is impossible to control the inner response. Jesus did not refer to a controlled action, but a change in the inner nature. When insulted, we are free to forgive and embrace (Matthew 5:39). When the necessary elements of our physical lives are threatened, we are free to be generous (Matthew 5:40). When the actions of our fellowman produce anger, we are free to love (Matthew 5:22). We never lower ourselves to demeaning or belittling (Matthew 5:22). We will never become an adversary even though we have adversaries (Matthew 5:25).
It is the same regarding our sexuality (Matthew 5:27-30)! When our sexuality is mastered by self- centeredness, we express and view sexuality from self-satisfaction. If our sexuality was filled with the nature of Jesus, could it be used for redemption? We are not to be mastered by our sexuality; it is to be a flow of redemption to our world! If the purpose of marriage were not self-gratification, what would be its purpose (Matthew 5:31-32)? The man is to be the savior of his wife (Ephesians 5:23)! We are to redeem! The integrity of our word is not to be dominated by circumstantial pressure (Matthew 5:33-37). The need to protect, guard, and deceive does not control us. Our integrity is a flow of redemption through the control of Jesus’ nature within us!
If this seems impossible, it is! We prove the premise of the Sermon on the Mount. We are absolutely helpless (Matthew 5:3). He must merge with us. It is only the nature of the Trinity God who can source in us such freedom. This will produce redemption in those around us. We never redeem through argument or debate. It is through the cross style that we find and give redemption. Will we join Jesus in the redeeming process?