The next section is a difficult one that will stretch even the most mature of believers. Here, Jesus deals with retaliation and how to deal with those who may want to take advantage of you. Pay attention, this is a real test of Godly character.
38. Here’s another one. You’ve always heard that the punishment should fit the crime.
39. But, I propose a different way. When someone hurts you, don’t retaliate at all. What does it accomplish? Your retaliation only adds to the pain that already exists. If someone hurts you, take it peacefully. And by that, you’ll prove the sincerity of your love by ending it then and there.
40. If anyone ever has reason to take you to court, and he wins his case, pay him even more than the judge requires.
41. And when someone wants to take unfair advantage of you, fine. Let him do it.
42. If he asks you for help, don’t refuse. Even if you think he’s trying to take advantage of your generosity. And if he asks you for a loan, give it to him. Even if you have every reason to believe he’ll never pay it back. I know this is confusing. But this is what I’m trying to tell you: be willing to suffer, if you must; but always refuse to make others suffer, regardless of the circumstances.
In this paragraph Jesus continues along the same line of thought as above. Verse 48 in most translations says we’re to be “perfect” as our Father in heaven is “perfect”. This is from teleios, meaning full-grown, mature, as contrasted to infancy. It should be noted that God’s maturity (in context, His perfect character) is absolute, unchanging and above reproach. However, the believer’s maturity grows over time and is dependant on his willingness to face the situations described here by Jesus.
43. And you’ve been told to love your friends, but hate your enemies.
44. That’s wrong! Instead, you should love those who hate you, say only good things about those who dislike you, do good things for those who want to destroy you, and pray for those who have betrayed you.
45. Then you’ll be like your Father in Heaven. He doesn’t arbitrarily choose those He will love. He loves everyone the same, regardless of whether they’re good or bad.
46. When you only love those who love you in return, do you think you deserve something special for it? I don’t see why, anyone can do that.
47. And when you only say hello to those who greet you first, what’s so great about that? You’re barely doing what’s expected of anyone.
48. But this is what I’m talking about. You have to show everyone the same God-like integrity. You have to learn to treat others the way the Father treats you.
This brings us to Matthew 6. The subject here is spiritual reality.
Chapter 6
In this next section Jesus begins to talk about prayer. This is such an important topic, since it is mostly misunderstood or even ignored, by religion. I explain these next verses (5-15) in detail in the article “The Model Prayer – Part One”. We’ll look at verses 5-8 here, then 9-15 (what is commonly called the Lord’s Prayer) in the next lesson.