Matthew 5:41 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 5:41

Comments

The background to this seems to be the Roman practice of alighting on people and demand transportation, such as Simon who was made to carry the cross. In the ancient world the authorities had the right to commandeer a man to carry baggage for them from one stage to the next. This was a power exercised especially in a country that was under the authority of a conquering nation. It was by compulsion and there was no payment for this service. It was a gross imposition and extremely unreasonable, but again Christ tells his disciples not to resist it but rather to see it as an opportunity to display a gracious response. What do you do? This is minor oppression; you are not being made to go 50 miles, but 2 miles – there is a limit to this. We are talking about general offences. Do they force you to go one mile with? Go two miles. Treat them as if they were friends who had asked you a favour and give more than you have been asked to give. The common attitude to such a request was that it was to be resented and resisted as far as possible. What a strong message the Christian would therefore give by a reaction that was so different. What he had been compelled to do against his will, his superiors now find he is doing voluntarily. This behaviour gives a strong signal that the things that really matter to the believer are not rights in this life or avoiding being taken advantage of, but something beyond this world, a benefit which only God can deliver. This moderation is then an act of faith and a powerful testimony before the unbeliever, just because it is so practical. It operates in the realm with which the unbeliever is very familiar, and where he is well aware of how he would react if circumstances were reversed. He knows it is not because the believer is unaware that he is being taken advantage of that he acts so graciously, but because the exercise of grace brings great gain. This is beyond the understanding for the unbeliever. God turns every disadvantage into an advantage for his children; the worst of circumstances turn out to be for the good of those who obey Christ. They see their patient response to evil as part of their testimony. By this response they point to the eternal context of life and show that they can afford to lose out in this world since God has something so much more wonderful reserved for them in the world to come. To lose out some small things in this life is no real loss, especially when God can so effectively bring good out of evil.The unreasonable man expects us to respond with outrage, anger, indignation. This is, in a sense, what he hopes for. This tells him that his unreasonableness has hit the mark. But to receive instead calmness, patience, readiness to suffer more if necessary; all this raises unpleasant questions in his mind. What is it that really drives these Christians? Why are they so different to me? Why am I unable to break their spirit when I have pushed them far beyond my own breaking point? Is their God and their Saviour after all real? Will I have to face him in judgment for all my provocation?

Application

As believers we absorb an awful lot, especially for the Lord. That is the kind of people we are meant to be: not touchy, not reactive, not like the scribes and the Pharisees. Character is precious. The scribes and the Pharisees were so proud and so touchy and so vindictive that they were incapable of behaviour like this. How quickly in families, petty things become the cause of quarrels. The Pharisees had sub-parties frequently feuding with each other. Christians must be nothing like that. There are Christians who are deeply hurt by things done to them at work because they are Christians; they become seriously unhappy. It is better to absorb such things. We are to show the opposite spirit to the world, for the world counts every wrong done to it, and records each hurt in indelible ink. For some, nothing can be allowed to be forgotten or overlooked. Believers on the other hand are to commit all things to God and leave it to him to judge between wrongs. They are quietly confident of their own integrity without feeling the need to enforce their rights on a fractious world. They do not return evil for evil because they are conscious of the many sins that God in his graciousness has forgiven them, and they live in hope that their enemies will also repent and experience the same forgiveness from a merciful God. The believer is willing to forfeit his rights because he knows that God is able to care for them better than he can care for them himself.

If we are to bear patiently with hurtful things done to us by evil men and women, how much more should we bear patiently with circumstances that providence delivers to us? We stub our toe, we break something we value, we miss a bus. All things come from the hand of God and nothing is an accident. It is for our good and we must accept it humbly without anger or bitterness.

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Matthew 5:41 Commentary and Bible Study