Sermon on the Mount - Turning the World Upside Down
Overcoming Evil with Good
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evildoer. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other. And the one wanting to sue you and to take your shirt, let him also have your coat. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
-Jesus of Nazareth, 1st century
Matthew 5:38-42
[This is the 10th message of this series]
Changing the Culture
When Jesus came into the scene, the Jewish people were living under a religion (a culture) of human made rules and regulations.
One of these rules is an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, an Old Testament law.
This seems reasonable enough. But Jesus is not about reasonable, He came to turn the world upside down. And He did.
His teachings, through His sermons and the miracles that He did still change people's hearts and minds today. His ideas are so revolutionary and so polarizing, there are only two things we can do with Him, laugh at Him or follow Him. Treat Him as a mad man or as who He claimed to be.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the first church in Rome and taught the same thing Christ was telling those who were listening to Him up on that mountain when He was preaching to them.
Spiritually Reborn
Paul before he was reborn, was a legalistic teacher of the old law. He knows all about the Old Testament laws. He lived and breathed them.
He thought Jesus was a mad man and those following Him crazier.
In his quest for doing God's work, He sought out those early Christians and persecuted them. He brought charges against them and have them punished, placed in prison and put to death even.
But when He encountered the Spirit of Christ, it turned his world upside down. He became like the One he was persecuting -- Christ. He lived and taught the same things Christ did, even though He wasn't one of His original followers when Christ was still teaching on earth.
Paul learned through the Holy Spirit. Three years he spent studying about Christ, about the same time Peter, John and the other apostles spent with Jesus Christ, studying under Him.
Paul wrote to the believers in Rome.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21
The Apostle Paul wrote to the first church in Rome and taught the same thing Christ was telling those who were listening to Him up on that mountain when He was preaching to them.
Spiritually Reborn
Paul before he was reborn, was a legalistic teacher of the old law. He knows all about the Old Testament laws. He lived and breathed them.
He thought Jesus was a mad man and those following Him crazier.
In his quest for doing God's work, He sought out those early Christians and persecuted them. He brought charges against them and have them punished, placed in prison and put to death even.
But when He encountered the Spirit of Christ, it turned his world upside down. He became like the One he was persecuting -- Christ. He lived and taught the same things Christ did, even though He wasn't one of His original followers when Christ was still teaching on earth.
Paul learned through the Holy Spirit. Three years he spent studying about Christ, about the same time Peter, John and the other apostles spent with Jesus Christ, studying under Him.
Paul wrote to the believers in Rome.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21
[Paul became "crazier' than the crazy ones he was earlier seeking out and persecuting]
In the Message Version, he stated:
"Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good."
Shame
Paul was saying that when you do good to those who do bad things to you, it is like placing heaps of burning coal over their heads.
In the Message Version, he stated:
"Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good."
Shame
Paul was saying that when you do good to those who do bad things to you, it is like placing heaps of burning coal over their heads.
[Used to be that we only do good things to those who we know can reciprocate and do good things for us in return]
Vengeance is Mine, Says the Lord
Your good deed in response to theirs, will be a shameful reminder of their actions towards you. Revenge is never a teaching of God. Instead God says to leave the revenge part to Him.
We stay our course and God will take care of the rest for us. It is really crazy and an upside down way of thinking and living our life, but that's just how people will find out who are the real followers of Christ and who aren't.
If believers are still following the ways of the world then they are living in the flesh and not by the Spirit of God.
After Christ left the scene, His early followers spread His teachings to the people of their region. Paul went farther and he taught both Jews and non-Jews. He went out and continued teaching the world how to turn it upside down for Christ. Believers today are still doing the same thing.
Turning the world upside down
Paul and Silas in Thessalonica, 1st century
"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also"
Acts 17:1-6
Image Credit: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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