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<DIV><FONT size=4>A literalistic treatment of Jesus' words here about
retaliation has left people sometimes defenceless and abandoned. It is surely
wrong to have these words used to make people feel that they ought to put up
with domestic violence and other forms of abuse, for instance. The context of
these sayings is the issue of retaliation, engaging in return-hate and
return-violence.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Matthew's presentation has passed a censor who did not note
its disparities. Why cite Gentiles as people one should not emulate? He does it
again in 18:17. And what about the tax collectors? Elsewhere Jesus shows them
grace. And what about bad weather? Unevenness lies also in these positive
affirmations of love when set beside Matthew's preferred pedagogy: to warn
people of how God will torment them forever in hell if they do not respond. This
passage provides some threads to pull which can unravel that scheme. Matthew's
theology is at times in danger of presenting God as doing what these contrasts
declare a failure of righteousness and justice.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtEpiphany7.htm"><FONT
size=4>http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/MtEpiphany7.htm</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>William Loader</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Bonhoeffer. This young man was something of a genius. He
received his doctorate <I>cum laude</I> when he was still 21, and as he was too
young to be ordained, he went to New York to study further there. And while he
was there a wonderful thing happened. He became conscientised. It started with
him worshipping in a black Baptist church in Harlem. He fell in love with Negro
Spirituals, but more, he began to understand what his theology looked like ‘from
below’. He began to understand what life was like for those who were
marginalized, for those who were powerless, for those who suffered social
injustice. </FONT>
<P><FONT size=4>And because he had been conscientised to the dignity of
marginalized black people in America, he was able to be conscientised to the
dignity of marginalized Jewish people in Germany. And so he stood up.</FONT></P>
<P><A href="http://sacredise.com/blog/?p=691"><FONT
size=4>http://sacredise.com/blog/?p=691</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John van de Laar, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>Jesus is using exaggeration and hyperbole to make a very
important point: These laws are unjust, and the Lord God is not on the
side of your oppressor. Yes, there was much money-lending in the time of
Jesus, but this activity was, itself, illegal according to Torah. Exodus
22:25 clearly says: "If you lend money to my people, to the poor among
you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest
from them."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>"Release your coat also" is an expression of disgust at the
whole rotten system that perpetrates poverty, denies dignity, takes everything
you've got, and encourages the ones who benefit from it to imagine themselves
superior. "You can't take my coat; I free give it"--this is a way of
asserting personal agency in the face of dehumanizing oppression.</FONT></P>
<P><A
href="http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/02/lectionary-blogging-matthew-5-38-48.html"><FONT
size=4>http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2011/02/lectionary-blogging-matthew-5-38-48.html</FONT></A></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>John Petty, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4>
<DIV>Matthew's Jesus is not recommending a blanket policy of non-resistance, say
when weak and vulnerable members of a community are threatened with violence.
Nor is he dismissing the validity of negative consequences for negative behavior
(10:32-33; 6:14-15). He <EM>is </EM>saying that "an eye for an eye" is not a
legitimate motto for his followers when they suffer personal insult (Allison,
94).</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><A
href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Sketchy-Scenes-Reflections-on-Matthew-Alyce-McKenzie-02-14-2011.html">http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Sketchy-Scenes-Reflections-on-Matthew-Alyce-McKenzie-02-14-2011.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Alyce McKenzie, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In the context of the Roman Empire, the Sermon on the Mount is
a radical proposal for resistance. Written just years after <A
href="http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/titus.html" target=_blank
jQuery1298165229546="2"><FONT color=#2b2b2b>Titus</FONT></A> (who succeeds his
father as Emperor during this period) destroys Jerusalem along with the temple,
it is a call not to arms but an invitation to a nonviolent reorientation of
civilization. There is only one problem; it might depend on our ability to be
perfect.</DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/epiphany7gospel/">http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/epiphany7gospel/</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Russell Rathbun, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...the hardest of a slew of hard verses: "Be perfect." When we
hear that command, most of us hear an injunction to a kind of moral
perfectionism. But that's not actually what the original language implies.
"Perfect," in this case, stems from <I>telos</I>, the Greek word for "goal,"
"end," or "purpose." The sense of the word is more about becoming what was
intended, accomplishing one's God-given purpose in the same way that God
constantly reflects God's own nature and purpose. Eugene Peterson's <I>The
Message</I> gets closer to the mark, I think, when he translates it, "You're
kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created
identity."<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=456">http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=456</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>David Lose, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>...if these people take advantage of us once, what’s to stop
them doing it again and again and again? Aren’t the disciples of Jesus an easy
target, a push over? Well, I believe that if you show them your God-centred-ness
(I love making words up), if we let our light shine, then that witness will be a
catalyst for change. I don’t believe Jesus said these things just to get us
ripped off and exploited. But by living generously he meant for us to be change
makers, for us to make a difference. It’s a call for us to live the servant
life, like Jesus lived the servant life.</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://aweirdthing.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/what-do-you-want-a-medal/">http://aweirdthing.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/what-do-you-want-a-medal/</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Neil Chappell, 2011</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - -
-</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT
face=TimesNewRomanPSMT>
<DIV align=left>These are actions that refuse to be determined by the system of
military and economic</DIV>
<DIV align=left>power that was characteristic of the Roman Empire. Jesus' words
about loving your</DIV>
<DIV align=left>enemy were an extension to human practice of the logic of God’s
goodness. That is, since</DIV>
<DIV align=left>God is good to those who do evil as well as those who do good,
we also ought to follow</DIV>
<DIV align=left>the example of God who does good to all and whose desire is
peace for all. The</DIV>
<DIV align=left>completion of the logic of the kingdom of heaven is therefore
that to be complete,</DIV>
<DIV align=left>mature, full-grown adults, perfect in the sense of having
attained the end or purpose of</DIV>
<DIV align=left>human life, is not to pursue the mentality of the warrior who
becomes a hero by killing</DIV>
<DIV align=left>the enemy. It is rather that completeness and maturity is
evidenced in loving the enemy,</DIV>
<DIV align=left>in finding ways of non-violent resistance to evil that will in
turn create the possibility of a</DIV>
<DIV>peaceable kingdom on earth.</DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><A
href="http://gotell.org/pdf/commentary/Matthew/Mt05_38-48_commentary.pdf">http://gotell.org/pdf/commentary/Matthew/Mt05_38-48_commentary.pdf</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV><FONT size=4><FONT
size=4><FONT face=Arial-BoldMT>
<DIV>Thomas E. Boomershine, 2011</DIV></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=4><FONT size=4><FONT size=4>- - - - -</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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