The above portions of the Word all speak of one thing— Christian reactions. Once we settle the matter of reactions, we have dealt with at least half the problems of our Christian life. We react when others behave in a certain way. We react when others say certain things. We adopt a certain attitude when others adopt certain attitudes. We are filled with reactions. This is why I say that more than half of our Christian life is occupied with reactions. If more than half our life is occupied with reactions and if our reactions are Christian-like, we can expect God to be pleased with us. But if our reactions are improper, we can never expect to be proper Christians.
Perhaps some may wonder why we need to emphasize this matter. Let me be quite frank with you. Do not think that we are touching something that is unimportant. I have had this deep sense within me for the last twenty or more years. Many people have been Christians for eight, ten, even twenty years. They have read the sermon on the mount dozens of times. Yet they still do not know how the Lord wants them to react. They have been Christians for years, yet they are still fundamentally wrong in their reactions. They argue about everything, and they talk about the law, about their rights, and about what others should or should not do. They have not seen what Christian reactions are.
Such ones have righteous reactions, legal reactions, Gentile reactions, and tax collector reactions. But they certainly do not have Christian reactions. They say, “Am I not right?” They feel that they have all the reasons on their side. But they have forgotten that a Christian’s reaction should not be based on reason. They are totally unfamiliar with what Christian reactions should be. This is a big problem. Because they do not know how a Christian should react, they also do not know how other people should react. When a brother is silent about an unjust thing, these ones may think that he is admitting his guilt. Recently, I heard someone say, “So-and-so was silenced by the rebukes of others.” He thought that speaking up was right and keeping silent was wrong. But this person does not know the meaning of the cross. He does not know what the Christian life is. In fact, he does not know what a Christian is.
A newly saved brother should know the Christian way to react from the very beginning. Once he becomes clear about this, he will know how he should live before God. Christians have their own kind of reactions. If you are not reacting in this way, you are just like a tax collector and a Gentile. Let me repeat that half of our human life involves reactions. We act a certain way because others act a certain way. We feel a certain way because others feel a certain way. We are reacting every day. If our reactions are wrong, I am afraid that our daily walk will amount to very little before God. This is why we need to deal with reactions.
Now let us consider the principles of reactions from this portion of Matthew. Man’s reactions to ordinary matters can be classified according to three levels. The first is on the level of reasoning. The second is on the level of good behavior. The third has to do with God’s holy life. If you are on the level of reasoning, your reaction will be temper and wrath. If you are on the level of good behavior, your reaction will be to endure. But if you are on the level of God’s holy life, you will transcend everything. These are the three possible reactions.
If someone strikes your right cheek today and you are full of reasonings, you may say, “How could he have done that? Why did he hit me?” When others strike your cheek, you may fly into a rage and reason about it. This means that you are on the level of reasoning. Perhaps you have the knowledge that Christians should have proper behavior and that temper is wrong. When others ask for your tunic, you may endure silently and allow them to take it away. This kind of reaction is much better than losing one’s temper. But the Lord tells us that there is another kind of reaction; it is the kind that He requires.
When others strike our cheek, the Lord does not want us to react with wrath. Neither does He want us to endure passively when others take our tunic. The Lord tells us to turn our left cheek when others strike our right cheek and to give others our cloak when they want our tunic. When others want us to walk one mile, we should walk two. This is not endurance but transcendence. This kind of reaction goes beyond man’s demand. Man demands only so much, but we can do more before the Lord than just meet man’s demand. We can exceed man’s demand, not just meet it.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord tells us that Christians should have only one kind of reaction. We should react by transcending, not reasoning or enduring. Please remember that those who do not transcend are not acting like Christians. The Lord does not tell us to return an eye for an eye, to hurt the other person’s eye when they hurt our eye. Neither does He say that we should passively endure when others hurt our eye. He says that we should add an eye to an eye. In other words, when one strikes my eye, I should let him strike my other eye.
Please remember that turning from an eye for an eye to an eye plus an eye involves at least two steps forward. Turning from a cheek for a cheek to a cheek plus a cheek, from a tunic for a tunic to a tunic plus a cloak, and from a mile for a mile to a mile plus a mile involves at least two steps forward. An eye for an eye is a reaction. Anger is a reaction. Endurance is a reaction. An eye plus an eye is another kind of reaction. Of these reactions, all but the last should be rejected.