Neil McClendon, Lead Pastor

GRAND PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Matthew 5:38-42
How The Violence of God Triumphs Over The Violence of Man

1. The insufficiency of proportionate justice, v. 38
The law did three things...
a) takes punishment out of the realm of private vengeance
b) gave judges a clear and just formula for punishment
c) it forbid vendettas and excessive retribution

“...I have killed a man for wounding me...”
-Genesis 4:23

Why do we insist on retaliation?
a) embarrassment
b) justice
•
“Slowly and imperceptibly, the one true God begins acquiring the features of the
gods of this world. For instance, our God simply gratifies our desires rather than
reshaping them in accordance with the beauty of God’s own character. Our God
then kills enemies rather than dying on their behalf as God did in Jesus Christ.”

― Miroslav Volf,
Free of Charge: Giving and

Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace

c) unbelief

“If God were not angry at injustice and deception and did not make the final end to
violence God would not be worthy of our worship. Here, however, I am less
interested in arguing that God’s violence is not unworthy of God than in showing
that it is beneficial to us. Life has rightly drawn our attention to the fact that in a
world of violence we are faced with an inescapable alternative: either God’s
violence or human violence. Most people who insist on God’s “nonviolence”
cannot resist using violence themselves. They deem the talk of God’s judgment
irreverent, but think nothing of entrusting judgment into human hands, persuaded
presumably that this is less dangerous and more humane than to believe in a God
who judges! And so violence thrives, secretly nourished by belief in a God who
refuses to wield the sword.”

-Miroslave

Volf, Exclusion & Embrace

2. The capacity of life in the Kingdom, v. 39-42
• Matthew 11:12
As Christians we have the capacity to demonstrate four things...
a) a different response to evil, v. 39
• Romans 12:14-21
b) a different response to guilt, v. 40
c) a different response to authority, v. 41
d) a different response to need, v. 42

Mental worship...
1 Is there anybody that you’ve punished too much and you don’t know how to get
it back to where it should be?
2 Do you feel you actually have the capacity to respond differently when violated?
3 Does your response to evil say more about you or God?
4 How does the Gospel inform your response to the poor and needy?
5 What or who have you lost sight of?