Series: Simply Complex
Message: Complex Beliefs
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Daily Walk: Japhet De Oliveira

Refresh: Open with prayer. Ask God for understanding through the Holy Spirit.

Read: Matthew 5:21–48 (ESV). As you reread the text for the final time this week in the English Standard Version, what new insights did you discover about God’s character?

Reflect: This is our last day of this Daily Walk and the last day of this series. We end with what is perhaps one of the most controversial sayings in the English language—“an eye for an eye.” This principle of revenge is sometimes referred to using the Latin term lex talionis, and was made famous by Mafia movies in the 1970s. “Eye for an eye” culture has existed for centuries across continents, faiths, and cultures. Revenge is not something you need to teach humans to think about. Little children understand that when they are hurt they feel the need to hurt someone back. Those who have been abused are more likely to become abusers themselves. The Jews lived under violent oppression and longed for a return to the days of King Solomon’s glory. They wanted revenge. They longed for the Messiah to return to restore to them all that they had lost. Instead, along comes the Carpenter from Nazareth. He tells them that before Abraham was, He existed (John 8). He tells them that they have misunderstood the intent of the law, which had never changed. They had merely stuck so tightly to its edges that they lost its heart. That heart is exemplified in the following:

Live Love.
Live Grace.
Live Patience.
Live Humility.
Live Gentleness.

Be people that do not seek equality because it is your right, but because those who follow you deserve a better chance. Be people who give others a second chance not because you are generous, but because you have been embraced by the merciful God. Be people who are patient with others not because you have capacity, but because God’s time is eternal. Be people who live in humility not because you are better than others, but because you recognize that we are all in need of Jesus to save us. Be people who are gentle to everyone not because we are not strong, but because strength is in the face of our Jesus.

Recalibrate: Who is your enemy? Could it be you? How can you forgive yourself?

Respond: Pray for the joy of acceptance in Jesus.

Research: Watch the sermon by John McVay on Matthew 5:38–48.