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Reflections on the New Testament: The Gospel of Luke

 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him,” Luke 17:3, NKJV.

This commandment of the Lord is simple enough, yet we are often frustrated when we attempt to reconcile to that other admonition of “turning the other cheek.” But to understand the meaning of each and their reconciliation, we have only to examine the context. Here the Lord, in speaking to His disciples, admonishes them regarding the treatment of a brother who has sinned: He does not say, merely, “if anyone sins against you….” Similar admonitions are delivered by Paul numerous times throughout the New Testament—that a brother who transgresses ought to be rebuked in love and “the spirit of gentleness.” In the verse at hand, Jesus particularly emphasizes that if a brother sins against you personally, you ought not simply to “turn the other cheek” but to rebuke him. Furthermore, He says: “if he repents, forgive him.” In Matthew 5:39-41, however, Jesus says: “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” Here the Lord specifically says “do not resist an evil person.” Now, does this mean we are not to make a stand for our faith? Certainly not! Take heed: “whoever slaps you,” “if anyone wants to sue you,” “whoever compels you to go one mile.” These are all personal insults, nothing more. Christ did not resist the evil persons who, however unjustly, beat Him, mocked Him, and delivered Him up to be crucified, but He vehemently attacked the false doctrine and hypocrisy of the religious leaders. This is key. In the two commandments we have examined, we see a coincidence of perspectives that is manifested repeatedly in the life of Christ. We see in Luke 17:3 the necessity of rebuking those who have been fully exposed to the truth, who are, as it were, without excuse, but have nonetheless broken the law they claim to uphold. We see also the necessity of forgiveness if such persons repent: the recognition that they have already been forgiven by God and ought much more to be forgiven by us, who are every bit as liable to sin as they. On the other hand, we see in Matthew 5:39-41, that we are to take no offense when evil persons insult us, knowing that they are blinded as we ourselves once were and that, in comparison with the terrors that await them should they remain unsaved, our personal feelings are of utter insignificance.

Humility is key to all our interactions: Christ was sinless, but He was humble to the point of death. How much more ought we to cast aside our pride? To endure ridicule, humiliation, and beatings at the hands of the infidels if by any means one might be saved? To disregard our personal feelings and our very lives, knowing that our souls are secure in the hands of God? To breathe the sacred words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”? Rebuke a brother if he sins against you, not because you are offended, but because the brethren ought not to sin against one another. Forgive him if he repents, for the same God who forgave you also forgave him.

 

“Then He looked at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone”? Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder,’” Luke 20:17-18, NKJV.

Those who are called fall upon that stone—casting themselves, as it were, at the Lord’s feet. The Rock is hard and cruel to fall upon—it breaks us, but fall we must. Would we stand on the Rock? We must first fall upon it. Would we be healed? We must first be broken. Did not Christ Himself die, before He rose? Did He not feel in full the pain of deliverance before He felt its joy? Fall on the stone, regardless of the bruises you will receive, for that same stone will enable you to stand in the last day.
Not so with the unbeliever. Woe to him who does not fall on the stone, for the stone will fall on him in judgment and he shall be ground to powder. We, the saved, shall be bruised, even broken, but the unsaved shall be crushed.

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