The Right to Retaliate | Sunday, April 3, 2022

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Who breaks the power of sin and whose love is mighty, so much stronger? King of Glory, King above. Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder and leaves us breathless? This is amazing grace. This is the one who would take my place.

Who brings our chaos back into order? Who makes the orphan a son and daughter? King of Glory, the King of Glory, who rules

Through much of the summer, we are going to pivot a little bit. I wanted to take just a moment to preview with you where we are going as a church in the Scriptures. Next week, of course, is Palm Sunday, and we will be in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 16 is where Moses is reminding the children of Israel about the feasts that they were to observe annually as the children of the Lord.

The first of the seven feasts of Israel is Passover, which follows right after Palm Sunday, leading into Resurrection Sunday, or Easter, which is what Jesus celebrated with His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. Passover is coming up, so it fits with the passage in Deuteronomy chapter 16. Next week, we will be talking a little bit about Passover. As a church, we will be partaking of communion on Palm Sunday. If you watch with us online, you can partake of communion with us as well.

If you don't have the elements for communion—the bread and the cup—you could come down to the church during regular business hours in the week leading up to Palm Sunday, and we will make some of those things available to you. Alternatively, you can pick up some bread at the store and some grape juice, and you can partake with us as we remember the Lord's Supper together on Palm Sunday, which is what Jesus commissioned His disciples to do. We continue to do that as a church as well.

So, next Sunday, we will be talking about Palm Sunday and Passover, and we will partake of communion together. After that, of course, we will celebrate the resurrection on Resurrection Sunday. Most commonly, we call it Easter Sunday, but we like to call it Resurrection Sunday here at the church. We will have a special message from the Gospels talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Following that, we are going to take four weeks here at Cross Connection Church to do a special series outside of the book of Deuteronomy. I am going to call this series "Unmasking Jesus." We are in a time period where we have come out of masking—thank God there are no mask mandates continuing on. In "Unmasking Jesus," we will consider some of Jesus's essential teachings from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. We will be doing that in the month of April and into the month of May, which will bring us into the summertime here at Cross Connection.

During the summer, we sometimes do special messages, and this year we are going to go through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah together on Sunday mornings. Last year, we went through the Old Testament book of Esther during the summer, so this year we will be in Nehemiah. As I mentioned, we have a little bit of a detour coming; we are not leaving the book of Deuteronomy for good, just for the spring and summer season to explore some other passages of Scripture.

Today, we are supposed to be in Deuteronomy chapter 15, which is where we left off last week. However, there is something in the news this past week that caught my attention and seems to have completely absorbed the attention of many people. As this news story took over the news cycle in our country, I felt there was something in the Scriptures connected to this situation. Not only is it found in the Scriptures, but it is also connected to the book of Deuteronomy and the Sermon on the Mount, where we will be in a few weeks after Resurrection Sunday. This provides us with a teachable moment regarding the current news story in our culture.

I wanted to shift gears a little bit. I don't know about you, but I think we are living in crazy and strange times. We are coming out of two years of chaos and weirdness with COVID. Our economy is in a rather strange place; it seems to be in a bit of a precarious situation. The stock market appears to be doing pretty well at the moment, while the housing market is incredibly hot in our country. It seems to be going off like crazy. If you are a buyer, you are in a difficult pinch right now, but if you are a seller, you are likely excited because you are getting top market value for your home, which is selling very quickly.

Interest rates are still relatively low compared to where they have historically been over the last 30 years or so. In our church, we have a number of people involved in the construction industry, including contractors and various companies.

The construction industry seems to be cranking, and many people are having a hard time finding workers to fulfill the work that they have before them. At the same time, we are facing supply chain issues—supply chain insanity, we might say. We have computer chip shortages, which have made it difficult to get all kinds of different things, including cars.

I was driving the other day to the hospital here in town, and I drove through the Escondido auto park. It was amazing to see that there were hardly any cars on the lots for all the different companies. This situation is related to the chip shortages. We also have sky-high inflation, with gasoline prices at six dollars a gallon or more, which is incredibly difficult for a lot of people. This will have some major downstream effects on our culture and on everything that you buy in the coming weeks and months.

The crazy thing to consider is that most of the time in the summer, gas prices go higher. So, who knows what it will be like when we get into July and August? Adding to the economic dislocation of our culture, we have all been watching what has happened over the last month. A little more than a month ago, the Russian military, under the command of Vladimir Putin, invaded Ukraine on February 24th. The Chinese continue to flirt with Taiwan and advance their naval moves in the South China Sea. Issues in the Middle East are also pretty tense. Things are crazy—absolutely crazy.

I find myself waking up every morning and looking at the latest news, wondering what the next crazy thing will be. Maybe you are like that as well. I wake up in the morning, starting to get my day going, and I often look at my cell phone. A lot of times, I open up Twitter to check the news quickly, scrolling through to see what is going on in the world. It feels like I am always waiting for the next shoe to drop, just anticipating the next crazy story to happen.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up Monday morning and found that the biggest story in the news, coming into a new week, had nothing to do with President Biden's trip to Europe. It had nothing to do with Ukraine, China, COVID, or even the economy.

The news story that dominated the headlines this week had to do with comedian Chris Rock and Academy Award winner Will Smith. We live in insanely crazy times. Virtually all week, the conversation in the news and in pop culture on social media has swirled around Will Smith's response to Chris Rock's ill-timed joke made at the expense of Smith's wife at the Academy Awards.

By now, you have probably seen the clip, and perhaps you've seen the memes about it. Everybody is making memes about this whole situation. For me, I can't even say that the last thing on my mind over the weekend was the Academy Awards because the Academy Awards didn't even cross my mind. It's not something that is on my radar at all at this point in 2022. I'm somewhat surprised that the Academy Awards is even still a thing on primetime TV every single year. It's kind of weird to me that it's such a big deal. Apparently, it is a big deal; some 15 million people or so tuned in to watch it.

It's funny to me that the Academy Awards get the views that they do, but I guess it's still pretty popular among a certain demographic. Whatever the case, Chris Rock made what we might call an ill-timed joke. Initially, if you've seen the clip, I saw it on Monday morning while looking through Twitter and social media. It was like, "Oh man, I don't even know what happened," but then the clip started showing up all over the place.

He makes this joke, and Will Smith is laughing at it until he sees his wife's reaction. Then, Smith got up, walked on stage, and smacked Chris Rock across the face. He then proceeded to cuss Chris Rock out from his seat, which was broadcast around the world on national TV. Pretty crazy stuff.

The conversation throughout the week has revolved around whether or not Smith was justified in what he did, if Chris Rock deserved the smackdown, and whether Smith should be prosecuted for his actions or punished by the Academy. As I said, we are living in pretty crazy, kind of weird times. I mean, with all of the things that are in the news right now—stuff in Ukraine, China, the economy, and even in the...

The Middle East, with all the crazy things that are going on, has dominated the headlines and the conversation in our country pretty much all week long. Virtually everyone, by this time, has something to say about this. Anchors and pundits on the news have weighed in; I think the White House even weighed in in some way. Actors, comedians, podcasters, and everyone on social media, including social media influencers, have all shared their opinions. I'm sure you don't need my opinion on the whole thing. Are you really looking for what Pastor Miles has to say about it?

I'll just say I think it's all kinds of crazy and strange to see. We live in what feels like a clown world at this point in time. But wouldn't you know it? The Bible has something to say about events like what we saw. There were some things that immediately came to my mind when I saw the video clip and the conversation going on the internet about this. The Bible has something to say about this. The Torah, the law, which we've been studying through as we go through the book of Deuteronomy, has something to say about this. Ancient rabbis have an opinion about this, and Jesus has something to say about it as well.

In fact, there is teaching on these matters that spans a very long period within Christianity, particularly around the concept of what is called lex talionis. Lex talionis is Latin for the law of retaliation or the law of retribution. The idea of the law of retaliation, lex talionis, has been written about by Christian theologians for a very long time. It not only extends through 2,000 years of Christian history but also goes back into Jewish history before that, even into Babylonian history. There is a long history of discussing the issues of retaliation: when is it okay to retaliate?

The idea of the law of retribution or retaliation can be found in the book of Exodus, in the book of Leviticus, in the book of Deuteronomy, and even in the book of Genesis. Now, you may say, "Wait, Pastor, are you saying that if a man makes a bad joke about your wife, the Bible says that you can smack..."

Is that what the Bible says? That's not exactly what I am saying, but it does say this: If you look with me in Exodus chapter 21, all the way back in the Old Testament, Exodus chapter 21, beginning at verse 12, we read these words: "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar that he may die.

He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death. He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. If men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

If a man beats his male or female servant with a rod so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property. If men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Now, I know you didn't see anything in Exodus 21 about retaliation around bad jokes at the Oscars, but we did read there in those words in that passage: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. This is where the idea of lex talionis comes from, the idea of the law of retaliation. We will see that this principle comes up again. We've been going through the book of Deuteronomy; we're in Deuteronomy chapter 15 right now. But you know we will eventually get to Deuteronomy chapter 19, where we read these words: "Life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." So there are those words again, exactly what we see in Exodus.

Exodus chapter 21 reminds the children of Israel, as Moses does in Deuteronomy chapter 19. It is likely that you saw something this last week about Will Smith's smackdown, or perhaps you talked about it yourself with some other people. The discussion probably revolved around whether or not Will Smith was justified in doing what he did. Though people wouldn't necessarily mention "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," as we read in this passage, they may not have even heard of the term "lex talionis." What they were really discussing is the right of retaliation or the law of retribution.

When is retribution justified? This is an important question, especially considering what is happening in Ukraine. We wonder about these things when terrorist attacks occur in Israel, as they did this last week. The question of retaliation was also brought up after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 over 20 years ago. This was an issue that people talked about: when is it justified to retaliate? What is the idea of a just war?

When we are offended or taken advantage of, we wonder about our response. How should we respond? What is the right response? What is the proper way to deal with it when I am offended or taken advantage of? When someone strikes me on the cheek, when am I allowed to retaliate, and in what way can I bring about retribution in that situation?

Issues of retaliation and retribution are as old as human civilization and as old as human writing. We see these concepts going back for millennia. In fact, all the way back in the very early pages of Scripture, the first book of the Bible is Genesis. In Genesis, we are presented with the question of retribution and retaliation in the story of Cain and Abel. In Genesis chapter 4, after Cain killed his brother Abel, God sent Cain away to be a fugitive wandering around on the earth. In that passage, Cain says, "Surely you have driven me out."

Cain spoke to God, saying, "Surely you have driven me out this day from the face of the ground. I shall be hidden from your face, God. I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." Cain was concerned about retaliation and retribution. God graciously made provision for Cain's protection from the avenger, stating in Genesis 4:15, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." The Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone find him and kill him.

Just a few short verses later, after the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was driven from the presence of the Lord and went out wandering on the earth. He expressed his fear of retaliation, and God assured him of protection. Again, in Genesis 4, we find the story of one of Cain's descendants, a man named Lamech. The discussion here revolves around retaliation, known as lex talionis, which addresses when it is acceptable to seek retribution. This theme is present in the very opening verses of the Bible, first with Cain and then with his descendant, Lamech.

In Genesis 4:19, we read, "Then Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of one was Adah and the name of the second was Zillah." Skipping down to verse 23, Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, "Hear my voice, wives of Lamech; listen to my speech. For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."

It is worth considering that these stories are among the oldest in human literature. In these ancient documents, we are presented with the issue of retribution and retaliation, which has been contemplated for thousands of years. Notice Lamech in this passage; he states, "I have killed a man for wounding me." Someone may have hit Lamech, perhaps smacked him, and instead of merely retaliating with a slap, he struck back and killed him. It seems that the punishment in that situation did not fit the crime. This is the kind of justice presented in ancient times.

Unequal justice is a concept that appears frequently in ancient writings. We see this reflected in the fallen world we live in, as described in Genesis chapter 3. In this fallen world, there is often unequal justice, which leads to many complaints in our culture. We desire things to be just, fair, and equal, especially when it comes to punishment.

However, under the framework of unequal justice, as illustrated by Lamech in Genesis chapter 4, the response to being wronged can escalate dangerously. Lamech's mindset suggests that if someone pushes him, he will not merely push back; he will retaliate with violence. If someone makes a joke about him, he will respond with a smack. In this context of unequal justice, God introduces the first limiting principle.

Lamech's declaration that he would kill anyone who hurt him exemplifies the need for a boundary in justice. God speaks into this situation, providing a limiting principle regarding justice. After the flood, in Genesis chapters 6 through 9, we find the story of Noah and the flood. Following this event, God establishes a principle related to justice and punishment in Genesis chapter 9.

In verse 5, God states, "Surely for your lifeblood, I will demand a reckoning." He continues, "From the hand of every beast, I will require it, and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of a man." In verse 6, it is further emphasized that "whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God, He made man."

This principle is later expanded under the law in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus. The "eye for an eye" principle is articulated in Exodus 21, Deuteronomy 19, and Leviticus 24. In Leviticus 24, verse 17 states, "Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death."

It is important to recognize that retaliation and retribution are as old as human civilization, according to the Bible. In some instances, retribution is considered righteous. Let me emphasize that again: in some cases, retribution is justified.

Instances of retribution or retaliation can be seen as righteous or right, and in the case of some crimes, capital punishment is the appropriate response. I don't know what your opinion is about capital punishment or the death penalty; I know there are many opinions on this topic. Several years ago, when I was taking a class on ethics, I had to write a paper on the death penalty, exploring whether it is just or right and if it fits within an ethical framework.

The Bible seems pretty clear that there are certain cases, especially when it comes to murder, where the death penalty is allowed and even condoned as the right response to that situation. But what about other crimes? If someone offends you or your wife by telling an ill-timed, mean-spirited joke, are you allowed to just walk up on stage and smack the person right there in front of everybody?

Moses says in Exodus chapter 21, verse 23, "You shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." How should we read and understand these words from the law in Exodus 21, or Leviticus 24, or Deuteronomy chapter 19? How should we interpret this teaching in 2022? We are not living in the time of Moses or the children of Israel when they first came into the Promised Land; we are living in a hyper-modern Western culture.

As I have said many times over the last several weeks while going through Deuteronomy and the law, when considering the teachings of the law of God, we need to look at the principle and the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law. This isn't a command that if someone pokes your eye out, you must instantly poke their eye out, or if someone knocks your tooth out, you must instantly knock their tooth out. Rather, when we read these words—eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound—we need to recognize that the rules on retaliation are a limitation and not a prescription. You see, in our fallen state...

As things appear to have been in the ancient world thousands of years ago, retributive justice often led to punishments that exceeded the crime in severity. This is what we saw in the story of Lamech in Genesis chapter 4. He says, "I have killed a man because he wounded me, even a young man for hurting me." That doesn't seem to be righteous retribution. It's like saying, "This guy punched me, and I killed him." That is not a justified response. I don't think that is the just and right response in that situation.

When God says, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," He is teaching His people that within His kingdom, under His rule, the punishment should fit the crime. Let me say that again: God is teaching that a punishment should fit the crime. This is a limitation, not a prescription. "An eye for an eye" is a limitation on your retaliation; you can't exceed the crime with your punishment. This is basically what God is saying, and this is really important.

We sometimes feel justified in our retribution, and perhaps we are, but we need to be very careful. One of the reasons I think we need to be cautious when we consider retaliating against someone is that the New Testament book of James states in James chapter 1 that the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. My anger and my wrath do not bring about God's righteousness, so I have to be really careful.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, says in Ephesians chapter 4, "Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath." There is a way to be angry and not sin, but it's a very fine line. We have to be careful that we don't move into a place where we are walking in wrath. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

So, when we are sinned against, the punishment should fit the crime. The problem is that by the time of Christ in the first century, which was many centuries after Moses—some 1,400 years after Moses—this teaching from Moses, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," had become a limiting principle on retribution.

It moved from being a limiting principle on retribution to an obligation you were expected to follow. The religious leaders of Jesus's day seemed to have taken this as a justification for hurting others at least as badly as they had been hurt. When I say the religious leaders of Jesus's day, I'm talking about the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, and so forth. These were the experts in the law who studied the Torah. They had moved this from being something that was not exactly a good thing—this "eye for an eye" teaching.

One commentator says that they had converted the principle of justice into a rule for everyday life. Another commentator explained that in Jesus's day, the religious leaders had taken this to mean that every man should likewise retaliate in kind and should, in every case, insist on his full rights. It's interesting to note those words "in kind," because such words can get you into trouble, as President Biden learned when he was speaking in Poland just about a week or so ago.

The application of this limiting principle in the law, by the time of Christ, had been stretched well beyond the heart and the spirit of the law. The same law also taught these words in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18: "You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."

We have to put these two principles together: "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, wound for wound," and so forth, must fit with "you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself." This command was spoken by Moses to the children of Israel and written in the law in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, just as they were getting ready to come into the Promised Land.

Fast forward nearly a millennium and a half—1,400 years from the time of Moses to the time of Christ—and the people had taken this to mean that you have to push for your rights. Anytime anybody says or does anything that offends you, you've got to stand up for yourself. It's a kind of mindset. Therefore, we read something from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount on this very same idea. In Matthew chapter 5, we read this in verse 38: Jesus says to the disciples who were listening to him, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye.'"

For an eye and a tooth for a tooth is straight out of the law. You've heard it in Deuteronomy and in Exodus: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also.

Could we find a more applicable passage from Jesus this week, after all of the news cycle that has happened since the Academy Awards last Sunday night? If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn to him the other also.

Fascinatingly, in some instances, retaliation might be right. You may be able to justify your actions by the teaching of Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 19, Exodus 21, and Leviticus 24 say an eye for an eye; there needs to be retaliation and retribution. So, you might be able to justify from the Scriptures your actions in taking justice into your own hands to retaliate.

You have heard that it has been said you have to insist upon your full rights. You have heard that it has been said you have to stand up for yourself. You have heard that it has been said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, and a stripe for a stripe. But Jesus says do not retaliate. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Now, I don't know what your thoughts are about Chris Rock and Will Smith, but I do have to say, and I'm not a huge fan or a huge follower, that Chris Rock may have exercised more restraint in that situation last Sunday night than maybe I would have or maybe you would have. You may have the right to retaliate, but your retaliation may not be righteous. Let me say that again: you may have the right to retaliate; the Bible says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but your retaliation may not be righteous.

My aim ought not to be my own rights but to be righteous. That's what I want to be. In fact, in the passage there in Matthew chapter 5, just before Jesus says, "You've heard that it has been said of old time, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," he teaches us a different way.

Do not resist evil. In that very same passage, Jesus says your righteousness needs to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. The scribes and the Pharisees were saying you have to stand up for your own rights and retaliate if someone does something to you. Jesus teaches that our aim should not be our full rights, but rather to be righteous and to follow the way of Christ.

What is the way of Christ? The Apostle Peter talks about it in his first letter, 1 Peter chapter 2. He writes that Jesus, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament also teaches in Romans chapter 12, saying, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,' says the Lord."

These are incredibly hard lessons to learn and even harder to apply. I want my rights; I want my way; I want to avenge myself. I feel justified in doing so, and I think I have support in the Bible because it says, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." In one of his letters, the Apostle Paul writes, "Why do you not rather accept the wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?" Those are such hard words to accept.

"Vengeance is Mine," says the Lord. Can you leave your desire for retribution and retaliation with Him and say, "God, You will be my defense; You will be the one who stands in my place"?

Let me tell you, this is incredibly hard. I have had to experience this over the years. There have been times when people have wronged me, times when people have spoken behind my back, and times when people have done things against me in ministry that are rather public. I have felt the desire to retaliate and have felt justified in my retaliation.

So many times in those instances, I have sensed this still, small voice of the Lord saying, "Vengeance is Mine, Myles; I will repay." I have to leave it in the hands of the Lord, and it is so hard.

It is hard to leave that with God and to take the wrong, as Paul says there in Corinthians. With that, I want to bring you back to the passage that we are actually supposed to be in today, in Deuteronomy chapter 15. I want to look at what Moses says here and see if we can't apply what Moses says in Deuteronomy chapter 15 to this idea of what we're seeing in the book of Deuteronomy, but also in the Sermon on the Mount from Jesus.

Deuteronomy 15, verse 15 says, "You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I command you this thing today." What does this have to do with retaliation and retribution? Maybe not so much in the context of what Moses is saying in Deuteronomy chapter 15, verse 15, but it might be more than you think.

Let me bring it home in this way by saying you should remember how the Lord has dealt with you and what He did for you. Just as we see there, "You shall remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt," remember how you were treated and what you went through. In the same way, I need to remember, and you need to remember, what I have been like in the past and how the Lord has dealt with me, what He did for me.

Well, what did He do for me? I was dead in my trespasses and sins. I was guilty of iniquity, transgression, and sin. I was deserving of all of God's wrath and all of God's retribution. God had every reason to throw the book at me, if you will, and would have been completely righteous in pouring out His wrath.

But Ephesians 2, verse 4 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved." He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

I am guilty of all kinds of sin; you are guilty of all kinds of sin. We are justly in the place of wrath, and yet God has given us mercy and grace. I think the greatest picture of this found in the Gospels is in the Gospel of John, chapter 8.

In John chapter 8, we read about a woman who was brought to Jesus after being caught in adultery. The law states that if someone is guilty of adultery, they should be put to death. It is worth noting that the man involved in the adultery was not brought to Jesus, only the woman. She was presented to Him, and the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what do You say?"

In this instance, the law was quite clear. The punishment for adultery, as stated in the law, is death. So, they asked Jesus what His word was. They were trying to catch Him in a trap. The scripture tells us in John 8:6 that they said this to test Him, hoping to find something to accuse Him of. However, Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, seemingly ignoring their immediate question.

When they continued to ask Him, He raised Himself up and said, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone." Then He stooped down again and wrote on the ground. Those who heard His words were convicted by their conscience and began to leave one by one, starting with the oldest. Eventually, Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in the midst.

When He raised Himself up again, He saw no one but the woman. He asked her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, Lord." Jesus then said to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

In this passage, Jesus did not break the law; He came to fulfill it. He teaches us an important truth about the blessing of mercy. The way of Christ is the way of mercy. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might receive the righteousness of God, which is imparted to us in Christ Jesus.

That is the good news of the gospel. So, back to the question I asked earlier: Was Will Smith justified in smacking Chris Rock? Was Chris Rock deserving of a smackdown for his offensive joke? Should Will Smith be prosecuted? Should he lose his Oscar? Those are some of the questions that our culture is confronted with and wrestling with this week. There's a good chance that you might have an opinion in your mind, an answer to those questions.

Is retribution okay? When is retaliation justified? What measure of retaliation is allowed? In all of this, I can't help but think of the words of God through the prophet Micah in Micah chapter 6, verse 8, where we read, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Three things that God has shown us that He requires of us are to do what’s right, to love mercy, and to walk in humility. Those are some really helpful lessons for us to work on this week: to do what’s right, to love mercy, and to be humble. Powerful, powerful words! The way of Christ is the way of mercy. God demonstrated His love towards me, that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. God demonstrated His love by showing me mercy when I deserved retribution.

Those are really powerful and important things to think about today. God demonstrated His love by showing me mercy when I deserved retribution. Maybe I don't have the perfect answer for the questions of how Will Smith should have responded in that situation. Was Chris Rock in the wrong? Did he deserve all this? I don't know anything about that. Well, I have my opinions, but I do know this: You and I are guilty of far worse than that before a holy God.

God demonstrated His love by showing me His mercy when I deserved retribution, and that's really good news. Good news that I hope you know. I hope you have experienced the love and the mercy of God and received the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have, then make sure that you're a conduit of the same love.

And mercy to others—that's what God wants from us today. He is showing you, oh man, what is good, what the Lord requires of you: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk in humility.

Father God, I pray that You'd help us do that this week. Help us to be those who don't just love justice. Sometimes we see someone screw up, mess up, or fall down, and we think, "Oh, now they're going to get it," and so we kind of root for justice. But Lord, You want us to be merciful. I thank You, Lord, that You have been merciful with me, and I pray that You'd help me to walk out what is right and to be merciful to others this week. For I ask this in Your name, Amen.

Is the King who conquered the grave? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the grave. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the King who conquered the faith. Worthy is the Lamb who is worthy, worthy, worthy.

Oh, this is amazing grace! This now is what would take my place, that I would be set free. Oh, Jesus, all that You've done for me.

Thanks for joining us for our online service today. As we close, we would love to invite you to our on-campus service here at Cross Connection Church, 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. every Sunday.

Also, if you'd like more information about Cross Connection Church, make sure you check out lifeinconnection.com.

Hey, good morning, Cross Connection! It's Pastor Garrett here. We've got a couple of announcements for you, but first, I want to welcome you to Cross Connection Church this morning. Here, we're all about living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ.

This morning, I have a couple of announcements for you, actually really just some save-the-dates. Coming up in May, ladies, there's a petite retreat on May 21st, which is a Saturday, so save the date for that. You can sign up on the website events.lifeinconnection.com.

Then, in September, we have our whole church camping trip at Herky Creek Campground. Save the date for that; it's going to be from September 22nd through the 26th. You're welcome to come for any of those days or all of them, but we'd love to have you. Just set aside some time; we would love to go camping and really live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. I'm looking forward to that!

If you're looking for more ways to get plugged in and serve, not only the body but also to volunteer, we have an opportunity at Camp Julian Oaks, or Camp Joy, as it's known here. They are looking for adult camp counselors for this summer. What they do is minister to foster care students from all over the San Diego County area. It's a really awesome opportunity. If you're interested in volunteering as a camp counselor for these kids at Camp Joy in Julian, we'd love to have you sign up. You can find more information after the service at the Connect Five. Go find Pastor Nick, and he can give you all the information that you need.

This week, our mission is really you, Cross Connection. The Lord says to go out into all the world, proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's exactly what we do here at Cross Connection Church. Especially when we're talking about living life in connection with one another and the world through Jesus Christ, it means going out and being a Christian in our local community.

If you aren't aware of this yet, I hope you consider that next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and the Sunday after that is Easter Sunday. We want you to invite some friends, family members, and neighbors to Easter service. We made these cards for you; you'll see them in the back of the sanctuary as you're leaving. Please grab a handful of them and hand them out. They are just quick invite cards to our Easter service, with the service times and the location included.

They need to know, and these little cards here are kind of a gospel tract with information on the back for our church services. Take a couple of these cards; they are an awesome resource.

As a church, we want to be a light and a witness to Escondido. We want to be known for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ as Cross Connection Church. So, grab a couple of these on your way out.