It might be human nature to treat someone badly who we think is lower in status than us currently because someone in a higher position treated us badly—but it is not the way God wants us to be and behave.  As a people who have reconciled with God; we are to relate to people better than others treated us because of His love in us.  Because we experienced how it feels to be berated, beaten, and betrayed; we must respond to others differently than we were treated.  We have a responsibility and the power of God living in us to stop cycles of mistreatment and abuse by reacting and responding differently with the compassion of Jesus who so gracefully, eloquently, and perfectly demonstrated for us!  We must respond differently because when we come to Jesus, we receive complete forgiveness for all our sins.  “As redeemed people,” says God in this passage; gives us reason to respond to others differently! 

Jesus, the Word made flesh, will later teach that we should “go the extra mile” in living our new life as redeemed people.  Jesus will demonstrate how to do this often in front of his disciples and followers who have been oppressed by the Romans and their own religious leaders. Jesus will replace the hate with the love of God.  (See Matthew 5-7 for examples for living a life of difference from the darkness.)

Later, Peter the disciples who Jesus chose to “build his church” preaches:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV Made new and different!  Be different to make a difference so others will know and follow Jesus, too!

Before Jesus we were like the rest of the world but after receiving redemption from God through Jesus, His Son who paid our debt of sin in full; we are made new and new means living differently than those who walk in darkness without God. 

Deuteronomy 24

If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, ² and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, ³ and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, ⁴ then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

⁵ If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

⁶ Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.

⁷ If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.

⁸ In cases of defiling skin diseases, be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt.

¹⁰ When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. ¹¹ Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. ¹² If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. ¹³ Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.

¹⁴ Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. ¹⁵ Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

¹⁶ Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.

¹⁷ Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

¹⁹ When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²¹ When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Live differently!

The next two chapter of Deuteronomy covers details concerning the justice for all people.  For example, kidnapping was prohibited and was a capital crime. To kidnap people and sell them is to treat them like merchandise and not like people created in the image of God. The Israelites were not to enslave one another or sell one another to be enslaved by the Gentiles. The Lord had delivered His people from Egypt so they could be free, and kidnapping was the reverse of God’s purpose!

Jesus’ new way to respond to the “Golden Rule”:  Treat others BETTER than the way they treat you!  This is how to live God’s way which is different than the world around us expects. 

Throughout Mattew 5-7, Jesus preaches and teaches live differently, here are but a few examples:

“You are the salt of the earth” …to season the world with the goodness of God!

“You are the light of the world”…don’t hide the Light of Jesus in you, shine, giving light in your homes and to the dark world so others will know and praise God, too!

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.”

“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

There’s so much more!  Live differently requires study of the scriptures and prayer that involves talking and listening with God, being still, letting go of the old life, with a desire to respond to God in our new life.  God’s Holy Spirit gives the power to be and live differently!

Jesus is preaching a sermon on the mount that describes God’s radical reconstruction of the heart. (Matthew 5-7 with reference to Deuteronomy)

Max Lucado writes;

“Observe the sequence. First, we recognize we are in need (we’re poor in spirit). Next, we repent of our self-sufficiency (we mourn). We quit calling the shots and surrender control to God (we’re meek). So grateful are we for his presence that we yearn for more of him (we hunger and thirst). As we grow closer to him, we become more like him. We forgive others (we’re merciful). We change our outlook (we’re pure in heart). We love others (we’re peacemakers). We endure injustice (we’re persecuted).

It’s no casual shift of attitude. It is a demolition of the old structure and a creation of the new. The more radical the change, the greater the joy. And it’s worth every effort, for this is the joy of God.

And though your heart isn’t perfect, it isn’t rotten. And though you aren’t invincible, at least you’re plugged in. And you can bet that he who made you knows just how to purify you—from the inside out.” –Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

We are different when we give our lives to Jesus.  Now, says Jesus, live differently!  I’ll help you!

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new tender mercies delivered to us daily. Continually replenish the joy of your salvation at work within us as we surrender to your will to be and live differently for our good and your glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen

I love seeing a brand-new believers praise God when set free from sin through forgiveness by Jesus!  Even the expressions and features on their faces are different!  Brand-new believers are so excited to tell others of what Jesus did for them with what He is doing in them to transform them by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. The difference in their lives is compelling as well as noticeable!  It is beautiful to see! We praise God for Jesus who forgives us!  But when the “new” wears off and the darkness begins to creep in with the way we used to live; we must remember to run from that which will bind us as it did before we knew Jesus.  Those who have been living differently for a while must encourage and help new believers with reminders of God’s blessed assurance of their new identities in Christ as the “joint heirs” with Jesus who died for them so they could live differently.