The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

Heart Transformation for Love, Part Three – Disengage Past Commitments on Good Terms:  Mt.5:40

^5:40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.

It is difficult to translate this into modern terms exactly.  Clothes were used as collateral in Jewish culture and law (Ex.22:25 – 27 and Dt.24:10 – 13).  It was what you needed at night to stay warm (Ex.22:27, Dt.24:12 – 13), so it was obviously important.  But Jews would not sue each other simply for clothes.  Clothes were part of a larger legal agreement.  It’s possible that Jesus was calling his disciples to forsake the collateral they had put down in order to borrow something.  For example, if the fisherman disciples were borrowing someone else’s nets, or owed money on nets, they had to lose their collateral (clothes) because they were leaving their job to follow Jesus. 

We all come to Jesus having made past commitments.  But your past obligations and future social standing are no longer your own.  Jesus now claims them for himself.  If someone is trying to stop you from following Jesus in a situation like this (notice that that is the implied ‘evil’ here), Jesus tells us to take the appropriate losses.  Plus, do something nice for the ‘creditor’ because they are taking a kind of loss with you.  So what real life situations might be similar to what Jesus is saying?

If you are in a job, and have recently come to Jesus, you may need to pray about your relationship with your supervisor.  Jesus calls us to be competent enough to fulfill the responsibilities we take on, but not necessarily to be ‘the best’ at it and to climb the corporate ladder (see my notes on 1 Corinthians 7:17 – 35).  He calls us to love others and be involved in his kingdom work in ways that will reorient your life.  Loving your family, loving your neighbors, and making disciples with other Christians will surely affect how many hours you can spend in the office.  

If you are dating someone, and have recently come to Jesus, or just recently started taking him seriously, you may need to graciously explain to your significant other about your new commitment to Jesus.  If he or she also wants to make that commitment with you, then great!  But if that person does not, there is some reflection you need to do:  You have probably begun to sense a disconnect with the other person over whether Jesus is welcome as a third party to your relationship, and whether his mission is going to be the framework for how you live your life.  Jesus and his apostles call Christians to marry Christians (since Paul counsels believers to get married ‘only in the Lord’ in 1 Corinthians 7:39, also implied by Ephesians 5:18 – 33 and 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 18).  I think the only godly reason for serious dating is a discernment process for marriage (Song of Songs 1:1 – 3:5), because ‘mutually using each other’ and ‘just having fun’ are too hedonistic as motivations, and ‘self-discovery’ comes in the context of loving Jesus and serving him with other Christians who are growing in the same way (Matthew 5 – 7; Romans 6 – 12; 1 Corinthians 12 – 14).  It’s emotionally manipulative and harmful to date someone based on some ‘potential’ – spiritual or otherwise – that you see in them.  And, the longer you’re together, the more painful it is to break bonds (emotional, physical), so it makes sense to break up sooner rather than later.  The path of spiritual integrity, kindness, and honesty is to bring healthy closure to the romance and transition your relationship into friendship if you can.  I can explain all this in much greater depth elsewhere.  But that is the additional ‘coat’ which Jesus calls you to give someone who bears some of the cost of you coming to him.

Or what about your parents?  My parents paid for my early life and college education expecting to get a massive return on their investment.  This is a typical Confucian expectation that many East Asian parents have, and being Japanese-American, my parents cherished it.  But they were very disappointed.  Since I gave my life to Jesus late in high school, and then proceeded to let him – and not my greed or self-advancement – lead me in my career decisions, I did not make a lot of money.  At different points in time, my mom angrily asked me to pay back the college tuition she and my dad invested in me.  I offered to make monthly payments.  But eventually she just threw up her hands.  Now this was not a lawsuit, and our relationship was far deeper and longer-lasting than any creditor-debtor relationship.  Nevertheless, I felt like there was an aspect of Jesus’ love that I needed to honor.  I needed to step up my expressions of love to my mom, especially, because I had so broken from the value system she held.  I began to call home every weekend.  And even though I could not agree with every wish they had, or honor many of their values, I made sure I listened very carefully to them and restrained myself from getting angry whenever we disagreed.

Are there ways that Jesus’ call on your life strains your past commitments, and even future standing with some people?  Is there any gift you can offer others – whether large or small – that will offset commitments that you may have to break?