For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you

 

 "But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.  But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.  

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

 

- Luke 6:27–38 

 

 Yesterday we read that at this time, Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:  Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the sons of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.  And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.  And they were healed.  And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.  Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!  For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.  But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

 

"But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.  Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.   But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."  In verse 31, Jesus teaches, "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."  This is called the "Golden Rule."  My study bible states that it is a minimum of Christian virtue.  It puts man's desire for goodness, called "the natural law of self-love" by St. Cyril of Alexandria, as a basic standard of how to treat others.  It is simply the first step on the path to the perfection of virtue.  From this verse in the Sermon, Jesus elaborates to lead us to the image of real perfection, where it is God's mercy, rather than the desire of human beings, that becomes the standard:  "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

 

 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study bible comments here that mercy precludes human judgment.  Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it says, are descriptions of how an honest and generous merchant would measure bulk goods.  Flour that is pressed down, for instance, yields a more generous amount that four fluffed up.  The blessings which God intends to put into our hearts are more generous than we can possibly contain, but this also depends on the spirit with which we also give and forgive.

Ultimately, what Jesus is speaking about here is freedom, the true spiritual freedom that God calls us toward.  In releasing ourselves from retribution and vengeance, we are free to seek the guidance of God for how we are going to conduct ourselves in life.  It is a way to be freed from sin and to avoid sin in responding to things that provoke us in life.  Jesus is not saying that we are simply somehow to be victims; rather we should keep in mind His teaching, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).  If we feel bound simply by impulses or social pressure for an automatic reflex of revenge, then we are indeed slaves of sin.  We have no freedom in choosing what our own actions will be, and we are bound by whatever our "enemy" does.   Taking it yet another step further, let us imagine that when we choose to give, we freely give, without simply an agenda for awaiting a return.  In such a case, we truly give freely, and we are freed from disappointed expectations and the need to respond.  These are Jesus' spiritual truths that make us free (John 8:31).  It's not too hard to imagine simply choosing to give because we choose to give, and making up our minds that this is the correct decision to take -- come what may the response or lack of it.  As to loving our enemies, this might be a tough one to consider, until we come to terms with what that might mean.  We are taught to pray for our enemies.  But have we considered what it means to live the blessed way of life that Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes, and do we understand that this is spiritual teaching?  If our enemies are engaged in serious spiritual mistakes, are we praying that they continue to do so by praying for their true good?  Just as the blessings of the Kingdom way of life are those which indicate a "heavenly, spiritual exaltation" (in the words of my study bible) and not a purely materialist understanding of the word blessing, so we should understand that the love we practice, and the prayer in which we engage for others, is not about praying that sinful or abusive behavior be rewarded in material terms.  Rather, our highest prayers for ourselves and others are for salvation and redemption, for the true blessings of God's kingdom.  We don't pray for the continued ignorance of those who may exploit or harm.  But Jesus is teaching us to be freed from the worldly obligations that tie us in to obligations that might be harmful for us spiritually.  We give up the "worldly way" for God's guidance and wisdom, and measured and prudent ways to live in this world while we participate in the "Kingdom" way of life.  If this seems complicated, consider the power that is in that freedom, that does not bind itself to respond to every insult, to avenge every debt, to engage every hostile act.  In Christ, we are free to choose what is best instead, to have our hearts as those which serve only God, and are not bound by whatever another person's hostile act may seek to impose upon us.  Finally, we come to the practice of mercy, and the image of our Father in heaven.  To be free enough to practice mercy is indeed the ultimate freedom a human being can know, because it doesn't involve any calculation of retribution or dependence upon the actions of others.  We choose freely to be like our Father.  We decide that judgment involves more than our immediate worldly perspective, but must also include the cosmic spiritual perspective that our faith offers to us.  We might always seek true judgment in discernment and prayer, but we also know that the ultimate Judge is Christ, and so we seek His way.  This is a way of putting God first.  Jesus' teachings for today give us a way to sobriety, intelligence, self-possession, and above all a kind of freedom in which we are not just slaves to the world, but are capable of making better choices and decision for how we will live and act in our world -- how we will practice discernment, our own prudence, and seek Christ in all things.  It is a way to be a full human being, with the dignity that befits one who loves Christ.  Let us consider where He takes us, setting our own hearts and minds free to follow Him, and to know what we are all about.  Christ reminds us that with the same measure we use, it will be measured back to us.  This is a call to conscious choice, and the good judgment that comes with such awareness.