Mt 5:42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” Lk 6:30 “…and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.”
Summary Notes
Say What?!
Jesus wraps up this paragraph about changing my attitude toward difficult people and uncomfortable circumstances by talking about giving and lending. He describes what it would look like for me to have an open heart and to take up an attitude of generosity.
Why would He say this?
I do not think Jesus is telling His followers that they must give away all their money and possessions. This command, like the others before it, is about my personal attitude. There are lots of Bible verses supporting and bounding the command to give and to lend. It’s important to be smart about how and to whom you give and lend. But, overall I think that Jesus is telling me to have a more generous attitude rather than my natural stingy disposition.
Click here for my personal application and your comments link …or Scroll down for my FULL NOTES and references…
Command 18 “Give to him who asks…, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow …”
Mt 5:42; also Lk 6:30
RECIPIENT: To the disciples in the hearing of the crowds on the mountain,
Mt 5:1-2 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying…
CONTEXT: A continuation of the Sermon on the Mount: This command comes at the end of the paragraph:
Mt 5:38-41 “You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ 39But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”
COMMAND FULL TEXT:
Mt 5:42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”
Lk 6:30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.”
RESULT: No stated result except for two chapters later when Jesus came down from the mountain,
Mt 7:28-29; 8:1 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
1When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
MY COMMENTS AND NOTES:
Luke 6 adds a twist in the narrative to not demand back what someone has taken from you. This twist is in the context of someone who borrowed something. Jesus is saying do not ask for it again (demand it back). I hate it when someone does not return what they’ve borrowed from me, and I certainly don’t want to be that guy who doesn’t return things that I borrow! Its important to be careful who I let borrow what.
There are lots of Bible verses supporting and bounding the command to give and to lend:
If a Jewish person was lending to a Jewish person
Ex 22:25 “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.
Regarding the Nation of Israel and personal giving to a fellow Jewish person
Dt 15:6-10 “For the LORD your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7“If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; 8but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9“Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10“You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
Regarding the Nation of Israel
Dt 28:12 “The LORD will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
Ps 37:21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, But the righteous is gracious and gives.
Ps 37:25-26 I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. 26All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.
Ps 112:5 It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment.
Proverbs was written by King Solomon, the man that the Bible says was the wisest man who ever lived
Pr 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower {becomes} the lender’s slave.
Pr 30:15 The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.” There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, “Enough”:
Jesus talks about giving
Mt 6:1-4 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees {what is done} in secret will reward you.”
Lk 6:34-35 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
Christian Apostles Peter and John had no money to give but gave to this man what they could
Ac 3:2-7 And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.
3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he {began} asking to receive alms… 6But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene–walk!” 7And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and {began} to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
DEFINITIONS: Key Greek words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text
(word: Strong’s # Greek pronunciation — definition)
give: G1325 δίδωμι did’-ō -mee — A primary verb: to give
turn away: G654 ἀποστρέφω ap-os-tref’-ō — to turn away or back
MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application and please share it in the comments
Change your attitude! Within your means give freely to those who ask while expecting nothing in return. Likewise within your means, consider allowing people to borrow from you for their needs with only modest or no interest. In this way you will be a blessing to many.
© 2018 Christopher Carlson
I’ve had to really change my heart about this one. I used to be pretty stingy when tipping. But a friend of mine pointed out that servers are actually trying to support themselves while so many other able bodied folks seem to be satisfied with public assistance. Servers should be rewarded! Oh, and did I mention that my daughter works as a server?! I also used to avoid people begging or asking for help. I’ve become much more open to giving something if I have it. Having said all that, I’m still working on my follow-through and I probably always will.