Angoria to Agape – How Jesus Transforms Legality to Love

            The Sermon on the Mount is many things. It is the greatest sermon ever preached. It was a sermon preached while sitting – emphasizing Jesus’ authority. It is a sermon that covers a lifetime of topics in a brief setting. It is chock-full of parabolic language. Yet, it is much more than just rephrasing the wisdom literature.

Jesus begins with the Beatitudes – the causative power of God’s blessings upon His people.

“Blessed are the bankrupt in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
- Matthew 5:3

Moving past the Beatitudes, the parabolic statements continue with “Be salt of the earth,” a “city on a hill,” and a “light that is not hidden from work.” Yet, all are more than just illustrative wisdom, for they anchor the follower of Jesus to a specific ethos. In a sermon full of scenic words, every word is worth investigating.

The Six Halakhot

Unexpectedly, Jesus then targets religious righteousness. This section is known as “The Six Antheses.” In this section, Jesus targets “building a fence around the Torah.” These are known as the Halakha – laws created by Jews to ensure they do not break G_d’s Law.

The first example of adding to G_d’s law so as not to break it can be found in Genesis 3. Eve/Chavah practices this very thing when she tells the Liar,

“But from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden –
God said,
‘You must not eat from it,
and you must not touch it,
or else you die.’”
- Genesis 3:3

Do you see her building her fence to G_d’s law so as not to break it? Contrary to human expectations, it results in her breaking G_d’s law.

The Progression of the Six Antitheses

Like the Beatitudes, there is a progression in the Six Antitheses. Only this progression is one of wickedness.

The six anthesis are:

1. Anger (Matthew 5:21-26) which leads to
2. Adultery (Matthew 5:27-30), which leads to
3. Divorce (Matthew 5:31-32), which leads to
4. Breaking Promises (Matthew 5:33-37), which leads to
5. Vengeance (Matthew 5:38-42), which leads to
6. Murder (Matthew 5:43-48), which leads to death.

I’ve made it to Vengeance, how about you? Okay, okay…I’ve killed untold numbers of people in my heart. I’ve broken all six of G_d’s commandments behind these antheses. Yet, my big struggle is justification, so vengeance is my stumbling stone. I think I am justified to be vengeful in my reactions. Jesus tells me I am wrong.

The fifth anthesis, the one on vengeance, begins this way:

“You have heard it said,
‘An eye for an eye.’”
- Matthew 5:38.

Living under oppression is traumatic. In the context of damage, trauma, and wrongs uncorrected, Jesus tells us,

“And whoever forces upon you one mile,
go with him two. “
- Matthew 5:41

Does Jesus’ exhortation make you angry? It makes me livid. While the injustices dealt to me are not to the extent of others, they still are injustices, and they hurt. They have weight. To carry the burden of injustice is its weight.

I confess that I want to take Jesus to task. When Jesus preached this sermon, how many of His listeners wondered if this traveling Rabbi had any idea what it meant to be conscribed by law to carry the burdens of others? Not just as much as the law says, but an overabundance of conscription is His command.

Here, the progression climaxes at the adequate recompense of injustice – death. But then Jesus makes things even more impossible when He instructs us, saying,

“But I say to you,
‘Love your enemies,
And pray for those persecuting you.’”
- Matthew 5:44

How dare He! My heart rages at Jesus! The injustice that I and others endure! Surely Jesus wouldn’t instruct this if He knew! So I ask this of Jesus concerning His exhortation in Matthew 5:41, “Jesus, did You know what You are asking of us?”

Impressed into Angoria

Jesus answers my question, although He does not have to. The path to this answer begins in Matthew 5:41. Key in on the word “forces” in my translation.

“And whoever forces upon you one mile,
go with him two. “
- Matthew 5:41

There is a force behind “forces.” It is the force of Roman Law. Indeed, Jesus names a specific Roman Law – Angoria. Putting it in italics makes it sound impressive. But it is just the Greek word meaning “to compel, force, or impress upon another.” Therefore, Jesus identifies a specific Roman Law by name. We know this because the rest of the syntax squarely fits within the common application of this law in Jesus’ day. Jesus’ statement is not just a clever way of saying, “suck it up and keep going.” Rather, it is in the context of a nation’s legal force, the force that comes with an army.

Angaria allowed soldiers to use force to conscribe civilians to carry any burden to accomplish Rome’s civil administration. The injustice of Angoria is well reflected in the term “beast of burden.” For when you are a beast of burden, your context does not matter. All that matters is that you do what you are told and carry your burden to its designated place of delivery.

What if we could take out the injustice of Angaria? Does this antithesis stand if we are conscribed into just civic duty? Do Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:41 still apply if conscribed in righteous requirements? Would a good and godly kingdom practice Angaria? We must ask these questions to appreciate what Jesus tells us.

The word translated as “forced” appears only three times in Scripture. First, Jesus told us to take another’s legal burden upon us in Matthew 5:41. There, I asked if Jesus knew what He was demanding of us. Recall, I seek to vindicate myself before G_d’s throne by protesting with “Really!”

Forced into Angoria

Angoria – The other two appearances in the New Testament show Jesus taking our legal burden upon Himself. And it is done in the context of the divine passive. The divine passive identifies G_d’s activities by passively identifying them through the actions of another.

And they forced a passerby,
one Simon of Cyrene,
coming in from the field,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
into carrying His cross.
- Mark 15:21

Mark and Matthew combined clarify that Simon is picked because he is a man doing the opposite of the crowd.

But going out,
they found a Cyrenaean man,
named Simon.
This man they forced to carry His cross.
- Matthew 27:32

They were going out of the Temple Complex. He was coming into the Temple complex. Simon worked a day’s labor: they were a carnival seeking bloody entertainment. The Roman soldiers picked Simon because he was not participating in the ruckus. There is no need to thin out your crowd of festive partygoers when there is an insolent one. Place the burden upon him. Thus, Simon of Cyrene was legally compelled to alleviate the burden of another under the law of Angoria.

Did Jesus Know?

Notice the word “forced” in both verses. These verses squarely put the context of Simon’s forced labor under the very law that Jesus addresses in Matthew 5:41. When Jesus spoke those words in Matthew 5:41, did He connect this command to His future reality in Matthew 27 and Mark 15? Did Jesus know? Yes. Jesus knew. The divine passive as a principle calls us to see who is carrying what burden conscribed by his king upon him. This is the power behind His command in Matthew 5:41,

“And whoever forces upon you one mile,
go with him two. “
- Matthew 5:41

You might say. “Aha! It is Simon of Cyrene we see carry Jesus’s legal burden.” Through the practice of the divine passive, I reply, “Aha! It is Jesus we see carry our legal burdens.” Simon of Cyrene was legally forced into labor to aid the Roman government in its civic duty – to kill a perceived threat. Jesus was holding up traffic. This could not be allowed. Thus, Simon was called into duty. Regardless of his personal feelings on the subject, he was conscribed.

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me.
Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.”
- Luke 22:42

Regardless of Jesus’s personal feelings, He was conscribed. The cup Jesus references is the Cup of Sanctification. Thus, Jesus is conscribed into sanctifying enemies of G_d so that they can become children of G_d.

Justly Conscribed to Carry Another’s Legal Burden

Jesus was lawfully forced into labor to assist God’s kingdom in its civic duty – to reconcile enemies into fellowship with the King of Creation. The difference is that Jesus is glad to obey His Father. We are not. We can know this when our hair hackles at being forced into civic duties, whether G_d’s civic duties or an earthly kingdom’s.

Now Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I AM,
And from Myself I do nothing,
But just as the Father taught me, this I speak.”
- John 8:28

While struggling with the fifth anthesis, vengeance, the progression, thus the implication, directly leads to Jesus’ sixth and final antithesis. Instead of seeking death as a justified result of vengeance, He shows that a justified response to injustice leads to life, not death.

But I say to you,
Love your enemies,
And pray for those persecuting you.”
- Matthew 5:44

Legality to Love

Now we see how Jesus transforms legality into legitimacy for those of God’s kingdom by taking the law of Angoria and turning it into the law of Agape love. By turning vengeance upside down, He lifts up life for many instead of death for all.

No one has greater love than this,
that someone lay down his life on behalf of his friends.
- John 15:13

Angoria to Agape

What love can do this? A love beyond our capacity or imagination. A love that can only come from G_d. While Agape and Phileo love is mostly used synonymously in Scripture, we can have confidence that the full power of divine love is the only way we can begin to take the Angoria tasks in our life and turn them into Agape obedience to Our Father in Heaven.

P.S. Me writing this doesn’t make it a reality in my life. Pray that this devotion goes beyond its page for me as I will for you.

Jesus helps me understand the world. I am Iz. My goal is to share my daily fight in the hopes of being an example. An example of what exactly? Of someone who is trying live victoriously in Jesus. I fail often. Just as often, the Holy Spirit provides comfort as Jesus advocates for me before God the Father’s throne. It is my constant reality. It is a liberating reality.

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