Few passages of
the New Testament have more of the essential teaching of Jesus on how we ought
to behave in the world than the chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel. In short, Jesus raised the bar on how people
ought to treat each other to a much higher level than what was generally
accepted.
In essence, to be
Christian is to be different, to stand out, to swim against the stream, to hold
oneself to a higher standard, to be "the light of the world and salt of
the earth" - otherwise we are no better than "pagans," we are no
better than unbelievers. Sadly, many who call themselves "Christian"
don't even know that Jesus raised the bar on human behavior and therefore they
do not even attempt to measure up! Some
even think the Church ought to lower these high standards to better match the
level of our behaviors or be ignored altogether!
Jesus begins his
teaching today by citing the world's oldest law---an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. That law is known as the Lex
Talionis, which can best described as the law of “tit for tat.” This law is
found in the Code of Hammurabi, who reigned in Babylon from 2285 BC to 2242 BC.
The principle is clear and apparently simple----if anyone inflicts an injury on
anyone else, an equivalent injury shall be inflicted on him. Even though it is
not universal, that law was absorbed into the teaching we find in the Old
Testament.
As savage as it
may sound, this law was, in fact the beginning of mercy. It, at least, limited
vengeance. Before that law, unlimited vengeance could be taken not only on the
perpetrator, but anyone in his family, including death for a minor slight. An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth deliberately limited vengeance. The law lays it down that only the man who
committed the injury must be punished, and his punishment must be no more than
the equivalent of the injury inflicted and the damage done.
Another thing is
worth noting here. This law never gave a private individual the right to
extract vengeance. It was always a law that was laid down to guide a judge in a
court in of law in assessing punishments and penalties for violent and unjust
deeds.
Still further,
this law was never, at least in semi-civilized society, carried out literally.
Very soon after the law was written and accepted, the injury done was assessed
at a money value and the injury was assessed on five counts - for injury, for
pain, for healing, for loss of time and for indignity suffered. Sounds
remarkably modern, doesn't it?
As advanced as it
was for its time, Jesus comes along and obliterates the very principle of that
law, because retaliation, however controlled and restricted, has no place in
the Christian life. Jesus abolishes the old law of limited and controlled
vengeance and introduces the new spirit of non-resentment and non-retaliation.
To take these
words of Jesus in a crude literalism is to miss the point, as in the case of
"turning the other cheek and offering no resistance to injury." He is
certainly not advocating physical and emotional abuse! If a car runs over you,
don't just stand there and let it happen again and again! The first thing to do
is to get the hell out of the road and don't let them do it again! The next thing, after recovery, is to resist
trying to "get even" or worse to "carry a grudge." The
ability to do that will help you, not
the perpetrator! One cannot have a full
life under the shadow of bitterness!
To opposite of
crude literalism is to dismiss what Jesus is saying here. Jesus is teaching his followers that they
must live at a higher level than what is generally accepted. In the case of
"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," if we lived that way, we
would all be blind and toothless in no time! What he is saying is to stop the
revenge! Find out where the hurt that would drive them to do such things is
coming from and try to heal it, if possible!
Both Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. showed us that nonviolent
resistance can bring down oppressive governments and change the hearts of a
nation, while violence only begets more violence.
And, you, what
about you? Do you live a life of “tit for tat,” a life of always “getting even”
when you are hurt or snubbed? How do you try to live the challenging words of
Jesus in today's gospel? It is not easy
for any of us, but Jesus offers his own Body and Blood to strengthen us to do
for each other what he always does for us - love us without condition!
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