TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS – MATT 5:38-42 – Retaliation and Love
Matt 5:38-42: 38
Jesus continues to unfold his countercultural vision of the good and flourishing life of his kingdom in which we experience true happiness.
Verse 38 – Jesus draws on an Old Testament teaching about judicial retribution in neutralizing hostilities using ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘a tooth for a tooth’ principle. This principle is cross cultural as we see in the below paragraphs.
- In Roman law an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is known as “lex talionis” or simply talion and means “the law of retaliation” or “the law of equals,” or “justice of equal measure.” It says “if a man broke another’s limb, the victim could inflict the same injury upon the wrongdoer (talion) but only if no settlement was agreed upon.”
- The Babylonian Code of King Hammurabi says: “if a high-born person (awilu) should blind the eye of another high-born person, they shall blind his eye (in return)…if he should blind the eye of a commoner or break the bone of a commoner, he shall deliver 60 shekels of silver (to the commoner).”
- Similarly, in Islamic law the lex talionis specifies the maximum punishment allowable. It was administered literally (and still is in e.g. Saudi Arabia) unless the wounded person waived the penalty or his heirs (in a case of murder) demanded blood-money instead.
This rule or principle of “an eye for an eye” appears first in Exodus 21:24 and starts with the statement: “Now these are the judgments (rules/ordinances) that you shall set before them.” The word judgment in Hebrew signifies a legal decision. Deuteronomy 19:18-21 announces the precept as a guide for judges within a judicial court system established by God to hear claims and determine penalties (see also Exodus 18:13–26; Leviticus 24:19-20). This system imposed a strict limitation on the taking of vengeance and is designed to prevent the escalation of violence. It was never intended to be taken literally nor between individuals, which would quickly lead to a blood feud between two tribes and result in suffering which far exceeded the original injury.
The idea is that one compensates another for damages, and one is not required to pay over the amount of the actual damages, nor is it satisfactory to pay under the amount. Justice should be equitable, neither excessively harsh nor excessively lenient. In other words, the punishment should fit the crime. Moreover, most actual claims and harms in the Old Testament, except those requiring capital punishment, were settled by payment in goods.
Amy-Jill Levine: “Jesus does not dismiss the eye for an eye principle. He didn’t say, ‘you lost your eye, don’t worry about it’ or ‘you lost your eye, give to the perpetrator the other.’ To the contrary, he uses the talion to make a point about how to respond not to physical injury but to humiliation. He said “do not resist an evil doer.” Were we to live by lex talionis, we would all be blind and toothless. Justice without mercy – an eye for an eye if taken literally - is intolerable. Yet mercy without justice, as in a permanent physical injury that receives no compensation at all or received unequal compensation based on the economic status of the perpetrator, is equally intolerable.
Just as we have no evidence of people being stoned for adultery, we have no evidence that ancient Israelites or the Jews who came after carried out the talion. Josephus suggests that the talion is carried out only if the victim is unwilling to accept monetary compensation: “For the law makes the sufferer the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, and permits him to estimate it, unless he will be more severe.” So the talion is applied only in a monetary compensation. AJL
In verses 39-42 we are given four mini-illustrations which all apply the principle of Christian non-retaliation. Each introduces a person who seeks to do us an injury: one by hitting us in the face, another by prosecuting us at law, a third by commandeering our service and a fourth by begging money from us.
Verses 39-40 – “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
What does it mean to resist here?
Biblically, "resist" means to stand against or oppose evil, such as withstanding temptation or actively opposing the devil. It’s more than passive tolerance; it means to actively fight against evil and temptation with conviction
- It’s taking a firm and steadfast stand against something that seeks to harm or deceive, like an army resisting an enemy.
- Submission to God: True resistance to evil is only possible when one first submits to God's authority. James 4:7: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
- Resisting evil can involve actively using the Word of God, like a sword, to counter Satan's lies and temptations.
- In some contexts, God is described as resisting the proud, a concept that contrasts with His grace for the humble.
What does it means to not resist the one who is evil?
Jesus is not telling us to pretend that the person is not evil, or to condone his evil behavior. He is saying authentic Christian resistance is non-retaliation in kind. What he asks of us is not to take revenge on someone who wrongs you or treat them the way they are treating you, but to “Bless those who persecute you. Bless, and don't curse,” and not to repay evil with evil (1 Thess 5 and Romans 12).
He goes on in Verse 39 to explain Christian resistance – “But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Amy-Jill Levine: To be slapped on the right cheek presumes the person is right-handed and is giving a backhanded slap. It is a slap of dismissal and humiliation, reproach and disgrace, scorn and shame (Lam 3:30). The severest public affront to a person's dignity. God's prophets sometimes suffered such ill treatment, as Jesus would himself. Paul speaks about the humiliation of being slapped in the face in 2 Corin 11:20.
To respond to such a slap, the victim had a few options, none of them good.
- Hitting back – escalates the violence, and if he is of a lower class, that can be deadly to him.
- Cowering – does not help because it keeps the unequal and unjust system in place.
- Jesus’s way – face the perpetrator by offering the other cheek. What looks like humiliation becomes an opportunity to produce a particular result: displaying courage.
Some think this is about pacifism, as the prohibition of the use of force in any and every situation, and as Hard Saying of the Bible puts it: This sounds like a hard saying in the sense that it prescribes a course of action which does not come naturally to us. An unprovoked assault prompts resentment and retaliation and this assault is particularly vicious. This is one of a number of examples by which Jesus shows that the lifestyle of the kingdom of God is more demanding than what the Law of Moses laid down. HSOTB
Chuck Swindoll cautions: Deliberately resist the natural instinct to fight back. Consciously fight the temptation to get even.
What do you think? Could you accept injuries and not seek revenge? Or could you swallow your pride and walk away, thus avoiding a confrontation that could result in permanent injury or death, and in this day and age, a lawsuit?
Verse 40 – “And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”
BibleProject: The standard dress in Jesus's day was basically two garments: The tunic which is called chiton in Greek, or kutonet in Hebrew, is a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin. And there is the outer garment, the cloak what we would call the coat, it’s heavier, thicker and made out of wool, and is sturdier. It keeps you warm, keeps out the elements and you want it to last a long, long, time. So this is a valuable garment. You would probably have just one of each, but if you're wealthy, you would have a handful of each, but most people in Jesus's class and below would have one set. Exodus 22:26-27 says if somebody owes you money, and the most valuable thing they own is their outer cloak, you can take that as a pledge of them paying you back, but you (the lender) have to give it back every night because that's his only covering for his body. This law in the Torah is the picture Jesus is referring back to.
What are some options for the victim?
- To accept the verdict is to freeze that night.
- To avoid court could result in arrest and maybe a worse situation.
- Or enter court, strip off your garment, laying bare, literally, showing the injustice of the situation.
And notice what Jesus is recommending here; that you end up handing over all of your clothes, which means you're standing there in public, naked, with this person holding all your clothes. Again, remember lex talionis, if you're to sue someone, you assign a value, based off what it's really worth, and that's what you get.
Verse 41 – “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”
What are some options this person has?
- This is a compulsion, and to refuse, risks a beating.
- To comply is to be humiliated.
- Or Jesus’s way, carry the baggage and offer to go the extra mile which in a way could humiliate the person commanding you.
Verse 42 – “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
What do you think about giving to beggars?
- Give to those in need, but don’t give foolishly, like to lazy people who are unwilling to work (Thess 3:10).
Here are some questions for you
- What do you do when you're experiencing injustice?
- What do you do when those who are doing wrong don't seem to care?
- Do these scenarios look like a passive response that allows a perpetrator to continue to do harm?
- Is Jesus saying keep being a doormat?
- Should retaliation be only left up to the courts - Rom 13:3-4?
INSTRUCTION ABOUT LOVE - MATT 5:43-47
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
The commandment to love one’s neighbor echoes Old Testament law (Lev 19:18) and the additional command to “hate your enemy” is an oral tradition that was introduced in Jesus’s day and likely came from a misunderstanding and misappropriation of examples in the Old Testament about enemies of God and Israel. But God is concerned about the righteous and the unrighteous because he continues in Verses 44-45 - Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (or mistreat you) because the sun rises on the evil and the good. (See Prov 24:17 and Prov 25:1-22)
This from Michelle Jones from BibleProject: Martin Luther King in Strength to Love says: “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding, and ennobles the man who wields it. It's a sword that heals. The ultimate weakness of violent retaliation is that it's a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it through violence. You may murder a liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence, you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes, returning evil for evil, multiplies evil, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
Matt 5:48 – “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
What does it mean for us to be perfect like our heavenly Father?
- Does it mean not ever doing anything wrong or not making mistakes?
- Can we attain perfection or holiness like God? Is it even worth trying?
Yet, if Jesus says be perfect, then surely we can and we need to find out how.
Perfect
- To be whole (or without blemish as in the sacrificial animals or someone blameless and with integrity).
- To be complete (as in the bringing to fulfillment of a work like Creation or the temple).
- To be mature: full growth into the design that God has for humanity.
- To conform to a standard or pattern.
Holman Treasury of Key Bible Verses says: We think of perfect as being flawless and immaculate, but the Greeks had a different definition. They thought of perfect as being mature and complete, “the end,” “the limit,” or “the fulfillment” as Paul used it in Rom 10:4-Christ the fulfillment of God’s law.
James Montgomery Boice - The Sermon on the Mount
We know we are all sinners and fall short of God’s standard, yet God’s standard for man is for us to be complete and blameless, because he is the one that makes us complete. In scripture God is described as perfect in his ways, actions, and his very essence; he is complete and lacks nothing. Yet it is implied in Psalm 18 that his people can be made perfect (God’s standard) by following his law.
Psalm 18:30-32 – As for God, his way is perfect (or blameless) 31 For who is God, but Yahweh? And who is a rock, except our God? 32 the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.
So it is this same perfect God who takes steps to make us complete (perfect). How? Hebrews 10:14 – “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (or made holy/set apart). When we place our faith in what Jesus has done for us, and knowing that God has already begun the work of perfecting us, we continue to press on to achieve completeness. As Paul says in Phil 3:12-15 – “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. … 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way.”
So back to my earlier question: Do you think these moral standards are too impossibly high and might drive people to despair of their own righteousness?
Yes, Jesus asks a lot from us, and carrying out these injunctions of Jesus in a complex society like ours is not so easy and is hard to put in practice sometimes. Yet it’s not anything more than God the Father had been and still is asking of his people, Israel, from day one. But remember, to be perfect or complete is a goal and an ongoing process, and we need to realize that we are not doing it on our own as Phil 2:13 reminds us, “It is God (who) is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (NLT). So we continue developing a hunger and thirst for righteousness while we reflect the light of Jesus, and then as James 1:4 says- “Let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
