QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Have you been tempted in your relationships to get even with those who have wronged you? When? How? What helps you to turn the other cheek? What makes it hard to turn the other cheek? God’s grace alone will give us the ability to do what Jesus asks of us. We will not advance the kingdom of God by applying the Lex Talionis in our relationships, but by deciding not to return evil for evil. Yet those of us who follow Jesus are called to a costly, countercultural, counterintuitive way of living. Turning the other cheek is not instinctive. In our relationships, whether with our colleagues or family members, our friends or political opponents, it’s natural for us to want to get even when we’re wronged. But I want to underscore the personal relevance and challenge of Jesus’ teaching. There is a place for such theological and ethical conversation, to be sure. Sometimes Christians get so wrapped up in an intellectual debate about the implications of Jesus’ teaching on nonretaliation that they neglect simple application. Jesus takes the principle of nonvengeance to a whole new level.
If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too” (Matt. He did this by citing a portion of the Lex Talionis, and then calling his followers to a radical new way of living: “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus underscored the notion that we are not to get even with those who wrong us. Nevertheless, it’s easy to see how the “eye for an eye” principal might be misused to bless personal vengeance. The Lex Talionis was not intended to encourage individuals to get even with those who had wronged them so much as to guide legal proceedings. In yesterday’s reflection, I examined the Lex Talionis in Exodus 21:24: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” I explained that this law was meant to limit punishment or compensation for crime to that which fit the crime itself. “n eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
#Eye for an eye old testament how to#
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