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Eye For An Eye..

             “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)

 

            Oh, what a can of worms. “Don’t resist an evil person?” What about self-defense? Wait, someone who slaps you on the right cheek is evil? And what’s this stuff about “an eye for an eye”? Isn’t that Draconian?

            Let’s start with some background. Moses taught what is called “Lex Talionis.” It’s the law of retaliation. People sometimes think it evil, but “an eye for an eye” is a huge improvement over the justice of other cultures of the time. In the ancient world, if you insulted a king, you, your family and even your city could be killed or destroyed. Consider that the spark that ignited the Trojan War was a woman’s capture by an enemy who then married her. You might say the war began because of adultery. Hundreds, or thousands died because of Helen. World War I was started by the assassination of a nobleman. Again, thousands dead because of the death of one man. I’m sure those incidents aren’t as isolated as we’d like to think.

            The law of Moses didn’t require that one take an eye for an eye. But it limited the violence to one eye – the eye of the guilty party – for an eye. Not two eyes for one eye. Not the eye of a daughter of the guilty party. This is justice. The other thing to remember is that a slap in the face was considered an insult, a threat to ego rather than to life, limb, or property. If someone sues you to take your shirt, it’s worth less than a day’s wages. Even adding your coat probably keeps the total cost under $200. If someone forces you to walk a mile with them (Roman soldiers required people to carry their equipment 1 mile,) they’re demanding 20-30 minutes of your life.

            None of these things threaten life, limb, or property. But we have a choice. We can treat with the person who slapped us, sued us for a pittance, or imposed on us the way he treated us, or worse – in which case, we are as evil as he is. Or, we can recognize that the evil being done to us isn’t worth staining our souls with any evil over and be gracious.

 

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