Skip to main content

Turn The Other Cheek Also

             “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.  (Matthew 5:38-40)

          Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.  If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” (Genesis 4:23-24) 

            Some people seem to love the idea of lex talionis (the law of retaliation – from Latin.) They get excited about being able to take revenge. The thing is, they want to be like Lamech, multiplying the payback. To provide the connection, he was afraid that someone would take revenge after Cain killed Abel. God told him that anyone who killed Cain would pay seven times over. This suggests that Lamech wasn’t talking about the revenge he’d claim. He was giving instructions to his wives about what they were to do if anyone killed him. Escalation was the name of the game, and God had nothing to do with it.

            Other people hate the idea of lex talionis (the Latin term for Jesus’ teaching.) How dare we take a life for a life? How dare we – in the name of Christ – advocate violence to anyone? One of the factors that needs to be considered is that “an eye for an eye” wasn’t meant as one person taking revenge on another. It was an instruction to the legal system of the nation of Israel. The maximum punishment that could be given was the equivalent of what the criminal did. This goes against Lamech and others who want to wipe out whole cities because someone was robbed.

            In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches a different way. It’s not societal. It’s individual. It removes what might be considered negative competition. It The offended person wasn’t to follow the example of the one who offended him/her. Keeping in mind that a slap on the face was considered an insult. He didn’t suggest we stand there and let someone hack at us with a sword or rape us repeatedly. He only mentioned a slap on the face. And the person slapped was to refuse to do something that fit the offender’s expectation. There should be no cringing, crying, begging, screaming, or pulling a gun on someone who embarrasses or shames you. And that brings to mind a passage from Proverbs: 

            Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:4-5)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more