Tuesday 26th March
Read Matthew 5:38-42
“‘You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” 39 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. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (NIVUK)
Before we consider the high point of the Sermon on the Mount’s teaching in detail it is best we gain an understanding of what precisely Jesus was taking issue with. The ‘lex talionis’ law cited by those teaching God’s people occurs in many places beyond simply the ten commandments. He has no intention to abrogate or supersede this most fundamental of principles, in fact, in the same sermon later He will argue that we should ‘judge not, lest we be judged’! What Jesus takes issues with is the misuse this principle had been subject to.
The principle behind the ‘lex talionis’ served to place an upper limit on the revenge aggrieved parties might insist on before the judges and elders. It was never intended as the minimum requirement needed to satisfy the principles of justice. By the time Jesus was teaching, the ‘lex talionis’ had been interpreted such that rather matching physical injuries to the offender, a system of financial damages had arisen. In essence a compensation scheme. It was quite elaborate and had grown to the point where any personal grievance could be compensated for on demand. A system designed to place an upper boundary on the requirements of justice, to prevent blood feuds escalating beyond control, had been subverted so much that it was used for petty personal revenge.
The risks of creating laws for oneself and then, by meeting the requirements of your own interpretation of the law, believing that you have satisfied the demands of righteousness remain at the heart of the cautionary tales Jesus then presents. Do you tend to make up such ‘rules of behaviour’ yourself?
