Thursday 28th 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)
Tolstoy famously had a revelation about the nature of true religion when pondering this passage. He believed the injunction to ‘resist not evil’ applied to society at large and declared that there aren’t any circumstances in which one could justly resist evil. Soldiers, police, judges – all of whom are duty-bound to resist evil – are occupations barred to any who would follow Jesus. If the world followed these precepts war would vanish and crime would be a thing of the past. His argument influenced Gandhi greatly and Gandhi would go on to lead a movement of non-violent protest that would ultimately result in Indian independence.
Are Tolstoy and Gandhi correct in their understanding? Is that the error in the law that Jesus meant to correct? The likely answer is no. All the examples Jesus provides are examples that involve foregoing personal retaliation and revenge. There will always be a tension between resisting evil done to you personally and resisting evil in such a way that society is better off. The tension between institutional and individual resistance. Some may be encouraged by Gandhi’s example that extending the injunction to the state to resist unjust laws is a logical implication – and clearly successful. Yet Jacques Ellul rightly observed that the circumstances Gandhi found himself in India meant that non-violence had a chance of success against a nominally Christian British Raj. Had Gandhi attempted the same things in Russia in 1925 or Germany in 1933, after a few days he would have been arrested and never heard from again.
This tension is difficult to maintain. It requires wisdom and grace. When Paul was writing to the Roman church describing how they should live he provides pretty convincing evidence he knew Jesus’ teachings. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:17-18) (NIVUK). Note how there is a personal dimension immediately included in his description of what love looks like; ‘as far as it depends on you’… Paul will follow this passage with a description of what the obligations of Christians might be to state institutions might look like (Romans 13) but in interpersonal relations the principle is clear.
