An Eye for an Eye?
Peacemaking and how to apply it in personal situations
Dr. Larry Thorson
Scripture: Matthew 5:38-48
38 "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.
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Today’s New International Version Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society
An
eye for an eye? Mahatma Gandhi, the
great liberator of
But
Jesus was actually quoting Old Testament Scripture in Exodus 21:22-25 that
reads like this: "If people are fighting and a pregnant
woman is hit and gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the
offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court
allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to
take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound
for wound, bruise for bruise”.
In the Jewish tradition an "eye
for an eye" was interpreted to mean the "worth of an eye" for an eye. There is no recorded
history, in Jewish tradition, of putting out eyes, amputating hands, or of
knocking out teeth for justice. Criminals had to pay for wrongdoing in
Jewish tradition, but not with the mutilation of their bodies or with their
lives. The eye for an eye legislation was conceptual and was used only in
its interpreted form. The legislation
that was used and needs to be used is one of the Commandments that stands
before us everyday of our lives: "You shall not murder."[1]
The
most popular religion in the world is not Christianity, not Islam, not Hinduism,
not Buddhism, not Judaism but violence. That’s why the Presbyterian Church USA
takes up a Peace Offering on the first Sunday of each October to fight violence
wherever it occurs. It also designates
the month of October as “Domestic Violence Awareness” month as a way to bring
awareness of that menace.
There
is a mistaken belief that the only way to defeat violence is by superior
violence. We glorify violence. We make sure that we are one step ahead so that
we can’t be overtaken by the superior violence of our adversary.
But
Jesus never used violence. With the possible exception of turning over the
tables of the moneychangers, he never succumbed to the temptation to return
violence with violence. He embraced a nonviolent lifestyle.
Coretta
Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. made the distinction between
nonviolence and passive resistance. She said, “there is nothing passive about nonviolence. Nonviolence is an active
exercise of body, mind and soul. It is a lifestyle choice. It cannot be
passive, for violence is active and the only way to oppose violence is
actively, persistently and passionately”[2]. Jesus wasn’t saying don’t resist evil or the
actions of an evildoer, he was just saying don’t resist them with violence.
Jesus
gives us three examples of nonviolent resistance. These are the great
turn-arounds. You know these well, turn the other cheek, give your coat and go
the extra mile. But the popular understandings of these sayings are that we are
to let people walk all over us. We are to suck it up and be patient. In each
one of these instances, Jesus tells the people to do something that will
confuse and trip up the one who does evil to you. When this happens, you can
resist the evil without becoming evil yourself. Each of these instances merits
an entire sermon.
Let
me just focus on one of these. "If
anyone forces you to go a mile, go also the second mile." Now,
historians have told us that it was lawful for a Roman soldier to make someone
carry their belongings for one mile, but no more than this. They could force a
peasant to carry armor and food and clothing, whatever for a mile. That means
the person had to drop whatever he or she was doing and go with them for a
mile. But there was a law against forcing anyone to go more than a mile. It was
unlawful. The peasants needed to get back to their fields in order to keep the
economy going. So why does Jesus tell them to go a second mile? I think it is
to take the power back from the Roman soldier to the peasant. The peasant knows
that the Roman soldier can get into trouble for going more than one mile with a
peasant. Do you see how Jesus gives them a nonviolent way to confront a violent
situation?
Recently
I read a story about a college student named Teddy Pearre. Teddy was a large
man with an amazing ability to show no pain. He was a rugby player who would
limp back to the dorms after a game with blood all over him, just smiling. Lots
of people thought he was a bit odd. He was. It was one of his charms. But he
was smart as a tack when it came to interpersonal conflicts.
One
of the favorite pastimes of a lot of college guys is to get drunk and to start
breaking things. Sometimes when they were done breaking things, they would
start breaking people. The worst and most feared of the bunch was a guy named Joe.
One night Teddy found Joe in the hall of the dorm trying to break down a door.
He had already been responsible for destroying some furniture, but no one could
ever catch him, let alone make him stop.
Teddy
walked up to him in his calm cool manner and said, "Joe, if your want to
hit something, hit me." Cocky Joe, whom everyone feared swung with all his
intoxicated might and landed a right into Teddy’s stomach. Teddy took the blow, looked him straight in
the eye and said, "Have you had enough, Joe?" Joe hurled around in
frustration and landed another hard blow. Teddy took that one, too. A crowd had
started to gather by this time. To everyone’s surprise, he said again,
"Have you had enough, Joe?" A series of blows by Joe followed and
Teddy just stood there, showing no signs of pain, and not budging an inch. Joe
got more and more frustrated and before long, turned into a whimpering heap on
the floor. That was the last time he fought or broke anything.
I
don’t know how Teddy did this but he demonstrated to me how nonviolence can
take violence, turn it around, expose its futility and make it stop. Teddy gave
Joe the opportunity to let it out of his system. He was strong enough not only
physically to take the blows, but emotionally to know that this behavior was
not all there was to Joe. Teddy went an extra mile with Joe. He probably saved
him from expulsion.
Nonviolence
is more than simply a concept. It is a lifestyle choice. Jesus gave us some
tactics in today’s scripture, but the real work of nonviolence comes in our
hearts. Most of us probably don’t throw our fists at anyone but we throw our
tongue. It’s so easy to fight back with
our tongues. Martin Luther King Jr. said
that as we seek to be nonviolent, we need to resist our own propensity toward
violence of the fist, the tongue and the heart. This means that we are to not
hurl insults, we are not to write people off with whom we disagree, and we are
not to even think thoughts of violence.
The
only way to live this way is to have a spiritual awakening and be supported in
that awakening by a community. That’s what the church is all about. Violence
needs only fertile soil in which to grow. The fertile soil is all around us. It
is alive and well in our culture. The counter-cultural lifestyle Jesus calls us
to is one of nonviolence. When someone does something evil to one of us, we are
to resist that evil, but not with violence. The nonviolent way is the creative
way. It is the just way. It is the way that values all people regardless of
their actions. It is the subversive way. It is the Christian way that Jesus
wanted for us.
On
this world Communion Sunday, may we remember that Jesus made it possible for us
to be in right relationship with God.
Because we’re in right relationship with God we can be in right
relationship with one another. May we remember that our lifestyle is how we
will be known. And may we find a new way to be in our world and with each other
that embraces love, justice and mercy. That’s the subversive and healing
lifestyle we choose. May it be so with us.