Righting Wrongs

Matthew 5:38-42

August 25, 2002

 

News reports for the past year indicate that some regions of Central Asia carry out an "old west" gun-slinging tradition when someone feels wronged. Tribal groups avenge the slightest offense by barbaric killing or maiming members of the offending tribe. Each faction seeks to strike the last blow so that the end to tribal conflict appears impossible.

 

But closer to home we still see the "old west" revenge displayed. Just this week both mafia and gang members exacted revenge on those that betrayed them. We've come to expect those kinds of reports. But revenge is not limited to the violent sectors of our nation. It happens at the workplace, in school, in the home, and even in churches, as one person claims certain 'rights' to the harm or detriment of another. As Kent Hughes aptly put it, "We all know that beneath our genteel veneers is an apparently inexhaustible capacity for cultured anger and vengeance" [The Sermon on the Mount, 131].

 

At the heart of vengeance is the intense desire to assert our own rights - or at least what we perceive to be our rights. It begins in childhood as a display of our depravity. Put a group of children together, and watch what happens when one perceives that another child has robbed his rights. Crying, pushing, biting, and clawing ensue! As children grow into adolescence and adulthood, the same vengeance takes place, only with a bit more sophistication at times, and at other times, with tyranny beyond imagination. Newspaper headlines daily feature the self-centered assertion of rights displayed in myriad acts of violence. But this is where the Christian - the kingdom citizen - is to display a different lifestyle: one of salt and light.

 

This text is the fifth in a series of six related to the moral law in which Jesus Christ explains the spirit of the law as opposed to the mere letter of the law. He is not replacing the law but explaining it in light of kingdom citizenship. How will a new creature in Christ live in relationship to others? Rather than murder he pursues service. Instead of adultery he follows after purity. Instead of divorce he labors to be faithful. Rather than resorting to vows to prop up his speech he speaks truthfulness. Where will his relationship to Christ take the believer in regard to those that wrong him?

 

Against this spirit of vengeance Jesus Christ asserts that kingdom citizens are different here as well. The believer lays down his rights at the cross, and with it, the spirit of revenge. How are we to behave in the relationships of life?

 

I. A principle of justice

 

As we follow the text we find that Jesus begins with the larger, civil framework and then works to the narrow practice of individual kingdom citizens. We must give consideration to the first statement and its bearing on our understanding of justice if we are to grasp where Christ is taking us in the practice of kingdom citizenship.

 

1. The Lex Talionis (Law of Retaliation)

 

The familiar text of Old Testament and ancient law is quoted by Christ: "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH'." Three books of the Pentateuch quote this ancient phrase as a means for explaining civil justice. It was much abused by the time of Christ, as the Jewish religious leaders had taken this law out of context to justify their vengeful spirit toward those that had crossed their "rights." Rather than seeing this as a civil code, many embraced the Lex Talionis or law of retaliation as just what they needed to personally exact revenge on their enemies. We must consider some of the background to help us see how this law still plays an important part in the rule of law.

 

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," was not new. The second millennium B.C. Code of Hammurabi is the earliest record of the law of retaliation. A Babylonian, Hammurabi brought his code together in poetic form to explain his own approach to deciding legal issues between offending parties. There is little evidence that others followed this code as faithfully as Hammurabi. Moses received the Law from the Lord, and within the body of it we find this same code as stated in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. After explaining various civil responsibilities for those that injured life, limb, or property, the Lord declared, "But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise" (Ex 21:23-25). In a similar series, the Lord revealed, "If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so shall be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so shall be inflicted on him" (Lev 24:19-20). And then in the recapitulation of the law addressing the subject of civil justice, He declares, "Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Deut 19:21).

 

There has been great misunderstanding on "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" as a standard for judgment. The first problem was exactly what was happening in the first century. This is a legal code that was to be enforced by civil authorities and not by individuals. So it was not given for an individual Hebrew to take vengeance upon his fellow Hebrew. It was a standard for the civil authorities to use. The second problem is a misperception of the Lex Talionis as a ruthless tool of revenge. It was no such thing. Instead it was a form of justice that was to prevent the wild-eyed vigilante spirit from wrongly punishing someone else. "Far from being savage legislation," writes Hughes, "it was intrinsically merciful because it limited vengeance" [131]. For instance, suppose that one man injured another man's hand. The Lex Talionis demanded that the punishment for the offender not be greater than the offense. So in principle, it protected the offender from being executed or facing some other injustice. The punishment was to be equal to the crime, and no more.

 

2. Basis of civil justice

 

It is this same law - the Lex Talionis - that is the basis for our own laws of justice that the state has power to order. The 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted" [italics added]. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" provides a workable standard for the principle of properly punishing crimes against citizens and society. It means that "cruel and unusual punishments" are to be excluded from a civil society.

 

Now we must acknowledge that many have tried to take refuge in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount to eviscerate proper punishments from our legal system. Some have wrongly stripped this instruction on the Christian's individual response to those offending him from its context, and have attempted to apply it to the laws of our nation - or those of another nation. But that is a total misuse of this text. Several issues are pertinent for understanding what Christ was addressing.

 

(1) First, Jesus was not eliminating the Lex Talionis from civil law any more than He was eliminating the sixth and seventh commandments by his comments in vv. 21-30. As was His pattern, He stated the familiar law, and then expounded its application for the individual Christian living in relationship to others. If anything, what Jesus does by way of positive application is to uphold the Lex Talionis for civil use alone, and not that of the individual.

 

(2) Second, Jesus' concern at this point is for the individual kingdom citizen, not for governments. So to deny the government's right to punish in a just fashion those that break the laws of the nation on the basis of turning the other cheek is to grossly remove this passage from its context and intent. Governments have a God-ordained responsibility to punish evildoers in a just fashion (Rom 13:1-7; I Pet 2:13-17). We do have the right of citizenship to call upon our legislators to enact just laws of vengeance, and for the judicial system to enforce them.

 

(3) Third, from a civil point of view, the punishment must fit the crime. Barbaric or abusive displays of punishing offenders, such as that often found in Islamic nations living under sharia (Islamic law), exact a heavier punishment than many of the crimes demand. Cutting off a hand for petty theft hardly comes close to equaling the crime! Conversely, when criminals are allowed to roam the streets because of light punishment that did not properly address their crimes, as in the man called a "career criminal" that was convicted this week of kidnapping and murdering a University of Memphis graduate student, then we have just as much of a problem from the reverse angle.

 

The Lex Talionis properly administered by a fair judiciary would go a long way in bringing civility back to our nation's streets. I do not think that this principle necessarily implies a literal application that means gouging out eyes and knocking out teeth. Instead, we must keep in mind that "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," calls for the principle of punishing in a more exacting way, so that justice is served and civility restored. Rather than too harsh a punishment or too light a punishment, governments have the responsibility to determine a just recompense for a crime and carry it out.

 

II. Essential principle

 

Jesus Christ was not eliminating the Lex Talionis from civil practice but He was demanding that kingdom citizens not live by that rule in their individual relationships. Vengeance is civil authority's responsibility. Turning the other cheek belongs to kingdom citizens.

 

1. Individual response differs from civil

 

When Jesus insists, "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also," He shifted from civil responsibility to that of the individual believer. In an era that tolerated - and maybe even admired - family feuds and tribal warfare, our Lord demanded that Christians distinguish themselves by a higher standard. As Paul expressed it, "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.... Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,' says the Lord" (Rom 12:17, 19). Peter understood something of the ancient spirit of vengeance, but through the patient work of God's Spirit, the rough-and-tumble Peter was finally able to exhort, "To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing" (I Pet 3:8-9). That is the essential principle that our Lord is stating. The state cannot do this due to the nature of judicial demands, and the fact that the state is not an individual but an institution charged to uphold its laws with impartiality and diligence. But the individual believer is to live as one that holds dual citizenships: that of this world in terms of patriotic responsibilities and that of another world - a citizenship in Heaven (Phil 3:20).

 

2. "Rights" left at the cross

 

The crux of the issue our Lord addresses deal with claiming one's personal rights. If we look back at the scene in the Garden of Eden, we find that "rights" was an issue the serpent used to tempt Eve to sin against God. He cleverly suggested that Adam and Eve had a "right" to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that the Lord was withholding what rightfully belonged to them: "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5). God knows all of this and is not giving you what is rightfully yours. But the assertion of personal rights in defiance of walking in humility and obedience before the Lord God caused them to fall. Along with Adam and Eve, the whole human race plunged into that same abyss of assertion of rights.

 

Each of the four examples given in vv. 39-42 involves an assertion of rights. Don Carson explains, "What Jesus is saying in these verses, more than anything else, is that his followers have no rights." Carson amplifies this statement. "They do not have the right to retaliate and wreck their vengeance (5:39), they do not have the right to their possessions (5:40), nor to their time and money (5:41f.). Even their legal rights may sometimes be abandoned (5:40)" [The Sermon on the Mount, 52]. Our Lord's demand, "do not resist an evil person," is not a Tolstoy styled pacifist version of rolling over and playing dead. It is taking the high road in seeking to be salt and light before an unbelieving world.

 

The assumption is that most of the occasions set forth in the four examples of the text involve actions by unbelievers upon the Christians. Kent Hughes goes so far as to suggest that this involves only times of persecution for being Christians. I think that it certainly includes such times, but nothing in the text suggests that it is limited only to persecution [Hughes, 133f.]. Instead, it is the Christian's journey through this life on his way to the "Celestial City." He will encounter the world with all of its cruelty and selfishness along the way. But he must not respond in kind. He is to be conscious that his response to an unbeliever gives light to him about the power of the gospel and reality of the Christian faith. He is not to assert his rights even as Jesus Christ did not assert His own (Phil 3:5-11).

 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a narrow way, calling for a faithful walk on a narrow road (Matt 7:13-14). When someone asked about following Christ, He would tell him, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). "He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it" (Matt 10:38-39). "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt 16:25).

 

In each of these passages our Lord makes clear that the believer's "rights" are left at the cross, and now his passion is to follow Jesus Christ at all costs. Our text identifies areas that we are to die to our selves. George Muller of Bristol expressed it in clear terms.

There was a day when I died, utterly died, died to George Muller and his opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame of even my brethren and friends; and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God [quoted by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 291-292].


How does this work out in our daily lives? To begin with we must get a handle on the sinfulness of self. If left to ourselves we will assert our rights in every situation. But we have gone to the cross, laid down the rule over our own lives - including our assertion of personal rights, and given all to Jesus Christ. He is now King over us, and He will not tolerate our defiant assertion of our own rights, for to do so will only lead into sin. At the heart of every sin is the selfish claim that I have a right to indulge my mind or desires or flesh into some arena forbidden by our Lord (James 1:13-16). Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave a series of questions that I found searching and helpful in considering the sinfulness of self.

Whenever I notice in myself a reaction of self-defence , or a sense of annoyance or a grievance, or a feeling that I have been hurt and wronged and am suffering an injustice-the moment I feel this defensive mechanism coming into play, I must just quietly face myself and ask the following questions. 'Why exactly does this thing upset me? Why am I grieved by it? What is my real concern at this point? Am I really concerned for some general principle of justice and righteousness? Am I really moved and disturbed because I have some true cause at heart or, let me face it honestly, is it just myself? Is it just this horrible, foul self-centredness and self-concern, this morbid condition into which I have got? Is it nothing but an unhealthy and unpleasant pride?' [294].


We also, as Lloyd-Jones reminds us, need "to realize the extent to which self controls your life" [294]. So much of what we do is not to the glory of God but for our own aggrandizement. It can happen in everything from friendships to the marital life to the sermons we preach. We must take great care to examine ourselves, and guard our ambitions against the tyranny of self.

 

And we need to see that at the root of misery and unhappiness in our lives is self. Lloyd-Jones explained, "There is no question about it. Self is the main cause of unhappiness in life" [295]. But typically we want to blame others for our problems and our unhappiness and our difficulties, when the real culprit resides in our own skin - self. We must die to self on a daily basis (I Cor 15:31), considering ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 6:11).

 

III. Four examples

 

To help us see how this dying to personal rights is fleshed out in daily life, our Lord gives four examples where we normally claim "rights," but now as those that follow Christ, we die to ourselves.

 

1. Forgiveness - Christ's answer to revenge

 

The action was probably the derisive backhand slap to which Christ refers. "But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." What was meant more to insult than to harm intended to dishonor the believer. But Christ calls for a new response. Instead of retaliating and seeking revenge by defending one's honor, the believer dies to his right of retaliation, and forgives the offender. Lloyd-Jones tells of the fighter Billy Bray that had been converted. Before his conversion he was unbeatable, and evidently never hesitated to "discomfit" anyone that offended him. One man that worked in a mine with him lived in dread of Billy Bray. So after his conversion he saw the opportunity to strike Bray. Rather than retaliating has he had done so regularly, Bray told the man, "May God forgive you, even as I forgive you." The offender endured several days of mental agony and eventually was converted as he saw the reality of Christ in Billy Bray's life [281].

 

2. Sacrifice - Christ's answer to self-protection

 

A Hebrew's coat or cloak was his "inalienable possession" according to Exodus 22.26-27 [Carson, 51]. He could be sued for his shirt and even for his cloak, but the cloak must be returned before night. "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt [tunic], let him have your coat [cloak] also." The believer will go beyond the law to bring satisfaction in the face of wrongs. Carson points out, "At stake here is a principle: even those things which we regard as our rights by law we must be prepared to abandon" [51]. It is the same principle that Paul taught the Corinthians (I Cor 6:1-8). In order to give no offense to the gospel and name of Christ, sacrifice - be wronged rather than stand in self-protection. Christ and Paul did not violate this principle when under arrest. They made demands of magistrates based upon the rule of law, and not upon asserting personal rights (John 18:22-23; Acts 16:37).

 

3. Service - Christ's answer to imposition

 

Roman soldiers had the legal right to impose upon civilians to carry their baggage for up to a mile (a Roman mile was 4,854 feet or 1000 steps). The practice was humiliating and demeaning for Jews since they resented Roman rule over them. But Christ's answer to this is extraordinary in light of the prevailing attitudes: "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." When imposed upon the Christian is to show a servant heart. He "does the unexpected," writes Sinclair Ferguson, "because grace makes him or her seek to win others by love rather than retaliate on the basis of 'rights'" [The Sermon on the Mount, 101]. It might happen at work or at school or in another setting. Do the unexpected. Go two miles instead of one so that the light of the gospel might shine.

 

4. Generosity - Christ's answer to greed

 

Instead of tight-fisted, penny-pinching selfishness, the Christian is to display generosity. "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." This is not a call to unload your bank account on panhandlers so that they can further their career as alcoholics! Rather it calls for the cheerful, willing use of your goods to help others. The issue is that the believer cannot simply think about himself. He must see the needs of others and willingly help meet their needs. That kind of generous spirit causes the Christian to stand out from the pack of greediness that marks our world.

 

Conclusion

 

Each of the four examples illustrates the unexpected. Kingdom citizens are not to do the expected - following the typical patterns of selfish living. But the unexpected - the forgiving, sacrificial, serving, generous behavior of those whose lives have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are to rise above the dark selfishness of the world, and display the glory of Christ. But to do this we must leave our "rights" at the cross, and take the narrow but high road walked by Jesus Christ.

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