1 Kings 21: 1-16, Ps 5:2-3,5-7. Matt 5: 38-42
Whenever I read Scripture I am reminded that there are at least two distinct ways to approach the text. One is to study it as a document written centuries ago to a group of people whose way of life was completely different from ours. Another way is to approach the reading prayerfully watching for those things that stand out to me. Words or phrases that appeal to me or words or phrases that I find disturbing, that bother me for some reason. I would like to suggest to you this morning that both ways are helpful and one way of reading the Bible can help the other since it is God who is revealed in the words no matter which way you look at it.
In the Gospel today we hear the familiar and often quoted, “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” And Jesus’ responds, “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him as well.”
That always bothered me, because it seems to suggest that people shouldn’t defend themselves and it is often used as a justification for pacifism of many kinds. This is where taking a close look at the text as a document from long ago becomes helpful.
Jesus is a Jew who is talking to other Jews. So his reference to “an eye for eye” is his Scripture, what we refer to as the Old Testament. The eye for eye idea appears explicitly at least three times in the Old Testament: Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The most elaborate listing is in Exodus, “If further harm is done, you will award life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke.”
Sounds pretty terrible doesn’t it. But this listing of rules, once you read a little more, is not primarily about rigorous justice it is about limiting people’s vengeance. It seems the problem being addressed is people wanting punishment that far exceeds the original injury. People want to retaliate against those that do them injury. People don’t want any limits on satisfying their sense of injury and being wronged. I think we can still recognize that behavior today. So the eye for an eye puts a limit on the punishment so it doesn’t exceed the injury.
In the same way King Ahab wanted what he wanted. There was this nice vineyard that sat next to his palace in Jezreel. He was the King, so why shouldn’t he have it. You get an idea of how spoiled he was when Kings says, he laid down on his bed and wouldn’t eat. Doesn’t that sound like a pouting child? Unfortunately, in this case, it meant Naboth died for standing up for the law of Israel which said ancestral lands should not be sold. To have taken Naboth’s land was to take his identity.
Jesus, as we know, says something else. Jesus isn’t saying you shouldn’t defend yourself if someone attacks you. But he is saying that even proportional retaliation is not the way God acts. The law is about being just and fair. God is about love and generosity. Which is clearer in the last words of today’s Gospel, “Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
Can we accept Jesus’ challenge to go beyond what is expected? Can we forgive even when we have been injured? Can we forgo something that belongs to us? Can we go beyond the measured response? When do we find ourselves holding back, can we do more than we have to? When someone needs us, can we respond with the generosity of love? Can we?
