Matthew 5:38-42 The Law Explained Part V Revenge

In our studies in the Sermon on the Mount, I have repeatedly emphasised that this sermon is addressed to the believer and the born-again Christian. We discern this simply by looking at Matthew 5:3 and noticing those words, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

You see, the kingdom of heaven does not belong to those who are in the world, those without repentance and faith towards God and the only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a point I cannot stress enough; there is imminent danger in reading such texts as some do to establish a kind of Christianised moralism.

The reality is that there is no hope in living the kind of life that Jesus has been calling us to unless you be first born again. In John 3, the Lord Jesus says that without being born again, you cannot even see, let alone understand, perceive or enter the kingdom of heaven.

Martin Lloyd-Jones put it this way: "This is no theory for the world or for the non-Christian. No man can hope to live like this unless he is born again, unless he has received the Holy Spirit."

Only once you have come to the cross of Christ for your salvation can you then come to the mountain of Matthew 5 through 7 for your instruction.

That said, we come again to our fifth look at Jesus’ interpretation of the law in relation to his disciples, concerning what is commonly called here the Lex Talionis—that is, the law of revenge.

As we begin, I can sum up the passage with what I believe is the overarching lesson: The Christian man or woman, as a new creature in Christ, must fight against the urge at every turn to exact retaliation, retribution, and revenge against others in our lives. Instead, Jesus shows us this path of radical holiness by way of the cross, as he himself went. Those who are in Christ are to assume a self-denying and self-death attitude.

Now, that does not mean we make ourselves out to be depressed worms for the rest of our lives; it means we remove ourselves as the centre of the universe and seek that God might perform and work in us the image of Christ, who is perfect and true humanity.

This is what Christian self-denial means.

The Law Of Revenge

So we can begin by looking at Matthew 5:38, which says, "You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."

This is the Lex Talionis. Jesus here refers to an Old Testament principle of law that appears in three places: Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, and Deuteronomy 19. As I have said, this was referred to as the law of revenge. Its essence is summarised here: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Now, with our misinformed ears, people tend to recoil from a statement like that and misunderstand it. The so-called law of revenge was given to govern the civil life of the Jews concerning crime and punishment. It ensured that the punishment a person received was appropriate to the crime committed; this has nothing to do with gouging out eyes or knocking out teeth.

This has everything to do with controlling excesses in retribution and the court of justice.

I'll give an example from pre-colonisation Māori culture in New Zealand. You may have heard of the Māori concept of utu— the idea of giving a reciprocal response and likeness to the kindness or harm that we've received from others.

The tragedy is that utu between individuals and groups tended to escalate and was applied not only to the original offender but at the level of the group. So, in other words, if I raid your tribe and kill two of your men and take your woman back to my tribe, the likelihood was then that your tribe, seeking utu, would come out and not just exact revenge on me but wipe out the entire tribe. In that way, it was escalating retaliation.

To prevent this kind of thing occurring, the law given to Israel placed a ceiling on punishment. This is reflected in different ways in our own legal system. A teenager who steals someone's car and drives it off a bank is not given a life sentence, is he? There is appropriate punishment proportional to the crime. That's what is in mind with this law here.

Further, we need to understand that this law was not a licence for pursuing personal vendettas or retaliation. The law of Moses actually forbade this. Leviticus 19:18 says, "You shall not take revenge or bear a grudge against the sons of your people."

So this was a law for civil magistrates to exercise, ensuring that the degree of punishment a person would receive was proportional to the crime committed. While the language of an eye for an eye may sound merciless, in society actually it a powerful tool to restrain violence. It also outlined the kind of punishment people could expect if they committed a crime.

What Does Jesus Say

Why is Jesus referencing this law here in the Sermon on the Mount? Was it misapplied in Jesus' day? Whatever the mishandling, Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach us on this critical matter of dying to self.

What I mean is this: Some might read this law of revenge and think that it applies not only to the courts of law but to me personally too. So we must have equal retribution at all times, in all contexts, and in all places.

They might believe this is how we create a just and equitable society: if you insult me, I'll insult you back; if you kick me in the shin, I'm going to kick you right back in the shin; you slap me, I'll slap you right back. This is how we maintain social harmony, people might say. No!

There is a warning here against those who would move this law of revenge out of its proper context and instead use it as a personal principle to live by.

You see, if you internalise this idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, you're going to walk through life saying, "I will do to others what they do to me."

But what was it that Jesus said in the golden rule? "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Very different.

So we don't want to go through life saying, "If you insult me, I'll insult you; if you offend me, I'll offend you; if you make my life miserable, I'll make yours miserable; you mishandle my property, I'll mishandle yours; you slap me, I'll slap you."

Do you see the big un-Christian problem with such an attitude?

If we were to internalise this law of revenge, it would be the reverse of the golden rule. Jesus did not say, "Treat others the way they treat you." He said, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you," meaning there will be times that people will mistreat you; people will malign you; people will gossip about you; people will be rude to you. How do you respond?

Well, not with the misapplication of the law of revenge. Not with the misapplied principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We must act in a way they have not.

Now we're getting to it. This is what Jesus is bringing out here: dying to self. Jesus wants us to unclench that fist that clenches to our perceived honour and rights, getting our own back. Instead, as Jesus sets us up for next week in Matthew 5:44, "Love your enemies; pray for those who persecute you."

So let's work through these illustrations one by one.

Self-denial In Insult

First of all, self-denial in insult. Read with me again in verse 39: "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also."

This is one of those passages many of us have read superficially at one time or another—me included—missing the fact that there is far more here than a mere exchanging of blows.

Some take this passage with a literal bent, or I might say literalism: that is, they say we're not to resist a person committing evil under any circumstances; we are to leave all vengeance to God.

This is called the Christian pacifism movement, which would read straight off the page what we find in this verse.

The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy went as far as to say that we should abolish police forces since they are occupied with resisting evil people. But this is a million miles from what Christ is calling for in this text; they have entirely missed the point.

If I witness a lady being mugged in the street, rest assured I am not going to walk past thinking to myself, "Jesus said not to resist evil." Or, men, perhaps someone invades your home and means to harm your wife and children. You are no sound exegete if you think that Jesus' words here mean that you can forsake your duty to defend your family.

Notice how Jesus says, "Whoever slaps you on your right cheek." Now keep in mind that most people are right-handed. Have you ever thought about how you would slap someone with your right hand on their right cheek? It's only possible with a backhanded slap.

Here is where Jesus' meaning opens up to us: in an ancient context, a backhanded slap was akin to a personal insult.

If you wanted to insult someone, you could give them a backhanded slap.

This sheds light on the meaning; we are not strictly dealing here with simply literal violence, but all forms of insult, physical or non-physical, against us.

Jesus is addressing how believers ought to face insult or harm meant by others, and we are to root out and kill that part of us which desires retaliation—that sinful, natural rage that stirs inside of us, that part of us which, when insulted, wants revenge; it wants retaliation; it wants the other person to be brought low and to suffer.

That's what Christ is getting at here: He is calling us to die to self, to kill that part of us which wants that principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth—that they would feel how we felt. No. We must abandon the impulse of the flesh and let go of any spirit of retaliation; and that's it, plain and simple. So that's what Christ is talking about.

Think of Stephen in Acts 7:60—perfect illustration. While he was being unjustly stoned to death, he called for God's forgiveness upon his attackers; he turned the other cheek.

There was no spirit of retaliation in him, but the Spirit of Christ in him, showing love and turning the other cheek towards his enemies.

Self-denial In Rights

A second illustration the Lord Jesus gives is self-denial in rights. Verse 40: "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also."

In this example, Jesus calls for us to forget self by foregoing our insistence upon rights. Given our present culture, we ought to understand the idea of insisting upon rights; in our Western culture, it is our obsession: rights and privileges.

We’ve stopped talking, for over one hundred years perhaps, about duties and responsibilities, which is what made all of our young men go off to war because that was the climate they lived in—duties and responsibilities. And now we think about rights and privileges! It's the spirit of our nation.

Jesus here is talking about the duty of Christians to have a pre-loaded attitude of surrender to what rights we might think we have before those who would come after us.

We have to be ready to show and respond with grace in the place of retaliation. So we need here again a willingness to deny self.

Yet, on verse 41, commentators say this: If we miss what Jesus is saying and interpret this with literalism, it would quickly lead us down the path of public nudity concerning the handing over of clothing. So that's not the point, is it?

A key passage, I think, to understanding is from Exodus 22—you don’t have to turn there—but understand that the poor person's outer cloak, you notice how Jesus references "let him have your coat also", well, in the context of the time, a person's outer cloak was a poor person's bedding as well as their only real source of warmth. And the law of Moses actually protected such a person from ever having their cloak taken from them.

So in Exodus 22:26 it says, "If you ever take your neighbour's cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets; for that is his only covering, it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious." So think about that; and then look at what Jesus is calling for here.

In His illustration, He’s calling for a willingness to surrender the very thing—an outer cloak—which the law explicitly protected from seizure! The Christian has to be willing to give up that which was protected by law.

What might the principle be?

Well, for a start, it might mean: don’t hold onto the privileges and rights you think you have with others so closely that you cannot accept a gracious defeat.

Now, this does not mean that you'll never find yourself in a court of law seeking justice or appealing to those in power to uphold the law regarding your situation. Think of Paul, for example, who appealed to his Roman citizenship when he was unjustly flogged in Acts 22:25. You see, it's not about being a doormat for other people; this, again, would miss the point.

What Jesus does call for here is to assess our attitudes and be willing to die to self in this area. If someone were to unjustly take our shirt, as is the example, we're not permitted to apply this exacting principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

There's got to be a willingness in us to hand over more than they have taken. It means we have no right to hate people who try to deprive us of our possessions, as impossible as that may seem.

This is, again, an example of Christ calling us to unclench our fist—to forego the insistence on our rights, to be offended, to forego our insistence to seek justice in every situation; to have an open heart of grace towards those who mean us harm.

Self-denial In Unjust Servitude

A third illustration Jesus gives is Matthew 5:41: "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." Here is a call for self-denial in the face of unjust servitude.

The meaning here is quite simple. Do you remember Simon of Cyrene, the man who was pressed into carrying the cross of our Lord Jesus? Matthew records this in Matthew 27:32: "As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross."

Now, do you think Simon could have resisted the Roman soldiers when they pulled him out and forced him to carry Jesus’ cross? Now, the text says they pressed him into service. Interesting. You see, under Roman law, authorities had the right to force someone to transport items for them for up to one mile without any compensation at all.

That is what Jesus is referencing here. He’s referring to such a scenario that Roman law enabled.

He says, "If they force you to go one mile, be willing to go with them two." So in cases where a Roman soldier forced you to do something against your will without compensation, the law enabled them to do it, but the Christian has to have such an attitude in their heart that they are not going to become bitter and resentful but be willing to go even two.

We might be willing in our hearts to protest, "This isn’t fair." But Christ says, "Die to self." Jesus is showing us that the only right attitude the believer is permitted to have in a world full of injustices as sojourners and aliens is one of dying to self.

You see, what good is your protest going to do? How does yours and mine protest entrust us to the providence of God?

Rather, our attitude should be to forget ourselves. We are not to harbour bitterness or have a perturbed spirit in our hearts when someone places a burden upon us that we did not ask for; to become miserable, depressed, and bitter is not to be that way for Christians.

Someone forces you to go one mile; you’ve got to be willing to go with them two.

So again, we see this is about attitude of the heart and the principle that we are not to internalise and wrongly think that this law of revenge means we are to have an exacting attitude.

Rather, we ought to forget ourselves and die to self.

Self-denial In Charity

As a fourth and final illustration, Jesus gives concerning self-denial in charity Matthew 5:42: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you."

What is the meaning here?

Well, someone might be tempted to wrongly think that the law stating an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth means that every man is effectively out for himself, looking after his own interests. "If I lend to you something, I expect it right back."

So if someone asks us for charity and grace, we might respond, "What do you have to give me in return? How are you going to pay me back?" Again, we see this is an attitude issue that Jesus is dealing with.

Jesus is not proposing the impossible situation where disciples must completely empty themselves of possessions when someone asks of them. Again, we would be misreading it.

Nor is He saying that every beggar on the street deserves all the cash in your wallet or all the clothes on your back when they ask for it.

It’s not what He’s saying; otherwise, we’d have nothing left within a week. It simply means our ears are open, our hearts full of mercy, and we are willing to forget ourselves.

We're not thinking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; rather, "How can I serve this person with my possessions, with my time, as Christ would?"

You see, on this whole idea of self, men in particular by nature like to build their entire identity on possessions: what they're worth, where they rank, all the rest. And then when another requires our support, the fleshly response might be, "What have they done to help themselves first before I help them?" Or, "Why should I have to part with what I’ve worked so hard for when they’re not really that hard-working themselves?"

So it's all about me, me, me! And that’s what Christ is trying to root out of us. This is the issue of self which Jesus is exposing and condemning and replacing in us.

Jesus’ Own Example

So let's look at Jesus’ own example. You don't have to take these things as mere teaching only; you can observe it all in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Was Jesus not the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? Did Christ not deny Himself, setting aside His own rights that He might become the servant of all?

I want you to remember that Jesus Christ Himself has already gone ahead of us in each of these illustrations. He is not like that lousy boss you may have had who says, "Do as I say," but they cannot say, "Do as I do." In Jesus, we find one who can say, "Do as I do."

He perfectly exemplifies all that He is calling us to do here. How so? We'll listen to the words of Philippians 2:5–8, you know it well.

It says, "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of men; being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross."

Self-denial for the sake of others.

Jesus calls us to an assessment of self and our attitudes: that we would not be those who desire to exercise retaliation; that we would be willing to forego insisting upon the rights that we think we have; that we would not become bitter or resentful when something such as unjust servitude occurs to us; that we would not hold our possessions too tightly.

The idea then concurs with Jesus later saying in Matthew 10:38: "He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Taking up your cross means dying to self; it means releasing that clenched fist of your own life that you might find it in Jesus.

Jesus is calling us to crucify the flesh and all of those bitter, resentful, self-justifying, self-vindicating, self-appeasing attitudes that we harbour towards those who make themselves our foe.

He says, Come and die; come and lay hold of My cross; come to the end of yourself, to the end of your unrelenting stubbornness which wants to get its own; the end of your self-promotion which wants an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth in every situation.

You have Jesus to look to, friend. When He was unjustly beaten and crucified as a miscarriage of law, He did not remember His own rights. He did not have an attitude of self-preservation when He died for you.

He did not think, "They’re not worth it; I’ll just give these people what they deserve now." He stood in the gap when there was no other, when there was no man found to save a wretched people like us. Christ, the Son, laid aside self, made Himself of no account, and the Creator subjected Himself to the taunts, jeering, and persecution of those whom He gave breath.

And so Philippians 2 says, even to the point of death there at Calvary, the Son of God was crucified and bore our sins. So out of that life that we now have with Him, He says, "Pick up your cross and follow Me."