Daily Lesson for Wednesday 27th of August 2025
Read Matthew 5:38-48. How does Jesus interpret the meaning of the retaliation law? How should we apply it today?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ cited texts from the Old Testament, texts that people were surely familiar with. However, He was speaking against the current rabbinical interpretations, which over the centuries had moved away from the original purpose of these laws. That is, human tradition not only hid the purpose of God’s Word but in some cases (think of the Sabbath regulations and what they had done to the Sabbath commandment) had perverted their intent and meanings. By His words, Jesus was restoring the original meanings of these laws.
Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com
On the Mount of Beatitudes, by pointing His hearers back to the texts’ original intent and meaning, Jesus was seeking to correct some of these false interpretations.
The text from Exodus 21:24 that talks about an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” was quoted in Matthew 5:38 (“you have heard . . . but I say to you”) and referred to the lex talionis, the so-called retaliation law. This verse is also used in other places in the Bible (Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21).
The original intention of this law was formulated against any personal revenge. It was to stop blood feuds, or retaliation without an investigation first. Injury had to be evaluated by judges, and then a proper monetary compensation would be established and paid. This practice was done in order to stop people from “taking the law into their own hands.” Justice was to be done, but it had to be done according to God’s law.
Jesus Christ, who gave these social laws to Moses, knew the purpose of this law; therefore, He could apply it in an objective way, according to its original intention. The motive behind it was to bring justice and reconciliation, and to restore peace.
One could argue that, in a sense, justice implies a kind of vengeance. The proper application of these laws was, it seemed, an attempt to find the right balance between the ideas of justice and vengeance.
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How should the realization that one day justice will come help you deal with all the injustice that we see in the world now? |
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