FROM THE PASTOR’S HEART
OP / ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY
If you are as I am, you might be watching the organization of the 118th Congress of the United States, especially taking note of a Committee or a few of the Committees established on the law of revenge and retaliation.
They are called committees to investigate the politicization of government agencies such as the Justice Department, FBI, and IRS. But the real intent, as indicated, is to investigate the investigators or to obstruct the Departments’ investigations. The establishment of the Committees is the agreement that the new Speaker of the House had to make with the extremists of his caucus to secure the speakership.
I have to confess that while I am listening to all of the interpretations concerning the committees, I do not know all of the facts. However, some things are quite obvious, and one can be sure that the intent of revenge and retaliation are in the mix, but “what else?” I do not know. But the facts of revenge and retaliation give me pause because it is clear that the effort is about to poison the system of American Democracy for a very long time if some future Congress does not come along to break the cycle of revenge and retaliation.
The point is that any socio-political system, community, family, or group organized around a system of revenge and retaliation, even as a form of justice, is bound to face challenges that will lead to ultimate destruction.
Sometimes we laugh at the ancient societies with a form of justice known as lex talionis or ‘the law of tit for tat.” The law found in the Old Testament book of Exodus 21:24, 25 “…you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise,” is an example.
And it is also repeated in Leviticus 24:19, 20: “Anyone who inflicts a permanent injury on his or her neighbor shall receive the same in return; fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The same injury that one gives another shall be inflicted in return.”
It was simple if someone caused a person to lose one tooth, the one who lost the tooth had the right to take away one tooth from them, but not two. Likewise, if someone caused you to lose your left eye, you could remove their left eye, but not the right, and not both eyes. In other words, the punishment should not exceed the injury done.
I do not know for sure, there is no historical recording, but one can imagine that if the lex talionis was practiced radically, by the time Jesus came along, he must have seen many people with one eye and without a tooth, and maybe some with one hand and one foot and so on. No wonder Jesus forbade this law of proportionate retaliation.Matthew 5:38-39 records the words of Jesus saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.”
In reality, Jesus challenged those listening to him to refrain from revenge and retaliation when they were wrong. Apart from the wrongs being done to them by family and neighbors, was what was being done to them by their Roman oppressors. Jesus knew how hard it was for people to take hurts and oppression, but he sought to correct a system that had gone to extremes. In place of the hatred, Jesus was seeking to teach peace.
That is why he said, “Blessed, are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9, NIV). “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 KJV). You do not need to misunderstand in thinking that Jesus was telling people to be weak and lacking in courage, but Jesus understood that the kingdom of God was not to be built on hatred and retaliation.
Any earthly system, whether secular or religious, political or communal, familial or spiritual, built on revenge and retaliation will destruct in the short or long term. I do not know that what is said will impact the 118th Congress of the United States, the Brazilian Parliament, or the many world congresses with so much strife. Someone has taken the time to compile a video of the many fights that have taken place in the various congresses of the world, and you might say it is laughable how the adults are behaving like children in a schoolyard brawl. But the truth is, it is not laughable, it is painful to see the anger and the hate being spread by those who are supposed to teach decency and respect.
And what about all of us, who are supposed to be spreading love? What difference would it make if we accepted the words of Jesus, “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. . .” (Matthew 5:44). Because so many fail to accept these words one can understand why so many individuals in the world are walking around with blinded eyes, loss of limbs, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and so many other challenges.
If we are honest, our natural reaction to hurtful incidents is to become angry and retaliate. But Jesus says we shouldn’t. Jesus teaches a better way. Can you try to follow the way of Jesus?
Let me offer that to follow the Jesus way, our best course is to stay prayerful, remain connected with God, and ask for wisdom to deal effectively with each hurtful situation. Ask God for grace to stay away from the law of revenge and retaliation.
