Epiphany 7 / OT 7
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."
-- Matthew 5:38
The law, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," had the effect of limiting retribution. Endless blood feuds, which often plagued the society, were prohibited. But Jesus saw God's will as going beyond retaliation and seeking reconciliation. "Do not resist an evildoer." The cycle of violence had to be interrupted. Jesus gave four examples in ascending order of conflict. The first was a response to personal conflict. To be struck on the right cheek would be especially vicious because it would mean the violator struck you with the back of the hand rather than the palm. By offering the other cheek, one interrupted the violator's expectation and left room for new possibilities. Next, Jesus posed a legal conflict in which one would be sued for one's coat and would voluntarily offer one's cloak, which was beyond all legal expectations (Exodus 22:26). In the third example, we see institutional conflict. By the laws of occupation, a Roman soldier could conscript a citizen to carry his pack. But for a citizen to go voluntarily an extra distance was not grudging compliance but a genuine act of kindness. The fourth example raised an economic conflict that separated citizen from citizen. The beggar, who fits into the lowest class of an agrarian society, and the borrower, who has fallen on hard times, were both to be responded to with an openness that contradicted the normal possessiveness of society. Jesus' vision was not that of just passively absorbing violence but of choosing to act in ways that offered the violator a future. We are to love our enemy because that is how God acts toward even those who choose to be enemies of God.
-- Matthew 5:38
The law, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," had the effect of limiting retribution. Endless blood feuds, which often plagued the society, were prohibited. But Jesus saw God's will as going beyond retaliation and seeking reconciliation. "Do not resist an evildoer." The cycle of violence had to be interrupted. Jesus gave four examples in ascending order of conflict. The first was a response to personal conflict. To be struck on the right cheek would be especially vicious because it would mean the violator struck you with the back of the hand rather than the palm. By offering the other cheek, one interrupted the violator's expectation and left room for new possibilities. Next, Jesus posed a legal conflict in which one would be sued for one's coat and would voluntarily offer one's cloak, which was beyond all legal expectations (Exodus 22:26). In the third example, we see institutional conflict. By the laws of occupation, a Roman soldier could conscript a citizen to carry his pack. But for a citizen to go voluntarily an extra distance was not grudging compliance but a genuine act of kindness. The fourth example raised an economic conflict that separated citizen from citizen. The beggar, who fits into the lowest class of an agrarian society, and the borrower, who has fallen on hard times, were both to be responded to with an openness that contradicted the normal possessiveness of society. Jesus' vision was not that of just passively absorbing violence but of choosing to act in ways that offered the violator a future. We are to love our enemy because that is how God acts toward even those who choose to be enemies of God.
