7th Sunday Year A: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima
Theme: Handling aggression the Christ’s way
Readings: Lv 19:1–2, 17–18; I Cor 3:16–23; Mt 5:38–48
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, this Sunday, Jesus continued his Sermon on the Mount, calling on his disciples to embrace exceeding righteousness. In the first reading and gospel, he invited his disciples in a special way to be holy and perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect, this means that their standard of perfection should not only be what the laws of the state nor those of the Pharisees and scribes said, but also what God said.
To demonstrate to his disciples what they should do to be perfect like their heavenly Father, Jesus made some antithetical pronouncements on the laws of the Pharisees and Scribes: he told them not to follow what the Scribes and Pharisees (the law of the state) taught them to do to those who violated their rights, but to follow what he has taught them. The Scribes and Pharisees, basing their claims on the law of eye for eye and tooth for tooth, taught that revenge should be taken on whoever violates the right of others or possess himself as an enemy. Christ contrasted such teaching by telling his disciples not to return violence with violence, but to forgive offenders, love both their friends and enemies and pray for those who violate their rights as well.
It was through Moses that the law of eye for eye and tooth for tooth was given to the people of Israel (Ex. 21:23–25; Lev. 24:19–24; Deut. 19:21). The Israelites of the time of Moses down those of the time of Christ saw this law as an appeal to vengeance or revenge, but was it initially an appeal or demand for savage justice? Of course it wasn’t. Jesus was actually appalled that his people had lost sight of the reason why the tit-for-tat law was given. This law was borrowed by Moses from the code of Hammurabi. It was called the lex or ius Talionis (the law of the Talions — tit-for-tat, such for such), and it was given to stop the custom of unrestrained revenge, unlimited or unregulated vengeance; it was given to ensure proportional retaliation, as a moderation to the act of revenge. The custom of unrestricted vengeance not only permitted vengeance, it also required an individual, a family or a land to take vengeance not only upon the wrongdoer, but also upon all connected with him (an example is seen in Gen. 2:23–24). Therefore, tit-for-tat was not a law of incitement to vengeance, but that of proportionality in vengeance
So, with the lex Taliones, Moses was not asking people to take revenge for wrongs committed against them, he was rather trying to restrict or checkmate the vengeance of those who cannot forgive. He was like saying, ‘hey man, since you don’t want to forgive your offender, look at the boundary where your revenge must stop. If he plucked your eye, then, you must not go beyond plucking his own eye.’
In our own days, the policy of tit-for-tat finds expression in the principle of proportionality, restitution and equivalency in the laws of different countries, which states that punishment for a crime should be proportional to the crime committed.
In the gospel of today, however, it shocked Christ that people have thrown away love and forgiveness in relationships and have rather adopted revenge as what should regulate their daily affairs. Thus, with his antithesis to the lex Taliones, Christ questioned all human laws (state laws) that are based on retribution and all those who assume legality as the basis for relations between fellow men; he wondered why it should be so. Dear friends, Christ is saying that both the ius Talionis and its modern interpretation in the law of proportionality should not regulate the relationship of Christians, that relationship or affairs among Christians not be regulated by revenge and all forms of vindictiveness/retaliation (strict or retributive justice), but by love and forgiveness. In fact, Christ is telling us not to make the law of the state the standard for regulating our relationships. Our relationships should rather draw its model from what God has taught and shown us, that is, love and forgiveness.
Mahatma Gandhi is quoted to have said that “if all of us were to practice the eye for eye rule, the whole world would soon go blind and toothless.” So, Jesus is calling us today not to fight evil with evil or its own means, because evil is only conquered by its contrary. Evil retains its strength when the injured retaliates, but it loses its strength when it is absorbed by those who renounce all forms of revenge; the force of evil is wasted when it meets no resistance. We are called to remember that vengeance thrives when we allow its vicious circle to continue. It takes the courage of a good man to quench the vicious circle of revenge by refusing to retaliate.
To drive home his point, Christ gave some illustrations in the gospel of today. He said, “if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other side also.” Slapping someone on the right cheek is contemptuous, it is a double insult and legally demands a double punishment because you can only slap someone on the right cheek with the back of the palm. But Christ waved away the demand of the law, telling his disciples not only to avoid retaliating when doubly insulted, but to also turn the other cheek. Turning the other cheek, freely giving the tunic and adding the cloak to it, and walking the extra mile are ways Jesus used to demonstrate how Christians should be different in the treatment of aggressors/offenders — those who do not deserve good treatment according to the law of the state. Christians should offer them loving kindness and mercy as God does. Though refusing to retaliate when offended requires great strength and discipline of character, if we rely on God’s grace, he will give us strength to face our fears and weaknesses.
Christ went further to call on his disciples to always look beyond what the law of the states says when they are handling those who have declared themselves their enemies. The law said only neighbours should be loved, while enemies should be arrested and dealt with, but Christ asked us, His disciples, to love enemies and pray for their repentance. Do we still do this or do we spend our prayer time calling on the fire of the Holy Ghost to descend on those we see as our enemies? The kind of prayers we say today against our enemies after the example of the so-called ‘Holy Ghost ministries of war’ shows how far we have departed from the mind and teaching of Christ. Let today’s gospel lead us back to the mind of Christ, especially as regards our prayer habits. Christ has lifted all limitations to love. Love is no longer an emotion reserved for friends and neighbours, one must love enemies too. Just as our heavenly Father does not withhold his love from those who hate him, we, who have been called to be perfect like him, should not withhold our love from those who hate us.
Finally, Christ, in his antithesis on the law of retaliation and non-resistance of evil, did not tell us to keep quiet in the face of evil, nor did he tell us to refuse to be involved in the resistance against unjust regime. He was rather asking us not to resist evil with evil/violence. Using violence or war to stop evil only comes as the last resort, the last option when all means of peaceful and lovely resolutions have been exhausted.
Peace be with you, and have a happy Sunday
Rev. Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima