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An Eye for An Eye |
(Matthew 5:38-48) |
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The
saying from our gospel that we all know so well, an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth, is a command that has often been used to justify
brutality. In fact, the statute, which was well-known in the ancient
world, was used to reduce brutality. In a time when there was little or
no police presence, protection came from membership in a tribe or
family. If one member of the tribe or family was attacked, the other
members would respond. |
Ancient
societies faced the problem to control retaliation so that it did not
escalate out of site. This statute is saying that retaliation must be
proportionate to the offence, that there must be a rough equality
between the two. The statute was aimed not at excusing brutality, but at
controlling vendetta. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, was a
step forward in the civilization of humankind. |
But
Jesus sees something better. He knows that God is not vengeful, that
God is not a 'tit for tat' judge, and if we are to be like him, nothing
of vengefulness must be found in us. |
His
commandment is clear. Aggression and violence are not to be returned.
They are to be absorbed. His advice must appear to many as absurd. He
talks of turning the other cheek, of offering a thief your coat when he
has stolen your shirt. It all sounds rather farfetched, but the heart of
the teaching is that violence in the long run does not solve anything,
and only makes the problem worse. It grows like a cancer. It becomes a
poisoned well. This vicious circle continues until someone with enough
sense tries a different approach—like forgiveness. |
Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal wrote a biographical book called Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness.
Over 80 members of his family died in a Nazi concentration camp. He saw
his own mother machine-gunned right in front of him. He tells the story
that one day, a nurse came out to where he was working, tapped him on
the shoulder and told him to follow her. He was taken to a hospital room
where a member of the dreaded SS Troop lay dying. He was just a young
man. He told Simon how he had been in charge of a unit dealing with
Jews. This meant just one thing... herding them into a building, dousing
the building with gasoline and setting it on fire, then machine gunning
anyone who would try to escape. The young trooper had been a Catholic
before he became a Nazi, and he began to feel guilt over what he had
done. He had requested that a Jew be sent to him. Any Jew. Male or
female. He needed a representative Jew. He begged Simon on behalf of his
people for forgiveness. He said he was not born a murderer, and he did
not want to die one. |
Simon
Wiesenthal said the only response he could give was to get up and leave
the room, without saying a word, without granting forgiveness. And for
the rest of his life, he was troubled by his non-response. |
What
would you have done? That is a question we could talk about all day.
And so I would like to ask you another question. Have you ever been in
the place of the Nazi officer, not mass murderer? Are there any Simon
Wiesenthal's in your life who cannot and will not forgive you? People
you may have hurt so badly that they want nothing to do with you ever
again, and they are most likely those closest to you. And we carry that
guilt and often turn into ourselves, and we cannot move forward with
life. |
If
you are a Christian, it is then we turn to Jesus Christ. He steps into
the shoes of those who cannot forgive. He comes to us broken as we are
and says "All is forgiven" and He loves us. |
When people will not forgive, Jesus will. |
When people cannot forgive, Jesus will. |
When people are unable to forgive, Jesus will. |
Look
at the gospel of the Prodigal Son. When the son repented, the father
went to meet him, he embraced him and welcomed him back to the family. |
And
so we have two situations... If you are Simon Wiesenthal, the gospel
challenges you with the imperative and the demand to forgive. To forgive
your enemies. |
If
you are the young Nazi, and you badly want forgiveness, and the people
in your life cannot, will not or are unable to forgive, then turn to the
gospel, where you will find out that Jesus will stand in their place. |
This
is, also, I suggest, why He invented the sacrament of confession. It is
the place that Jesus has set up where we are reconciled to the Father.
It is the one place where we can be reassured that in our broken and
dying moments, the Lord will come and say, "Go in peace, your sins are
forgiven." |
I
supposed in the end, it comes down to how seriously we take the prayers
we say every day. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us." Scripture tells us, when you come to the altar, if
you have anything against your brother or sister, leave your gift at
the altar, and first go and be reconciled with your brother or sister.
Have you ever done that? Do you need to? |
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Yours in Christ, |
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Fr. Robert Warren, S.A. |
Spiritual Director |
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