Matthew 5:38-48
Eye for Eye
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
When Jesus came to earth He changed things and wanted us to look at different things in a different Light and to help us with Scripture and to be closer to His Father...The Bible makes it clear and the Prophet Malachi writes that God hates divorce and that love, reconciliation, mercy, and forgiveness should mark a believer's life...But in Moses Law, we read in the Book of Deuteronomy that if a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled...That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD...Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance...
As we read this in Deuteronomy we see that man had a lot of leeway for divorcing his wife...Something indecent or something the husband did not like were reasons a man could leave his wife...Almost any reason of divorce would work in this Scripture...These verses do not talk about a husband forgiving one's wife...So one would naturally understand why Jesus might comment on these verses...
Jesus had some Pharisees come to Him one day and test Him about these verses...They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”...“Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?...So they are no longer two, but one flesh...Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”...“Why then,” the Pharisees asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”...Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard...But it was not this way from the beginning...I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”...The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”...
As we read this we see how Jesus helps us better interpret the Bible, because He is Scripture...He adds context to Old Testament Scripture...He is the One who has Complete Forgiveness, and Completely Capable of Mercy and Unconditional LOVE for all men and women...Jesus even teaches us to love our enemies...So it makes perfect sense to love your wife...His Spiritual Level is unsurpassed...His Words are Sacred and Holy and the Absolute Truth...Let us see everyone, all neighbors and family LOVING and Forgiving all with His Great Mercy...
Yet, as we read these verses Jesus teaches us that we are not to think that He came to abolish the Law or the Prophetic Books; He did not come to abolish them but to fulfill them...For truly He truly told us, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished...Therefore, anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven...For He teaches that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, we will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven...
In the Book of Leviticus we read that “Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death...Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life...If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him...Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death...You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I AM the LORD your God.”...
Jesus teaches us more about the subject of an eye for an eye... He teaches that "You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’...But I tell you, do not resist an evil person...If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also...And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well...If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles...Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."...
Author Shannon Adler writes that “You have to understand that not everyone that is Christian will grant forgiveness...Too many Christians only believe in the Old Testament- an eye for an eye...Not everyone is capable of seeing their enemy with mercy...They don't want to try on their shoes and know where they are coming from...Remember that churches are hospitals for the wounded...Many Christians are just in survival mode and barely getting by spiritually...They are not at the level you are...They don't know how to put themselves in their enemies situation, so they can understand them...They don't want to worry about anything other than their own issues...If you have finally found a place of forgiveness and mercy for those that wronged you, then you are far ahead of the masses and will be rewarded in heaven for what they could not bring themselves to do, but you did.”...