The Sermon on the Mount
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ Matthew 5:38 · Berean Standard Bible
You've heard the old rule: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It was originally about fair punishment. But Jesus is about to ask for something far more radical.
The original law was actually merciful; it prevented revenge from spiraling out of control. But Jesus goes further: He asks us to give up the right to payback entirely.
Jesus introduces the fifth 'You have heard... but I say' teaching.
Jesus doesn't just reform the justice system. He introduces an entirely new way of responding to being wronged.
The fifth antithesis addresses the lex talionis (law of retribution) from Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. Originally, this law limited punishment to proportional response, preventing escalation of violence.
The lex talionis was progressive legislation in its original context, replacing blood feuds with proportional justice. By Jesus's time, monetary compensation had largely replaced literal application.
Jesus, introducing the fifth antithesis.
Jesus now transcends the justice system entirely, moving from proportional justice to radical non-retaliation.
36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.
38You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’
39But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;
40if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
Read all of Matthew 5 — Jesus turns the world's values upside down. The blessed aren't the powerful — they're the poor in spirit, the grieving, the meek.
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