9. The Command “Do not take revenge.”
38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. Matthew 5:38 (NLT)
Many times when we have been injured our immediate attitude and response seeks justice. But, at what cost? Jesus is commanding us here to change our hearts from the bitterness of revenge to the kindness of charity. We live in a broken world. We will reap what we sow. There is no escaping the repercussions of sin. Sooner or later bewildering calamity will happen. How will you respond to a slap in the face? An unexpected law suit? Or forced, unwarranted labor?
Jesus’s command is simple! Return kindness for evil, extraordinary giving for theft, and love for injury. There is only one Judge and it’s not us. He will righteously settle all unresolved accounts. And the payment for these debts is terrible and eternal. Shouldn’t we be showing mercy and love in our injury? We know that unless our debtors receive Christ as their Savior, their eternal souls are bound for Hell. They may stimulate their pride at the expense of our sore cheek. They may gain a little more wardrobe material. They may live a little longer at the expense of our hard labor. But Jesus says this in Matthew 16:26 “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (NLT)
Christ was slapped in the face, beard-pulled, humiliated, and forced to wear a crown of thorns, disrobed and publically beaten (scourged), burdened to carry the instrument of his demise to the site of his execution, then crucified, naked, laid bare for all to see – and he sought no revenge. He prayed for his debtors’ forgiveness.