Ethics Mt 5:38-48 – love or revenge for your enemies?

In Mt5:38, Matthew opens this passage with a reference to Old Testament

law,  which effectively limited revenge against our enemies, in a like-for-like

approach for damages. ie My eye was lost, so my revenge is limited to taking

out one of my enemy’s eyes.

In a radical contrast to the old law, Jesus summons His followers into a new

dependence on Him to deal with our enemies .“Do not resist”, He said Mt5:39

As Christians, we must be meek and we must not retaliate. This takes us

beyond the old law, into a higher realm of obedience. In spirit, we must align

our actions, with Jesus’ principle-based ethics. That is, the end results do not

justify the means. For example, as Christians, we are expected to lovingly

protect our family members, but it is not loving gesture, if we retaliate with

violence.

So, in following Jesus’ teachings, if someone does evil to you, then we should not

respond with a similar reaction and most Christians understand, that they

should not respond to evil with evil, although at times it is difficult.

As the degree of the offence against us increases in severity, the urge to

retaliate with a like-for-like mentality, increases.

If someone steals from us, it is relatively easy to forgive them for their actions.

However,  if someone threatens us or attacks us physically, then it becomes

more difficult to respond, according to Jesus teachings.

And, if one nation drops a bomb on another nation? 

How do Christians respond and is there any limitation to God’s command???

Ideally, there are no limitations, regarding our obedience to Christ.

If somebody offends us greatly, we are still called to forgive them, even 70 x 7

times, instead of retaliating with a like-for-like attitude.

By responding to others, using a like-for-like mentality, then we are no different

to those, who began the offensive evil ..... we become a tool for Satan to extend

evil. Instead, we are called to respond to our enemies, in a loving way. Mt 5:44.

Our battle against evil should not be physically waged against other humans,

but instead, our war should be waged on spiritual grounds, against Satan

himself and our best defence against Satan, is to obey God’s command and

“love your enemies”. In fact, we are called to even PRAY for them !~!  Mt5:44

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good

 to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,

and  persecute you."(Matthew 5:44)

This passage has stirred the emotions and responses of many theologians. Meir Y. Soloveichik, a Jewish scholar, in his essay titled "The Virtue of Hate" writes:

For Christians, the bottom line is:- If someone does evil to you - we cannot respond with evil.  If we do, we are no different from the one who began the evil to begin with. Instead, we are called to respond lovingly and pray for our enemy.

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