Today in Scripture

The Gospel today is from Matthew 5: 38-42:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“You have heard that it was said,

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,

turn the other one to him as well.

If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,

hand him your cloak as well.

Should anyone press you into service for one mile,

go with him for two miles.

Give to the one who asks of you,

and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”

Just two things to note, briefly, about today's Gospel:
The Old Testament "eye for an eye" is often thought to be a command in favor of retribution. In reality, it was a restriction of pay-back to a proportional level (for instance, rather than killing all the goats of the entire family of a man who stole one goat, the victim was entitled to one goat in repayment). It was an attempt to rein in what could otherwise become an escalation of violence.

And rather than advocating weakness in response to offense, Jesus is calling for a deeper strength from his followers. Such generosity in the face of injustice comes from a mature knowledge deep down in our souls of what really matters in this life. Jesus isn't saying to 'make nice' for the purpose of avoiding future confrontation, but to be such a witness of goodness, patience, and long-term perspective, that your offender can't help but be disarmed, and perhaps changed for the better by your reaction. Now, he's not calling us to be doormats, to go looking for abuse, but in those situations of stress and confrontation, we are free to choose to react out of anger, or out of love. Which choice takes more strength?