Exodus 21:23-25
But if any harm comes to the woman and she dies, he shall be executed.
“If
her eye is injured, injure his; if her tooth is knocked out, knock out
his; and so on—hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for
wound, lash for lash.
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
Children are notorious for
“hitting back”…and ours are no different. We will hear, “He/she hit me
first!” Timothy will sometimes say of his younger siblings, “I needed
to teach him/her a lesson!” We are definitely a work in progress!
The
sad fact is that adults do this very same thing. The retaliation may
not be physical…but words and actions can have a damaging effect, as
well. Someone will ask, “What about me? Don’t MY feelings matter?
What he/she said or did hurt me! Don’t I have rights, too?” The short
answer is “Yes…and NO.”
The first thing we have to look at is the location of this scripture passage…in the Old
Testament. Laws were very different before the time of Jesus. His
birth, death and resurrection changed EVERYTHING…and thankfully so! We
don’t have to sacrifice baby animals or present burnt offerings to atone
for our sins…and we don’t have to handle offenses on our own! We have a
Savior who does all of this for us! Lashing out at others and
retaliation tactics are not only childish…they are sinful! They suggest
that we do not trust Jesus to handle these situations and circumstances
for us…that we do not fully understand and believe that He can – and
will - meet our every need.
There will be times in our lives when
we would love to exchange an eye for an eye…when we would like nothing
more than to teach someone a lesson – to make him/her suffer just a
little and feel our pain. But we have to stop and ask ourselves, “What
if Jesus had done this?” He is our Savior…our Ultimate Example of how
to treat others and share God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness with
them.
The “lesson” we need to be teaching is tolerance and
understanding…not revenge. We need to be paying it forward…not doling
out paybacks. Yes, the Bible does say “an eye for an eye”…but it also
notes that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” The former serves as a
reminder that we have been freed from the shackles of operating under a
system of oppressive parameters, punishments and penance.
Because
of Jesus, we can now live in the freedom of His deliverance. Our
liberation from sin and the old laws provides us with the opportunity to
serve in hope, faith, and forgiveness…to take the high road and let
Jesus handle any discipline and retribution.
Philippians 4:13
tells us that…”I can do everything God asks me to with the help of
Christ who gives me the strength and power.” Are you demonstrating this
in your daily living? Or do you still have the mistaken idea that it
is your job to help God show others a thing or two? When others look at
you, do they see an Old Testament believer…or a disciple of Christ’s
Good News? There IS a difference! Have you chosen Salvation and
freedom in the power of Jesus Christ? Will this be the day that you do?
©2016 Debbie Robus
No comments:
Post a Comment