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The Gospel passage for 7th Sunday after Epiphany came from Matthew 5: 38-48.
In it, JESUS teaches us about revenge. GOD’s purpose behind this law was an expression of mercy. The law was given to the judges and said, in effect, “Make the punishment fit the crime.”
It was not a guide for personal revenge – such as might be thought of in terms of the “like-for-like” in Exodus 21 23-25:
If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
These laws were given to LIMIT vengeance and to help the court administer punishment that was neither too strict nor too lenient. Some people, however, were using this phrase to justify their vendettas against others. People still try to excuse their acts of revenge by saying: “I was just doing to him what he did to me.”
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12. 19:
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’
GOD originally gave this instruction in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 32. 35: Vengeance is mine.
When we are wronged, often our first reaction is to get even. JESUS said that we should do GOOD to those who wrong us. In the passion translation of the Bible under the heading of TRANSFORMED RELATIONSHIPS the Apostle Paul in Romans 12 tells us:
Let the inner movement of your heart always be to love one another
Our desire should NOT be to keep score; but to love and forgive. This is not natural to us as humans – it is SUPER-natural. Only GOD can give us the strength to love as He does. So, instead of planning vengeance, pray for those who hurt you.
By telling us not to retaliate, JESUS keeps us from taking the law into our own hands. By loving and praying for our enemies, we can overcome evil with GOOD.
If we love our enemies and treat them well, we will truly show that JESUS is the LORD of our lives. This is possible only for those who give themselves fully to GOD, because only He can deliver people from natural selfishness. We must trust the Holy Spirit to help us SHOW love for those whom we may not feel love.
JESUS tells us in the final verse of our Gospel for today to: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
How can we do that? We can try to be perfect in:
CHARACTER. In this life we cannot be flawless, but we can aspire to be as much like CHRIST as possible.
HOLINESS. Like the Pharisees, we are to separate ourselves rom the world’s sinful values. But unlike the Pharisees, we are to be devoted to GOD’s desires rather than our own; and carry His love and mercy into the world.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12. 19:
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’
MATURITY. We cannot achieve CHRISTLIKE character and holy iving all at once; but we must endeavour to grow toward maturity and wholeness. Just as we expect different behaviour from a baby, a child, a teenager, and an adult, so GOD expects different behaviour from us, depending on our stage of spiritual development.
LOVE. We can seek to love others as completely as GOD loves us.
We can be as perfect as possible if our behaviour is appropriate for our maturity level. There will always be much room in which to grow. Our tendency to sin must never deter us from striving to be more like JESUS. JESUS calls all His disciples to excel, to rise above mediocrity, and to mature in as many ways as possible to become more like Him.
De Colores
Fr Steve