Thomas Griffin 7/14/24 (For Ascension Press)
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Read the Full Article for Ascension Press HERE
The two main events in the life of Christ that can inform Christians during these chaotic and tumultuous moments in our world are the teachings of Christ on retaliation (Matthew 5:38-48) and the Cleansing of the Temple (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-25). These words and events provide pivotal directives and an undeniable invitation from Jesus himself.
The Sermon on the Mount is Christ’s most lengthy and thorough corpus of teachings. Following the famous Beatitudes, Jesus gives several admonitions that begin with the phrase:
“You have heard that it was said … but I say to you … ”Matthew 5:21, 27, 33, 38
He is referencing teachings based in the Old Covenant that he desires to build on, transform, and advance to their fulfillment.
Violence
In regards to violence and retaliation, Jesus states:
“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.”Matthew 5:38-39
God does not condone violence for the sake of violence (here, we are speaking about something different than self-defense). The fulfillment of the Law on retaliation is found in understanding the phrase of “turning the other cheek.” To be struck on one’s right cheek would mean that the assailant used the back of his hand to slap someone. Jewish custom notes that this is one of the most degrading forms of physical attack. The intent is to embarrass and show the lack of worth in the one struck.
The Christian response is to offer the other cheek as well, to diffuse the situation with the acknowledgment that the embarrassment intended cannot degrade the person’s worth. An escalation in violence only leads to the continual diminishment of human dignity. The answer to a violent and hateful strike is never hate; the triumph of the Cross is not a weaponization of retaliation, but a victory of sacrificial transformative love that lays down and takes up suffering; it does not inflict hate upon hate.
Read the Full Article for Ascension Press HERE
Thomas Griffin is the chairperson of the religion department at a Catholic high school on Long Island where he lives with his wife and two sons. He has a masters degree in theology and is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Empty Tomb Project: The Magazine. He is the author of Let Us Begin: Saint Francis’s Way of Becoming Like Christ and Renewing the World.
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