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The Law of Love toward the Enemy.
v. 38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
Jesus here refers to the law of retribution, or compensation, as contained in the Levitical ordinances, Exo_21:24. This is said to the government, and is a sound principle for the instruction of the judge; Fair compensation should be granted for injuries received. But the scribes and Pharisees applied the statement to the relation of every person toward his neighbor. They taught and declared that everyone had the right to take revenge and to exact compensation for himself. Christ goes on record as differing from this explanation:
v. 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil,
either by trying to prevent injury or by demanding revenge for it, by repelling one outrage with another. He had excellent authority for His explanation, Lev_19:18; Pro_24:29. Christian love must be willing to bear and to forbear, though a defense of right is permitted, Joh_18:23; Act_23:3; Act_22:25. If this were not true, it would follow that all outrages would go unchallenged, and a Christian would lose house and home, wife and children, as Luther says. But a disciple of Christ should be willing and patient in suffering, even wrongfully, and not seek revenge nor return evil for evil.