NOTES for Mat 5:33-41

The abolition of the principle of equal retribution, of which the Lord speaks in today's passage from the Sermon on the Mount, marks a fundamentally new stage in humanity's spiritual evolution. In ancient times, when the Law of Moses proclaimed “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” the normal principle was the one formulated by Lamech, who killed a young man for wounding him and a man for scratching him. At that time, the principle of equal retribution was the height of civilization and mercy. But now the time had come when even “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” ceased to be humanity's highest spiritual achievement. The Lord calls us to renounce vengeance altogether.

The interpretation of this fact is usually based on God's words in the Old Testament that the right of vengeance and retribution belongs to Him alone. But the Lord Himself says nothing about this. He does not say, “God will avenge you”; He says, “renounce revenge; do not resist evil.” Thus in these words we once again encounter a call to the way of the Cross.