And I invite you now to turn to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21, and we want to begin with verse 18 and read to verse 27. Here is another passage that makes reference to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, because it's that concept or that idea that we want to explore and furthermore see how individuals have taken that concept and have actually twisted it. And you might think to yourself, well, how in the world they do that? Well, in a few moments, listen and you'll hear. But nonetheless, Exodus chapter 21, beginning with verse 18, we read, "'If men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but is confined to his bed, if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time and provide for him to be thoroughly healed.' And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished for he is his property. If men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But 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. If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth." Thus far the reading of God's holy word. Remember the grass withers and the flower falls, but God's word abides forever. Amen. this theme of an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth is very common. It's a phrase that I think many have heard of. It's familiar. For example, you might find it utilized in society. Maybe you're watching a TV show and there's a situation where a crime is committed within a family and as a result of that crime, an individual is lost forever, they're killed. And so one of the family members decides that he's going to take matters into his own hands and seek out vengeance on behalf of his dead relative. And so he then strikes out against the person who committed the crime or the whole family. And when then he's asked what he did, the appeal is, well, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In a discussion between Islam and Christianity that occurred a while back, there was the clear difference that in Christianity, that as one was struck on the cheek, you would give the other, but in the perspective of the Muslim, if one was struck, you would then strike back, for in doing so, it would be better for you and him. But even on a more simpler level, Parents, how often have you had to field questions from your kids where they may ask you, well, if my sibling would hit me, can I hit him back? What are they invoking? Do one to me and I'll do it to you. If they hit me, I'll hit them. If they take my toy, I'll take their toy. If they break it, I'll break theirs. And it's tit for tat, tooth for tooth, eye for eye, toy for toy. What's this all rooted in? It's rooted in a perspective that we must get even, that we must somehow strike back when someone comes against us. It's all a perspective of retaliation to make things right in your own thinking. When you've been wronged, you fix it. And you do to others as they've done to you. And yet Jesus, in Matthew chapter 5, in the Sermon on the Mount, makes reference to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and yet He notes something completely different. And so moms, if you're busy with kids through the course of the service, and you know that you're going to have distractions and stuff, here it is, here's the point, here's the idea. that Jesus does not teach personal revenge, but rather personal denial. And as a consequence, he then notes the practical situations where conflicts and oppression happen in daily life, and through that, how we then are called to deny ourself. That's the point. So how do we then want to build on this? Well, firstly, we simply want to note how people lose sight of the call for personal denial and instead uphold personal revenge. They do this by commonly misinterpreting the phrase, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The perspective is this. This is your chance to get at another. And they believe that the Bible even would assert this. Interestingly enough, Gandhi himself said, an eye for an eye makes the world blind. Now, on the one hand, you may hear this and go, oh, wow, how wonderful, how wise. Who is this, right? But he's completely, if you simply hear this and praise Gandhi, you've missed the point. And that's this. Gandhi's taking a statement from scripture and he's consequently condemning or disdaining or challenging scripture itself in terms of what it says. Because he's completely missed sight of what is noted. The whole context here is not the call for personal retaliation or personal vengeance, but instead, the idea that is noted before us is the call for protection. And furthermore, for a properly suited punishment. The Bible is not affirming personal retaliation. If that were the case, then Gandhi's statement is correct. An eye for an eye simply makes the world blind. But there's more to it. There's actually elements and levels of grace that God notes when, for example, in Exodus 22, he notes this context of an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. Or when it's also made reference in Leviticus 24 or Deuteronomy chapter 19. Those are the three places in the Old Testament where this concept is set. And the point of this isn't to retaliate. You see, oftentimes when we hear this, we take that perspective. Because it's very easy to seek retribution. It's very easy to note the wrongs that have occurred upon us and the difficulty that we experience and the sense of loss or the sense of hurt or the sense of pain. It's not easy to deal with those circumstances that arise where you may lose things that are useful and valuable to you. But the Bible is affirming a just and appropriate action and reaction. not one where individuals would simply take matters into their own hands and consequently apply the sense of right that they feel that they have lost. In fact, The point that is made to us, the meaning of this, and this is the second idea here, the meaning in the Bible of these things is actually to serve as a deterrent, to take punitive actions into your own hands and somehow then apply your standard of judgment and justice and the things that are set out before you. Notice again what we read in Exodus chapter 21, particularly verses 22 through 25. Two men are fighting. A woman who is expecting a child gets hurt. What then is to happen? Well, if she gives birth prematurely, but nothing happens to the child, then everything is okay. But, if something happens, there's a consequence. The extent of that which happens upon the child or upon the woman is the extent that then happens to the individual who invoked or who caused the problem. And yet, if you look at the greater context of the passage, you don't then see that consequence being, well, if a hand is lost, then a hand must be given, or if a foot is lost, a foot must be given. There tends to be, with the exception of life itself, a punitive, payment for the occurrence. You even see it further in Leviticus chapter 24, if you turn over there for a minute, in verses 17 through 22, there's another explanation of those things that happens. Verse 17, whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death, life for life. Verse 19, if a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor as he has done, so shall it be done to him. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done. The consequence is Or the point being made is that whatever the extent of the harm, the individual who is responsible needs to then uphold and support that individual so they take ownership and see what has happened and the costliness of the matter. Interestingly enough, in Deuteronomy chapter 19, the same point is made, and yet in this context, it's if someone would come into a court of law and they would then bear false witness, seeking to utilize the courts itself in order to then bring about judgment, and affliction on the person. And so they would then bring false accusations against another as witnesses were called to affirm or deny the truth. And furthermore, as priests and judges would determine the validity of the arguments. Moses then notes that if one is bearing false witness in a court of law, whatever judgments they were seeking upon the defendant, Those judgments would then come upon them. What is the Bible noting here? It's ultimately showing us that the point isn't do unto others as you want in light of how they behave towards you. It's ultimately taking out the importance of justice. from taking it out of our hands and putting it into the hands of God and the system that he has established. And yet, Jesus helps us see that there is so much more to this. You see, our tendency is very much to just simply look at things on the surface and go, yep, I can live by that, that's easy. I'll mind my own business, and if I mind my own business, I won't be minding anyone else's, and so I won't get in trouble, and everything will be a-okay in my life. But the meaning, the significance, the importance of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth goes far beyond just keeping your nose clean and staying out of trouble. Because notice what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. You've heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not to resist an evil person. Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak too. And anyone compels you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to him who asks you and from him who wants to borrow from you. Do not turn away. Why is Jesus saying all this? Well, it's because even though the truth in the Old Testament was clear, as tradition became the means or the grid by which the statements were interpreted, the tradition and interpretation down through the ages completely became far, far different than what was originally given. It happened in this way. Yes, it's true that as it pertains to the punitive damages for life, we don't touch that. But everything else is fair game. The Pharisees and the scribes basically said, as it pertains to life, yeah, let the courts handle that. But anything leading up to that line of life, that's ours. We're in charge of that. And therefore what? Well, if they insult us, we'll insult them. If we've given up money in order to support them and help them and they haven't followed the letter of the law, we're coming after them and we're going to take them for all they got. If we're asked to do certain things that we don't want to do, we'll figure a way to get out of it. And lastly, We'll be generous, but we'll make it miserable for those who receive our generosity. Notice how Jesus brings that out. The first point is simply this, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also. Now there's something that you need to note here. I won't demonstrate this. But in order for someone to slap you on the right cheek, this isn't just simply, you know, one of those face slaps in the rom-com where the guy does something terrible and the gal gets him. This is something that is insulting. This is taking the backhand and by the one with the backhand of their right hand coming against the right cheek of the other. In the mind of the Jews, such action was viewed in disdain. This was insulting. This was insulting for insults. It was so much so that the Jews noted that if one was slapped, you'd have to pay one price, but if it was a backhanded slap, then you got to receive twice as much. The point here isn't just simply you got smacked in the face, but you were insulted, you were embarrassed, and all the world was able to see this embarrassment that came upon you. And Jesus says, even in the midst of this happening, don't seek personal vengeance for yourself in order to make things right. Leave it to God. The individual of borrowing money or loaning money And he notes, if anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let them have your cloak also. Jesus is noting that there's basically two layers of clothes that the Jews would wear. There was an inner garment and there was an outer garment. And if one needed money, he would borrow from another. And as he borrowed, he would give his coat, his outer garment to the individual at the beginning of the day to note, I'm going to make it right with you. But if he didn't have money to pay by the end of the day, the individual who had loaned the money was to return the garment to him so that the individual then wouldn't go cold in the middle of the night. The individuals had to meet each day twice a day in order then to give the garment and then in order to give it back. And yet the individual who may ultimately have this garment who gets tired of an individual who owes him money may eventually say, that's it, I'm taking you for all you got because the time has come for you to pay up. And what does Jesus say? If they say that you owe them money, and if they say it's still out there, what's the value or importance of it? Let it go. The Romans had a rule that noted that anyone in Roman authority could compel an individual who is a citizen of the territory that they oversaw. They could require them to have to carry any sort of burden, any sort of package or baggage for up to one mile. And Jesus says, don't just go one, go two. Think about this. This was the country that had overtaken their home. They were disdained, they were hated. This was those who was the occupier and consequently the citizens were refusing and just filled with all sorts of angst that this government would ask them to do this sort of thing in order to remind them and to show them that they're still occupied and under the authority of another country. What would be the tendency? Retaliation? To resist and run? To give some sort of speech that noted, well, you didn't rightfully come and occupy the territory, and therefore, according to section so-and-so, I don't really owe this to you. You could comply, but then you could grumble and complain the whole time. Oh, you stupid Roman, why do I have to care? Why do you have to have so much stuff? What's wrong with you? Can't you travel lightly? And yet what does Jesus say? Go with them. Don't just go with them, go with them as far as is necessary in order to support them and to help. And lastly, someone who's in need, give without expecting anything to come back. What's the point? The point is that it is very easy for us to think that on the one hand we're abiding and following after this rule of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth because we're allowed the court system to do what is necessary in our lives. And yet Jesus is showing us that the extent of this is so much more and so much greater. Think about this for a moment. How many of you like to one-up people in conversations? How many of you like to use backhanded compliments in order to get at another person? Some examples of backhanded compliments might be, it's really difficult to underestimate you. You look really nice in this light. Another light, not so much. But this light, your wife isn't half as lucky as you are. You're not as dumb as you look. You're fast for your size. Now we might not use these and some of these might be such that you would go, hey, could you repeat number four again? That was a good one. But what's the point? Jesus notes that if one strikes you on the right, you strike, allow them to strike on the left. When they begin to insult and put you down and they begin to say things that undercut you and that affect your perspective, we don't immediately use our words as weapons in order to come against them because that's us then taking vengeance in our own hands to undercut them with our words. and consequently it becomes an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. How about in the context of driving? Some individual cuts you off so that you have to slam on your brakes. They still don't understand how to stop at a four-way stop and you've had it and so you are then going to chase them and teach them a lesson or two as to what it means to obey and respect the rules of the road. And so you might even then speed up, follow after them, chase after them for a few miles until finally you can get out in front of them and you can cut them off. That's violating an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Jesus' call to us is are we going to be peacemakers or are we going to be war makers? Are we going to engage in battle and confrontation or are we going to engage in an aspect that manifests an understanding of the call that God sets before us to love our neighbor as ourself? And yet, most importantly, how did God live out this principle? How did God live out the principle of an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth? Well, number one, what happened in the garden? Immediately after Adam's sin, did God come with judgment so that they were wiped out forevermore from the face of the earth? God calls out, Adam, where are you? And he graciously interacts with them, not taking an aspect of personal vengeance, although he is the just judge could have, but rather he displays grace and mercy, even in the midst of severe consequence. Number two, God demonstrates that he's willing to uphold his justice through the offering of his son, Jesus Christ, so that the son then might fulfill the punitive damages that were due on us on him, so that the extension of kindness could be met. Even as the requirement of an eye and a tooth was set upon us, God graciously did not impose that on us, but set it upon his son. So that through the Lord Jesus Christ, we might be the beneficiaries of God's wonderful actions of love and mercy. Number three, Jesus himself lived out this whole principle at the end of his life. You recall, for example, that he was arrested in the garden, and under the time of arrest, Judas comes to him in order to betray him. And as he looks at Judas, knowing that one's intentions, he calls him friend. He doesn't look at him and say, you reprobate who's filled with the evil one, how dare you come here? He says, my friend, why have you come? And even as Peter pulls out his sword in order to cut off the ear of the servant, Jesus says, if you live by the sword, you will die by it. And he immediately picks up the ear and he resets it and brings full and complete healing. He doesn't take vengeance into his hands against Judas or anyone who's a part of the capture party, but instead he shows a deference to the living holy God in his trial. Various soldiers come in order to strike him on the cheek, asking him to prophesy who he is and what would be accomplished. And yet in fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 50, Jesus himself gives his back and his cheeks to not hide his face, but instead underwent shame and misery. The one came to the perfect Lamb of God in order to question Him, in order to harass Him, in order to doubt Him, in order to strike at Him, in order to cause His great suffering, and yet He came to the slaughter as a Lamb who was dumb. Because He submitted Himself to the justice of God, trusting the work of His heavenly Father in His life. Even while on the cross, They gambled for his garments, which he let go. And they insulted him and harassed him relentlessly by means of scripture and challenges from his life. And yet in all of that, he cried out and he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And because Jesus was willing to undergo arrest and trial and crucifixion, he satisfied the demand of the eyes and the teeth that were upon you so that then God's wrath would be met and you could be the recipient of grace and love. And so as those who have received these benefits, what say you? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth means that you deal with difficulty in life, you deal with harassment, you deal with hardship, you deal with hurts on a personal level, and you turn those over to God. It doesn't mean that you can't address things properly in the courts. It doesn't mean that you can't seek out justice where justice needs to be found. But it does mean that in the offenses of the day-to-day, in the circumstances of the week-to-week, in the grind of living with sinners. We bear patiently, we uphold those things that are good, we manifest the fruit of the Spirit for the glory of God, and we use our lives as a living example of the Lord Jesus Christ to those around us so that they may see grace and mercy at work, not the demands of self or certainty. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, Teach us to let go of our personal interest and desires and our seeking out to make things right because we're just set on us. And instead, cause us to let go, to deny self. to see how the mind of Christ our Savior may be in us and at work through us, so that all around would see him in us. We pray that you would accomplish this work, even as we pray, saying, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.