Growing Up
The Lenten journey is an invitation for growing up. To move from adolescence into a more mature version of one’s self. No matter which aspect of life one might choose for growing, it impacts and shapes all of life.
A big growth engine for me is the move away from basic, dualistic thinking. It’s either this or that, my side or their side, tit for tat and quid-pro-quo marching orders. Can you hear the echo of your childhood in this, “But they hit me first!” They started it or said this or did that, so retaliation in a me versus them ideology is the only answer, correct?
Of course not. There is, to the detriment of our thirst for vengeance, a reconciling third way. That pesky Jesus was always revealing a fresh, better response to the chants of “an eye for an eye.”
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ “ You have heard that, yes? It was originally a law, a command within the Torah. You can call it Biblical. So even up to today, people quote it to justify retaliation and an Us versus Them worldview.
But Jesus doesn't affirm this. Which would be a bit shocking to his original audience. Because Jesus knows that it was originally intended to lessen violence, not justify it.
Shortly before he made this statement, he said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” We briefly touched on this earlier, and we ought to bring ourselves back to it again and again. Jesus is constantly drawing out the heart of the Law and the Prophets, not just sticking to the static rule. Jesus is inviting us to have a pliable heart, challenging the listener to be stretched and to grow. To mature.
Yes, an eye for eye asked people, back then, to move beyond the extreme of, “You took out the eye of my servant, I’ll burn down your entire farm.” Let’s put in a law that makes the punishment equal to the crime, that was the original intent. But it was never intended to be the end all be all, as Jesus so beautifully states.
Jesus will continue by inviting his listeners to not simply retaliate or just walk away. Jesus calls us to find a brilliant, subversive third way of reconciliation. Jesus invites us to the difficult work of wrestling and working for peace. This is a hard word for people who are used to winning, conquering, and standing on the top of the mountain. We do have the most weapons and the biggest weapons, so fighting is often the knee jerk reaction.
But that also reveals a lack of imagination and creativity. Honestly, war is often just plain lazy.
As we follow Jesus in this Lenten season, we need to be clear where we are following him to. Jesus is walking the way of sacrificial love. Jesus is not employing a giant military and riding into battle on a white horse, he is walking the way of love, which is the path of descent.
May we continue this journey in humility, covered in the dust from the footsteps of Jesus.
