What is the difference between justice and vengeance? In Exodus, we find a seemingly fair justice system that dispenses a punishment that is equal to the crime. It is described as “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. Basically, whatever the victim lost, the attacker should also lose. That justice was to be handed out by a judge or ruling authority. It becomes vengeance only when the victim tries to equal the score with their attacker themselves. If carried out to the extreme, that would create a world full of blind, toothless humans without any positive results.
In this world Christians will come under attack, just like Jesus. In our country those attacks are usually verbal; false accusations and false name calling or labels with some rare violent attacks. In other parts of the world the attacks are often violent and even deadly. When we are attacked and wounded emotionally or even physically, our natural reaction is to launch a counter attack to hurt the attacker, but is that a Christian response? If not, why?
First, when I am wounded, hurting someone else, even my attacker, will not stop the bleeding or ease my pain – it will simply make me one of them. That is their real goal to bring me back down to their level and prove that Christians are no different than they are. If I fall into their trap, I not only will still be in pain, but I will lose my Christian witness in the process as well
This is the very different way God’s word teaches us to get revenge without damaging our Christian witness or our relationship with God. “If your enemies are hungry give them food to eat. If they are thirsty give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads and the Lord will reward you.” (Proverbs 25:21-22) Paul quoted that scripture passage in Romans 12:20.
Even more important for Christians, is for us to follow Jesus’ teaching and example. As always, Jesus raises the bar even higher for us. We are to love our enemies, even those who have hurt us. He demonstrated that kind of love when He asked His Father to forgive those who called for His death sentence and even the Roman soldiers who carried it out. He took upon Himself the sins of the world, including their sins when they believe in Him. We are encouraged to forgive our enemies as God has forgiven us. The difference is that when we forgive, it is for our own benefit and not for the one forgiven. Only God can forgive someone’s sins and give them new life. Only God can forgive and forget sins.
I think the best example Jesus gives us about handling rejection and mistreatment is in His instructions to His disciples when He sent them out in pairs to share His message. When any village rejected them, they were told to shake the dust from their feet and move on to the next one. What happens when we forgive and move on is that we free ourselves from the pain and rejection and leave it all behind us as we move forward in service for our heavenly Father – even the tiny remnants of that pain clinging to the bottom of our feet. That is the source of true healing. The last line of a quote found written on Mother Teresa’s wall in Calcutta says it all. “It has never been between you and them anyway. It has always been between you and God.” God bless each and every one of you who are reading this post.