Revenge

You may have heard the story of Moby Dick, the great white whale which swam the Seven Seas, and which Ahab, the whaling captain, had sworn to kill because it was through Moby Dick that he lost a leg.  And so he hunted for Moby Dick, year after year, in order to get his revenge, until at last he found him again.

The idea of revenge, of getting one’s own back or getting even, is a very old human instinct.  In the early days of the Jewish people they had a law that, if someone killed another, even accidentally, then the slayer had to be killed by the nearest relative of the dead person. You can well see that if this law took its course every time, many innocent people would suffer.

Refuge and ‘sanctuary’

Cities of Refuge

So they fixed six Cities of Refuge, as they were called, to which people, who had killed someone by accident, could flee.  The cities were arranged so that there were three on the west side of the River Jordan, one in the north, one in the centre and one in the south; and three more, opposite to these, on the east side.  Wherever you were in the country you would never be more than 30 miles from one or other of these cities, so you could get there in a day.  When slayers took refuge in one of these cities, they were first of all tried and, if they were found innocent, were allowed to live there for a certain time, after which they could return home (Numbers 35:9-28).

Sanctuary

When the Roman Empire took Christianity as the State religion, certain churches were set apart in Christian countries to provide a safe place – a ‘sanctuary’ – for people in trouble with the law.  It was intended to give shelter for people who were innocent, weak or misunderstood.  Dragging people out of the sanctuary was a very serious offence, punished with whipping, heavy fines, expulsion from the Church or even death.  Sanctuaries as shelters for people accused of crime were finally done away with in England in 1697.  But you can still see evidence in some churches and cathedrals today.  For example, in Durham Cathedral there is a large door knocker – the sanctuary knocker – used by people who wanted sanctuary. (1) (2)

Eye for an eye

Another law to see that no one took an unjust revenge was the law of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  That is to say, if people injured someone on purpose, then as a punishment they were made to suffer the same injury themselves.  So the law ran, “…eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (NRSV, Exodus 21:24,25) (Matthew 5:38).

Love your enemies

But Jesus had no room for private revenge.  In place of the law of just revenge, he put the law of love and goodwill: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (NRSV, Matthew 5:43,44).  You notice that Jesus says, “Love your enemies” and not “Like your enemies”.  For by love he means an active goodwill.  We are not expected to like everybody, but we are expected to want what is best for everybody.

The example of Jesus

The true example of Jesus’ teaching, “Love your enemies”, is of course Jesus himself.  You will remember that when Jesus was about to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, St Peter slashed out with a sword and cut off the right ear of a servant of the high priest, called Malchus.  And Jesus touched the wound and healed him.  And a few hours later, when his enemies had got him at last and he was being nailed to the Cross, he prayed for them and said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (NRSV, Luke 23:34).

St Stephen prayed for his enemies

And such an attitude has always been the mark of the true follower of Jesus.  So when Stephen, the first martyr, was being stoned to death, he prayed for his enemies, “”Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (NRSV, Acts 7:60).

Early Christians cared for plague sufferers

Again, in the early days of the Church, when the Christians were being persecuted, it happened that a plague broke out in a certain town.  The pagans left their friends and relations, who had caught the plague, to look after themselves, while they hurried out into the surrounding countryside and camped out there in order to lessen the chance of their catching it.  But the Christians all stayed behind and went round the houses nursing their enemies whose own relations had deserted them.  The reason why these Christians acted like that was that Jesus had told them to love their enemies, which meant doing good to them, and so what the Christians did, they did for Jesus. (3)

St Martin of Tours, AD 316-397

Let’s end with a famous incident in the life of St Martin of Tours.  Martin was 17 years old at the time, and was a soldier in the Roman army.  He was also a catechumen, that is, he was under instruction for Baptism and Confirmation.  One bitterly cold winter’s night, as he was riding back to the barracks on his horse, he saw at the gate of the city a poor, starving beggar, with nothing to protect him from the biting cold.  Martin could not give him any money, because he had already given away his last coin.  So he took his warm, full military cloak, and with his sword cut it in two.  One half he gave to the beggar, the other half he put round his own shoulders like a cape.  That night he had a dream, and in the dream there appeared to him Jesus, clad in the half of the cloak which he had given to the beggar.  And Jesus looked at him and said. “Martin, who is but a catechumen, has covered me with his garment”.  So what Martin did for the beggar, he did for Jesus himself.

And this applies still more when we help our fellow Christians in trouble.  Indeed, Jesus has told us that if we feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and visit the sick, we do it as for him.  “…just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (NRSV, Matthew 25:40).  And if we do not help such people in trouble, it is as if we did not help him.

SUMMARY

1. To love my neighbour means to bear goodwill to everyone, and to treat all other people well, no matter whether we like them or they like us.

2. Jesus has told us that, if we help people in distress, it is as if we helped him

References

1. Penstone, M.M. (1911) Church study, London: National Society.

2. Jusserand, J.J. (1920) English wayfaring life in the Middle Ages, London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd.

3. Pontius the Deacon (3rd century A.D.) The life and passion of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr.  Available from: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iv.iii.html  (Accessed 20 August 2010) (Internet).