MATTHEW5:38VSLEVITICUS24:201

AneyeforaneyeoneofthemostwellknownyetmisunderstoodquotesintheBible .Jews,
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liberals,evangelicalChristians,atheist,agnostics,andMuslimsallholdtheirownviews
aboutitsmeaning.PeoplehaveatendencytojudgeBiblepassagesbytheir
preconceptions,worldview,andgroupaffiliation.Thedangerinthatisourpreconceptions
canblindusfromseeingwhattheoriginalauthorsoftheBiblewereintendingtosay.The
questionisnothowdoyoufeelaboutaneyeforaneyeasbeingaprincipleforthe
punishmentofcrime,thequestioniscanyousetasideyourfeelingstoexaminethetextin
contexttoseewhatweretheauthorstrueintentions?

OnthesurfacelevelitmayseemlikecertainNewTestamentquotesofJesuscontradict
certainversesfromtheOldTestament.Thepointofthispostistoshowthatisnottrueand
itisthemisunderstandingofthemodernreader.Iwouldliketodrawyourattentiontotwo
disputedpassages,Matthew5:38andLeviticus24:20.Iwilltellyouupfrontmypositionis
JesusdoesnotcontradictanythingintheMosaicLaw.JesusconfirmstheLaw,hedesired
tofulfillitforhisFather'sglory,whileatthesametimeheinstitutedandnowismediating
theNewCovenant (alsoforhisFather'sglory).AlsoitismypositionthattheOldTestament
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foreshadowedtheMessiahcomingandfulfillingGodsCovenantpromises .
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Iwouldliketoputforwardanumberofimportantpointsdrawnfromscripture:

1. HolinesscodeslikethoseinLeviticus24:20andothersimilarpassagesweregiven
toIsraelbyYahwehwhenhemiraculouslybroughtthemoutofEgypt.Theyserved
thepurposeofsettingIsraelapartfromthepaganculturesinCanaan.Israelagreed
tobeconsecratedtoGodbyobeyingtheLaw,inturntheywouldreceivecertain
blessingswhilelivinginthepromisedland.Alsopartofthatagreementbetween
IsraelandGodwasiftheyfailedtoupholdtheLawtheywouldlosetheirblessings,
andberemovedfromtheland.

2. JesusChrististhesecondpersonoftheTrinityalongwithGodtheFatherandGod
theHolySpirit,theyarethreepersonswithonedivinenature,unitedeternally,one
God.Theydonotactwithanintentionthatisinconflictwitheachother,again
becausetheyareone.ThismeansGodhasonecohesivereasonforrevealing
Leviticus24:20andMatthew5:38.itisnotpossiblefortheSontobeinopposition
toTheFatherortheHolySpirit.

3. TheincarnateSonJesusChristsaidthathecameintotheworldtodohisFathers
will:

John6:38ForIhavecomedownfromheavennottodomywillbuttodothewillof
himwhosentme

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OneexampleisthesayingattributedtoMahatmaGandhiAneyeforaneyewillonlymakethewhole
worldblind
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SeeJeremiah31:31,Ezekiel36:2527,Luke22:20,Hebrews8:6
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SeeHebrews8:45,Luke24:27

MATTHEW5:38VSLEVITICUS24:202
Matthew26:39MyFather,ifitispossible,maythiscupbetakenfromme.Yet
notasIwill,butasyouwill

4. JesussaidthathisteachingwasnotintendedtoopposetheLaw.Infacthemade
thisstatementinthesamesermonthatcontainsMatthew5:38.Whatthismeansis
accordingtoJesusnoneofhisproceedingwordsshouldbeunderstoodtobe
opposingtheLaw,hisonlyintentionwastofulfilltheLawashisFatherwills:

Matthew5:17"DonotthinkthatIcametoabolishtheLawortheProphetsIdidnot
cometoabolishbuttofulfill.

5. JesusbeingGodincarnateintimeandspaceandbynaturetheexpressimageof
GodrevealedtheMosaicLawtoMosesonMountSinai.Godappearedandspoke
facetofacewithmanyintheOldTestamentandthesetheophanies(Appearancesof
God)werethepreincarnateChristJesus :
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John1:18NoonehaseverseenGod,buttheoneandonlySon,whoishimself
GodandisinclosestrelationshipwiththeFather,hasmadehimknown

Colossians1:15HeistheimageoftheinvisibleGod,thefirstbornofallcreation.
ForbyHimallthingswerecreated,bothintheheavensandonearth,visibleand
invisible,whetherthronesordominionsorrulersorauthoritiesallthingshave
beencreatedthroughHimandforHim.

John14:9Jesusanswered:"Don'tyouknowme,Philip,evenafterIhavebeen
amongyousuchalongtime?AnyonewhohasseenmehasseentheFather.
Howcanyousay,'ShowustheFather'?

2Corinthians4:4Thegodofthisagehasblindedthemindsofunbelievers,so
thattheycannotseethelightofthegospelthatdisplaysthegloryofChrist,whois
theimageofGod.

1Corinthians1:14ForIdonotwantyoutobeunaware,brethren,thatourfathers
wereallunderthecloudandallpassedthroughtheseaandallwerebaptizedinto
Mosesinthecloudandintheseaandallatethesamespiritualfoodandall
drankthesamespiritualdrink,fortheyweredrinkingfromaspiritualrockwhich
followedthemandtherockwasChrist.

WiththeseBiblicalpointsestablishedhowshouldweunderstandtheapparenttension
betweenwhatJesussaysinMatthew5:8andwhatMosessaysinLeviticus24:20?A
carefulreadingofthepassagewiththepreviouslymentionedfivepointsfixedinourminds
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InfacttheophaniesarerecordedintheQuranandhadith:seeTheVisionofGodpublishedbytheIbn
ArabiSociety,andTajalliwaRu'ya:AStudyofAnthropomorphicTheophanyandVisioDeiintheHebrew
Bible,theQur'anandEarlySunniIslambyDr.WesleyMuhammad.

MATTHEW5:38VSLEVITICUS24:203
willremoveallconfusion.Firstletuslookatthecontextoftheeyeforaneyestatementin
Leviticus24:

10NowthesonofanIsraelitewoman,whosefatherwasanEgyptian,wentoutamong
thesonsofIsraelandtheIsraelitewomanssonandamanofIsraelstruggledwitheach
otherinthecamp.11ThesonoftheIsraelitewomanblasphemedtheNameandcursed.
SotheybroughthimtoMoses.(NowhismothersnamewasShelomith,thedaughterof
Dibri,ofthetribeofDan.)12TheyputhimincustodysothatthecommandoftheLORD
mightbemadecleartothem.

13ThentheLORDspoketoMoses,saying,14Bringtheonewhohascursedoutsidethe
camp,andletallwhoheardhimlaytheirhandsonhisheadthenletallthecongregation
stonehim.15YoushallspeaktothesonsofIsrael,saying,IfanyonecurseshisGod,
thenhewillbearhissin.16Moreover,theonewhoblasphemesthenameoftheLORD
shallsurelybeputtodeathallthecongregationshallcertainlystonehim.Thealienas
wellasthenative,whenheblasphemestheName,shallbeputtodeath.

17Ifamantakesthelifeofanyhumanbeing,heshallsurelybeputtodeath.18The
onewhotakesthelifeofananimalshallmakeitgood,lifeforlife.19Ifamaninjureshis
neighbor,justashehasdone,soitshallbedonetohim:20fractureforfracture,eyefor
eye,toothfortoothjustashehasinjuredaman,soitshallbeinflictedonhim.21Thus
theonewhokillsananimalshallmakeitgood,buttheonewhokillsamanshallbeput
todeath.22Thereshallbeonestandardforyouitshallbeforthestrangeraswellasthe
native,forIamtheLORDyourGod.23ThenMosesspoketothesonsofIsrael,andthey
broughttheonewhohadcursedoutsidethecampandstonedhimwithstones.Thusthe
sonsofIsraeldid,justastheLORDhadcommandedMoses.

ThereisonestatementinthispassagethatIwouldlikeyoutozeroinon,thatisverse22
whichreads:

Thereshallbeonestandardforyouitshallbeforthestrangeraswellasthenative,forI
amtheLORDyourGod.

Thisverseexplainsthepurposeforthislaw,andwhatitsintentionis.Thepointofthe
passageistofixonestandardofjusticeforthejudgementofcrimesamongthechildrenof
Israel.Thisstandardofjusticeimpliedbythestatementeyeforaneyewastobeapplied
toeveryoneregardlessofwhotheywere.Noexceptionwastobemadejustbecausea
personwasanative,itwouldntmatterifthepersonwhocommittedthecrimewasrich,
poor,alaymanorclergy.Alsothejudgementandthesentencingwereinthehandsofthe
properauthorities.ItwasMoses,Israelsleaderwhohadthemanwhomurderedand
blasphemedhelduntilGodrevealedajudgement,anditwasMoseswhoorderedhis
executioninlinewithGodsword.Inotherwordstherewasnosocalledmobjustice,or
vigilantism,norwasthefamilyofthemanslainallowedtotakevengeanceontheirown.

MATTHEW5:38VSLEVITICUS24:204
WecanseetheTorahhasbeenagreatinfluenceonWesterncivilizationanditsjudicial
system,Leviticus24teachesaprinciplethatlinesupwiththeWesternconceptofjustice
uponcloseexamination.Withthatsaidwemustalsotakeintoaccountthispassageexists
inacontextofotherpassagesaboutGodsexpectationforholinesstobeinthenationof
Israel.Goddemandedthatperfectobedienceofhiscommandsandholinessbea
conditionofthelandCovenantbetweenhimandIsrael .Twopointsneedtobemadehere,
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oneIsraelneverfulfilledtheconditionoftheCovenant,twotheMessiahactingasa
representativeofIsraeldid(Ididnotcometoabolishbuttofulfill...).Thecapitalpunishments
outlinedinLeviticuswereforthecriminalshowingdisdainforGodsCovenantwhichin
realitywasdisdainforGodsholiness.Ithadnothingtodowithironageviolence,andthe
Messiah'sdoctrinewasnotsomereligiousnoveltyopposedtoMoses.

OnefinalpointMatthew5:38isrelatedtotheongoingconflictbetweenJesusandthe
Jewishreligiousauthorities.Ifyoureadthroughthewholesermononthemountyousee
JesusaddressingtheJewishauthorities,referencingthem,andusingtheminanegative
wayinhisparables.OneofthemoststrikingexamplesofthisisMatthew5:20whereJesus
tellshislistenerstheirrighteousnessmustexceedthereligiousauthoritiestoenterthe
kingdomofheaven.Noticethestatementaboutaneyeforeyecomesafterhis
admonishmentaboutthescribesandPharisees,infactthebulkofthesermonMatthew
5:217:27isJesusunpackingthestatementsofMatthew5:1720.Matthew5:38shouldbe
understoodasJesusteachingthecrowdstonotmisusetheLawlikethePhariseesand
otherreligiousauthorities.ThereisnocontradictionbetweenMatthew5:38andLeviticus
24:20,theMessiahandMosesdidnotopposeeachother.

C.LEdwards
CallingMuslims.com,2014

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Aseparatesubjectfrometernalsalvationofthesoul,peopleforexampleAbrahamwhohadrighteousness
creditedtohimbyfaith(Genesis15:6),werereceivingsalvationbeforethiscovenant.