The Gospel reading today has some of the most challenging teachings from Jesus in all the Gospels. These words of Jesus are spoken in the context of his discourse concerning love of enemies. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who abuse us. If someone strikes us on one cheek, offer the other one also. If they take away our cloak, we should not withhold our coat as well. To be sure, this does not mean that we should be a doormat and simply allow people to take advantage of us. That is not the takeaway from the teaching of Our Lord. The main takeaway is to always respond to evil with good. This is counterintuitive to our worldly way of thinking and requires that we cultivate a divine sense of justice, that is, to see things from God’s perspective since our human sense of justice is flawed. As human beings, we tend to approach justice transactionally with an understanding of quid pro quo or tit for tat. In other words, you do good to me, and I will do good to you. You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. If you hurt me, I will hurt you. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We tend to approach justice as if it is a zero-sum game.
Yet, as we learn from God the Father Himself, especially through His Son Jesus Christ, this is not the divine approach to justice. Human beings have a limited self-centered perspective that is incapable of grasping divine wisdom. When left to our own devices, we tend towards the perpetuation of evil, violence, hatred, bitterness, wars, and destruction of human life. The zero-sum approach has never and will never achieve a satisfying or lasting justice or peace. Our mere human judgment falls far short of the wisdom of divine judgment. In fact, as St. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of God seems like folly to those who are worldly minded. Christ crucified is a stumbling block to the Jews and is folly to the Gentiles. Yet this “foolishness” of God is wiser than worldly wisdom.
In response to our tendency to pass judgment on others and to condemn them for their sins, Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” When we condemn someone for their wicked actions, we usually desire to inflict some sort of injury on them as punishment for the evil they have done. According to our worldly human wisdom, the person who had done evil must be made to suffer for the evil they have done. Yet, in doing evil to the evildoer, have we not simply perpetuated the cycle of evil? By doing violence to others, even if we can justify the violence according to worldly wisdom, we only serve to continue the very evil that has been perpetrated. We increase bitterness, hatred, and anger. Our thirst for this kind of justice is never satisfied. Doing violence to others does not repair the injury that has been done to us, it only multiplies the injury that is done to others.
As Christians, we are called to transcend this mere human sense of justice and clothe ourselves with the justice of Christ on the Cross. Even St. Therese could see how her own sense of justice is imperfect as she prayed: “In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself.” We can point to many instances throughout the Old Testament where the Lord God could have wiped His people off the face of the earth for their wicked deeds. Yet, the judgment that He issues against His people time and again is mercy. He maintains His merciful covenant and does not remember the sins that His people have committed. He shows them compassion and forgiveness and calls upon them to do likewise, to stop the cycle of violence and hatred. Instead of a worldly, human justice of “quid pro quo” or “tit for tat,” Jesus teaches his disciples generosity by saying, “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” If we choose worldly justice, then when we judge and condemn others, we also will be judged and condemned. On the other hand, if we choose mercy, then not only will we receive mercy in return, but we will also receive an overabundance of mercy: “a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
If we measure out an abundance of judgment and condemnation, then what will be the return on our investment? We will reap what we sow, that is judgment and condemnation. However, if we measure out an abundance of mercy and forgiveness, then we will abound in the mercy of God. This does not mean that people who do evil should not be held accountable. It is good that such people face the wickedness that they have done. However, if we show them mercy in the end, we are acting on our faith in the mercy of God. We show our enemies that Our God is not a God of vengeance, but a God who wills the good of every person. He wishes not the condemnation and death of the sinner, but that the sinner might come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. When we show mercy to others, we choose the wisdom of God’s justice over and above worldly wisdom and justice. Ultimately, when we are faced with those who have injured us and who cannot see the error of their ways, we unite ourselves with Christ on the Cross and pray along with Him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
– Fr. Matthew Mary, MFVA