Beyond Revenge
Julián Carrón - We all know how widespread the custom is of paying back an enemy for the damage they have done. The concept of “an eye for an eye” has very ancient origins, but it is a practice that is struggling to die out. It seems an obvious consequence of the need for justice that is in everyone's heart. So we're taken aback when we come across someone who doesn't follow the logic of revenge. “Saul arose, and […] he took three thousand chosen men of Israel, to go to seek David […].”
David and Abishai went down to the people at night, and there Saul lay sleeping […] with his spear stuck in the ground by his head […]. Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now, therefore, I pray, let me strike him with the spear to the ground at one stroke […].” But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him! For who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless?”
As proof that David had Saul within reach to kill him, David took the spear and the jug of water that was by Saul's head and then shouted to Saul: “Here is the king's spear; let one of the servants come and take it!” What made it possible for David not to follow the usual logic of finishing off his enemy? Not only the fear of being punished for having laid his hand on the “Lord's anointed,” but trusting in the one who can truly render justice.
“The Lord will render to each one according to his righteousness and faithfulness, since the Lord has today made you fall into my hands.” But this, even for David, is an exception to common logic. This is confirmed by the fact that when David sees the day of his death approaching, he recommends to his son Solomon to take revenge on his enemies (see 1 Kings 2:1-9).
Accustomed to this logic, it is not difficult for us to understand what the reaction of Jesus' listeners might have been when they heard him say: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” We can understand this because even now, listening to him, we often feel a similar reaction. Was it possible to live up to the demand for justice without revenge?
Wasn't Jesus asking something of people that was unattainable with their strength? We mustn't forget that Jesus is speaking to those he had healed of their illnesses, as we heard last week, who had come to listen to him because of their need for a life they found only in his words, and whom he had called “blessed” because this disposition of theirs had allowed them to participate in the newness of the Kingdom of God. This newness is “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,” which has the capacity to change man at the root. They could have understood, if they had been aware of the gift they received freely in their encounter with Jesus.
So Jesus challenges them to draw the consequences of what they have received, of the grace that has entered their lives: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” But you, who have been so changed by your encounter with me, filled to overflowing by what I have done for you: “Love your enemies, do good to those who do you harm, and pray for those who persecute and slander you, that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
You can be merciful to your enemies because your Father is merciful to you. The novelty that Jesus brings to history introduces a paradigm shift and makes a new way of acting possible. The reason for this possibility, as St. Paul reiterates in the second reading, is that among us there is not only “the first Adam, but the last Adam, who is the giver of life.”
It is this life, brought by the last Adam, Christ, that we need in order not to succumb to the usual logic of vengeance. What is asked for is not only a generous heart, but this life brought by Christ so that his presence may affect us to make us children of the Father who is “kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Only from a heart overflowing with the new life of Christ can love for one's enemy arise. It is not our strength that brings about this newness, but the superabundance of grace alone makes it possible. Those who see it happening will understand this attitude is only possible through grace. This is how He keeps showing men how much He is with us. He also makes us understand that we don’t have to give in to the idea of revenge.
In fact, revenge is too little in comparison to the superabundance of grace that we receive from God in Christ. For this reason, we can free ourselves from this. It is this superabundance of love and mercy that Christ has for us that truly fulfills the need for justice, allowing us to love our enemies and do good without expecting anything in return because our hearts are overflowing with love and gratitude.
The author has not revised the text and its translations.
