Supposedly
Mahatma Gandhi was the originator of the famous line, "An eye for an eye
makes the whole world blind." Well, obviously he was borrowing from (and
denying) the Bible... much like Satan did in Eden. The eternally wise God of
heaven was the originator of the "eye for an eye" principle of
justice. Essentially God was advocating equality in punishments. Even today we understand that punishment for
a crime should fit the crime itself.
That was the root of what God was teaching through Moses.
The
concept of exact reciprocity serves two primary functions in human society.
First, it prevents injustices by limiting those who are in authority. A
standard of mirror punishments prevents the powers that be from allowing their
passions or biases to taint their judgment in a way that would result in overkill
in their attempts at the execution of justice. Second, it also bars the
miscarriage of justice by requiring fair retribution even in cases where a
judge might tend toward leniency. Chronic leniency can eventually evolve into
anarchy and amorality (Ecclesiastes 8:11). So, "an eye for an eye" is
indeed a very fair, just and righteous adage.
But,
is justice the only objective in God's heart? Hardly! He also values mercy
(Romans 3:25-26 & Psalm 85:10). Strangely, despite Gandhi's unregenerate
station, the Mahatma was actually (and inadvertently) on to something
legitimate. He saw the ineptitude of "The Law" to ultimately fix
humanity... but, he missed the true solution. The solution is Jesus. Jesus came
and preached a higher principle (Matthew 5:38-42) He didn't deny or destroy the
law. In fact, He fulfilled it to the max. When Jesus died on the cross he
epitomized God's demand for exact reciprocity. Yet, in doing so He ushered in a
better way. Jesus replaced the "eye for an eye" principle with a
“turn the other check” principle.
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