Repay no one evil for evil.” —Romans 12:17 ESV
If ever there were a Biblical character whose name became the personification of retaliation, it would be Lamech. He was the son of old Methuselah and the father of righteous Noah, but his imprint on history was less noble than either of theirs. He told his wives one day, “I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”1 Wow! Whatever happened to justice—“an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”? This was “death for an ‘owie.’” It was vengeance masquerading as justice, retaliation supplanting retribution.
“Seven times . . . seventy-seven times”—we’ve heard these before, haven’t we? Yes, they recall Peter’s inquiry of Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against me and I still forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.”2 I cannot help but think that, in invoking Lamech’s 7/77 language, Jesus not only answered Peter’s question directly, but did so also in such a way as to expose the pettiness of revenge amid the glory of grace. Moreover, it was consistent with this from Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount: “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”3 We struggle with this radical departure from the ways of the world, and our core instinct is to massage Jesus’ words to our liking. Peter, however, took Jesus at face value, writing later, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing.”4
For this is exactly what Jesus did. Upon the arrest that would lead to His crucifixion, He said to Peter, “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?”5 Jesus could have retaliated in unknowable measure. But instead, He prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”6 His tormentors did not ask for forgiveness, but Jesus loved them anyway—He loved them through boundless grace. He was where retaliation came to die that day. May it die with us this day, as well.
“Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.” —Proverbs 20:22 ESV
Father, deliver us from evil. If we are wronged, lead us not into temptation to retaliate, but fill us with the power of your Spirit—the power to forgive. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Genesis 4:23-24 NIV
2 Matthew 18:21-22 NIV
3 Matthew 5:39-41 ESV
4 1 Peter 3:9 NIV
5 Matthew 26:53 NLT
6 Luke 23:34 NIV
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