Mt 5:38-42
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. 40If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. 41Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. 42Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
AN EYE FOR AN EYE: The phrase “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is Matthew’s abridgement of Old Testament texts like this one from Exodus: “If injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Ex 21:23-25; see also Lv 24:19f). This command is often called jus talionis or “right of the talion,” that is, the punishment exacts a penalty corresponding in kind to the crime. Far from being a “law of the jungle” where savage justice reigns, the jus talionis is not an incitement to revenge. Rather it puts a limitation upon the custom of unrestricted revenge where the wrongdoer is not the only one destroyed but also those connected with him.
Jesus asks his followers to live by an even higher law. When he tells them to “offer no resistance to one who is evil” (v 39), he is advising them against responding to evil in a spirit of hatred and revenge. To turn the other cheek means to act for the good of the one who inflicted the injury, and to take a positive step toward healing. Evil can be overcome not by evil but by good.
Jesus’ way is a reversal of the old law which allows one to respond to violence in the same vein. But this only gives rise to sinful action and leads to a more complicated situation or a spiral of violence. In repudiating the old teaching, Jesus puts forward a “new righteousness” based on compassion and love.