20260615 RETALIATION VS LAW OF GRACE
15 June 2026, Monday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | 1 Kings 21:1-16 |
Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard and Jezebel has him killed
Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard close by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, and Ahab said to Naboth, ‘Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it adjoins my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give you its worth in money.’ But Naboth answered Ahab, ‘The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors!’
Ahab went home gloomy and out of temper at the words of Naboth of Jezreel, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.’ He lay down on his bed and turned his face away and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came to him. ‘Why are you so dispirited’ she said ‘that you will not eat?’ He said, ‘I have been speaking to Naboth of Jezreel; I said: “Give me your vineyard either for money or, if you prefer, for another vineyard in exchange.” But he said, “I will not give you my vineyard.”’ Then his wife Jezebel said, ‘You make a fine king of Israel, and no mistake! Get up and eat; cheer up, and you will feel better; I will get you the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel myself.’
So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, sending them to the elders and nobles who lived where Naboth lived. In the letters she wrote, ‘Proclaim a fast, and put Naboth in the forefront of the people. Confront him with a couple of scoundrels who will accuse him like this, “You have cursed God and the king.” Then take him outside and stone him to death.’
The men of Naboth’s town, the elders and nobles who lived in his town, did what Jezebel ordered, what was written in the letters she had sent them. They proclaimed a fast and put Naboth in the forefront of the people. Then the two scoundrels came and stood in front of him and made their accusation, ‘Naboth has cursed God and the king.’ They led him outside the town and stoned him to death. They then sent word to Jezebel, ‘Naboth has been stoned to death.’ When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, ‘Get up! Take possession of the vineyard which Naboth of Jezreel would not give you for money, for Naboth is no longer alive, he is dead.’ When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel and take possession of it.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 5:2-3,5-7 |
Give heed to my groaning, O Lord.
To my words give ear, O Lord,
give heed to my groaning.
Attend to the sound of my cries,
my King and my God.
Give heed to my groaning, O Lord.
You are no God who loves evil;
no sinner is your guest.
The boastful shall not stand their ground
before your face.
Give heed to my groaning, O Lord.
You hate all who do evil;
you destroy all who lie.
The deceitful and bloodthirsty man
the Lord detests.
Give heed to my groaning, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 5:38-42 |
Offer the wicked man no resistance
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.’
RETALIATION VS LAW OF GRACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 21:1-16; Ps 5:2-3, 5-7; Mt 5:38-42]
There is this innate sense of justice in every human person. This is why those who advocate moral relativism contradict themselves. The fact that we all desire justice, which is truth and fairness, presupposes morality exists, that is knowing of what is right and wrong. Otherwise, we cannot speak about justice. The foundation of justice is truth, but if truth is relative, there is no way for us to determine what is just. We do not need any great philosopher or theologian or an intellectual to understand or know what is right or wrong. Deep in our hearts, we know what is wrong when our rights have been violated. This is because God has put the faculty of conscience in our hearts. Otherwise, we cannot speak of evil or that something is wrong or right. Of course, we can numb our conscience as that is what moral relativism seeks to do.
So, justice is demanded when we feel our rights and dignity have been violated. But there is also that vindictiveness in us when we demand redress. We also have the perversion of seeing those who have caused us to suffer being punished with the same suffering we went through. This is the law of retaliation. This is an ancient law, which guides the legal system even today. In the Old Testament, Moses decreed “If any harm follows, then 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 21:23f) It is within this context that this law was cited by our Lord in today’s Gospel.
In fairness, this law of retaliation was given to ensure justice for all, regardless of who we are. Justice must be dispensed in a fair manner. Hence, the principle of retaliation, “an eye for an eye” is supposed to guide the judgement in not imposing a punishment or retribution that is more than what the offender deserves for his crime. Otherwise, punishment becomes subjective and can even be excessive in comparison to the crime the person has committed. In some countries today, some laws and punishment are still archaic and considered harsh, such as public shaming, caning, physical maiming or even the death penalty especially for some non-life-threatening offences.
Nevertheless, this principle of retaliation was never meant to be used for personal vengeance. Unfortunately, individuals assume it as their inalienable right when seeking retribution and revenge. There are many people who take it upon themselves to be the judge and the executor. They would use this principle to hurt those who hurt them. If they are slandered, they will take the law into their own hands and find ways to destroy the reputation of others. If they have been cheated, they will find ways and means to cheat them in return. It is a tit-for-tat principle. Unabashedly, some world leaders also follow this principle. Instead of going through the proper legal process to redress the apparent injustices they suffered, they use slander, unsubstantiated accusations, force, power, threats and manipulation to get back at those countries that pose a threat to their power, their supremacy and national interests.
But this is not the way of the Gospel. It was never the way even of the Old Testament. On the contrary, the Bible also exhorts us not to take vengeance. Moses commanded, “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbour, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Lev 19:17f) St Paul told the Christians, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'” Then citing from the book of Proverbs, he said, “No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:19-21; Prov 25:21f)
The way forward in transforming the world is not through war, retaliation and vengeance. It is through the way of non-violence and non-retaliation. This is what the Lord is asking of His disciples. We must never stoop so low as to overcome evil with evil, righting a wrong with another wrong. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye, makes the whole world go blind.” Jesus said to His disciples, “You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.”
This principle of non-retaliation is what the Gospel is all about. Christianity is about grace, mercy and compassion. What Jesus taught at the Sermon on the Mount was how He lived out His teaching. In the face of His enemies, He never retaliated but in meekness accepted His innocent suffering. In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:9-11)
St Peter exhorted the Christians to do the same, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (1 Pt 2:21-25) It is because of Christ’s vicarious and innocent suffering that we are touched and moved by God’s love, mercy and compassion for us. Or as St Paul wrote, “while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-9)
We, who have received the grace and mercy of God rather than His vengeance and punishment for our sins, must now do the same. We must extend the same forgiveness to our enemies as well, since God has forgiven us. St Peter challenges us, “For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.” (1 Pt 2:19f) Through our forgiveness and non-retaliation, our enemies will eventually be won over by our love. We cannot conquer our enemies with greater infliction. They will only react by hurting us all over again in return. This was the case of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. When they did not get what they wanted even when it was not their right, they retaliated by causing Naboth to die. We cannot win evil by evil, only by love and forgiveness. This is the way our Lord has shown us and there is no other way. Like Jesus, only by our wounds can we heal the pain of our enemies.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
