Turning the Other Cheek

Is it a capital offense when someone lies or a man steals in order to feed his family? The heathen nations were ruled by callous men and most crimes resulted in death. Under the leadership of Moses, Jesus gave the nation of Israel criminal laws that were fair and caused the malicious perpetrator to suffer the same loss as the injured party.

There was no vigilante justice as all criminal activities were settled within the court system. When Jesus was incarnated some 1,500 years later, He had no intention of altering the existing system, but He did want to change the way people interacted with one another, specifically if someone slapped you in the face or if you were taken to court by an adversary.

Our Lord also knew there would be conflicts among Christians and so He set up a system to handle such grievances internally within the church. The sad thing is that many churches are corrupt; money and influence will determine a church trial, and thus most Christians cannot settle their disputes in the manner prescribed by Jesus.