Jesus preached 'turning the other cheek'.
Let us be quite clear - if the Lex Talionis was right before Jesus then it must have been so during and after his earthly ministry. If this is not the case, then God is unequivocally not "The same yesterday, today and for ever."
Wherefore such an inconsistency in Judeo-Christian teaching?
Why such a terrible contradiction?
The misunderstanding is one which is largely a modern creation. For reasons incomprehensible, the 'liberal left' have no belief in the fundamental societal principle of 'let the punishment fit the crime'. It is anathema to them.
The Lex Talionis showed society just how it should respond to judicial punishments: fairness; evenhandedness; protection of the community; vindication; obviating the need for revenge by individuals.
This is the essence of the question - The Old Testament tells people how to run a society with fundamental principles.
Who could possibly believe that Jesus would have wished to abolish that?
The misunderstanding lies in the basic failure to grasp that Jesus's ministry was largely targeted at individuals! This is the real difference between the testaments.
Liberals who fail to understand this will run to the story of 'the woman taken in adultery' - a false hope for their case, if ever there was one and sadly, this is pretty much their best shot.
(Look up the story by using the search engine on this Blog.)
A secondary failure is that the liberals are singularly unaware of the distinction between punishments for crimes against society and for crimes against God. There is, of course, a considerable overlap.
You must be answerable to society for crimes against your fellow man and answerable to God for your crimes against Him. These are otherwise known as sin.
How can people who must believe that the ultimate spiritual punishment is Hell - or not be a Christian at all - are unable to believe that society has been tasked with dealing with wrongdoing on a much tinier scale?
Christianity is about balance: for Society; for Man; for The Universe. It is what God has willed.
God offers no respite from the Justice He has tasked to Mankind. Through the blood of God the Son, we may be saved from Hell - but we always remain answerable to earthly justice.
Romans 12 makes little sense in a context of unchecked lawlessness. Revenge should never be the goal of Man - fairness alone.
A proper balance occurs when people know that society has taken all need for vengeance out of their hands.
We are adjured not to 'avenge ourselves'. Retribution (never revenge) is the sacred task of leaders and governments.
Our job is to forgive. In a proper context that is easy.
Amongst all of our lawless godlessness - it is horrendously difficult. (Read the updated version of 'The Unassuming Assassin' by Les Arnott - shortly to be re-released by Steel City Press, Sheffield, for an examination of these issues.)
A society cannot function when it permits crime to run unchecked. It is the duty of our leaders to protect us.
Under-punishing is not merely a cause of social damage, it is a moral requirement - shunned.
