Better understanding the Gospel

with Marie-Noëlle Thabut

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”: “(then) you will be children of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” One is tempted to say, “What a program!” And yet, this is our vocation; if we reread the entire Bible, it clearly appears as the story of humanity’s conversion as it gradually learns to master its violence. This is not without difficulty, but God is patient, since for him, as Saint Peter says, “A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). God educates his people slowly, patiently, as Deuteronomy says: “As a father trains his son, so the Lord your God trains you” (Deuteronomy 8:5). This slow extirpation of violence from the human heart is expressed figuratively from the very beginning in the Book of Genesis: violence is presented there as a form of animality; Let me return to the story of the Garden of Eden: God had invited Adam to name the animals, which symbolizes his supremacy over all creatures. And God had indeed conceived Adam as the king of creation: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over every creeping thing that moves along the ground” (Genesis 1:26). And Adam himself recognized his difference, his superiority: “So the man gave names to all the animals, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:20). Humankind found no equal.

Two chapters later, we have the story of Cain and Abel. When Cain is seized by a mad urge to kill, God tells him, “Sin is crouching at your door. It lies in wait, but you must rule over it.” And from this first murder, the biblical text shows the proliferation of vengeance (Genesis 4:1-26). This means that, from the very first chapters of the Bible, violence is acknowledged; it exists, but it is exposed, compared to an animal: a violent person no longer deserves to be called human. The biblical texts will therefore undertake the difficult conversion of the human heart.

This undertaking can be broken down into stages; let us focus on the first: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:24). In response to the appalling record of Lamech (Genesis 4:23), the great-grandson of Cain, who boasted of killing men and children to avenge mere scratches, the law introduced an initial limitation: a single tooth for a tooth, not the entire jawbone; a single life for a life, not an entire village in retaliation. The law of retaliation thus already represented a definite step forward, even if it still seems meager to us.

THE SLOW CONVERSION OF THE HEART OF MAN

The pedagogy of the prophets constantly addresses the problem of violence; however, it encounters a significant psychological obstacle: the person who chooses not to seek revenge believes they are losing their honor. The biblical texts thus reveal to humanity that true honor lies elsewhere; it consists precisely in resembling God, who is "kind to the ungrateful and wicked."

The discourse of Jesus, which we read this Sunday, is the last stage of this education: from the law of retaliation, we have moved to the call to gentleness and selflessness, to perfect gratuity; he insists: twice, at the beginning and at the end, he says "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you"... "love your enemies, do good and lend without expecting anything in return."

So the ending is a bit of a surprise; up until now, if it wasn't easy, at least it was logical: God is merciful and invites us to imitate him; and then the last lines seem to change tone: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you… a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Have we gone back to quid pro quo?

Of course not, since it is Jesus who speaks; quite simply, he shows us a very reassuring path: to no longer fear being judged, let us simply refrain from judging, from condemning others. Judge actions, but never people; establish the reign of kindness. Then fraternal relationships will never be broken.

As for the phrase "Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High," it speaks of the wonder discovered by those who obey the Christian ideal of gentleness and forgiveness, that is, the profound transformation that takes place within them: because they have opened the door to the Spirit of God, the Spirit dwells within them and inspires them more and more; and, little by little, they see the promise made by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:26) fulfilled within them: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."