Jesus and the death penalty

I recently heard a popular talk show host argue that the teachings of Jesus do not support the death penalty. His argument was that the “eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth” command was part of the old dispensation, and Jesus brought in a new way of doing things. While I believe that the talk show host meant well, I feel his conclusions are based on some misconceptions about the relationship between the teachings of Jesus and that of the Old Testament.

The first misconception is the thought that when Jesus said, “eye for an eye” is no longer valid, he meant it for the justice system. The fact is that in His sermon on the mount, Jesus was not addressing the justice system. He addressed individual morality and ethics. Jesus was dealing with how we should treat each other as brothers and sisters, or how we treat our enemies as individuals, but not how the justice system should treat criminals. I make this point for two reasons.

First, the New Testament affirms the work of government as a means of punishing evil-doers and justifying the innocent (1 Peter 2:13-14; Romans 13:1-4). Second, in the same sermon on the mount, Jesus told the people that to avoid perjury, they should not take any oath, but let their yea be yea and nay be nay (Matthew 5:33-37). However, oath-taking in the judicial system is still done today and is not frowned upon, because what Jesus said was meant for the individual, not the judicial system. If that were the case, then when someone commits a crime, rather than punishing them or let them face justice, the justice system should “turn the other cheek”. That would be ludicrous, because “turning the other cheek” is for the individual, not the state. Matter of fact, the original reason for the “eye-for-an- eye” command is still valid. The only reason that the Jews were unable to fulfil it was that they were no longer a sovereign nation. In other words, they had no autonomy to carry out the death penalty without permission from the Romans. Hence, when they wanted to execute Christ, they had to seek the blessing of Pilate.

The second misconception that this argument is based on is that there is a dichotomy between the teachings of the Old Testament and that of the New (or the teachings of Jesus). The impression is given that God is more merciful in the New Testament than He was in the Old. This is not so. First, the teachings of the Old Testament are as much the teachings of Jesus as that of the New (John 5:39; Luke 24:44). It was Jesus who gave the Law to Moses. Secondly, Jesus’ teaching that we should love our enemies is not unique to the New Testament. There are several places in the Old Testament, where you are taught to treat your enemies with kindness.

For example, Proverbs 25:21 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (ESV), and in Exodus 23:4-5, “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him” (ESV). Therefore, the idea of a dichotomy between the teachings of the Old Testament and that of the New (on matters of ethics) is not as sharp as some would make it seems. The important thing is to understand what has changed and what has not.

I mentioned earlier, the major difference between the Old Testament and the New is that the ‘Church’ in the Old Testament was more than a church, it was also a nation. Therefore, some of the commands in the Law were meant for a judicial context. When Israel lost its sovereignty during the Babylonian captivity, those laws were no longer applicable to them. However, today’s justice system can benefit from some of the counsels that were given to Moses regarding how to ‘split justice’.

While I did not share my opinion about the death penalty, the point that I make in this article is that it is inappropriate to use Jesus’ teachings to condemn the death penalty. For Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount was not to dictate how the justice system of a nation should operate, but how brother should treat brother and how sister should treat sister. The long-established principles of justice in the Old Testament are still valid when it comes to a sovereign nation. God still requires that the murderer be punished for his crime. He still requires that those who rape and steal should face the due punishment. While He will forgive them if they repent, they are still to face their due punishment at the hands of the law.

n Pastor Damian Chambers is an assistant professor at the School of Religion and Theology, Northern Caribbean University.