Neville Goddard on Matthew 5:38 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Matthew 5 in context

Scripture Focus

38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

Matthew 5:38

Biblical Context

Matthew 5:38 recalls the old law of retaliation — an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The passage points to a higher standard of inner righteousness, inviting forgiveness and a transformation of how we react to offense.

Neville's Inner Vision

Christ the inner man declares a different law. The outward demand for retaliation is but a reflection of your inner state, a symbol that you have identified with grievance. When you hear the command to retaliate you are being asked to notice that the world you condemn is a mirror of your own consciousness. To fulfill this teaching you must revise the state you inhabit. Do not change the world first; change the I AM that watches it. In quiet, assume the feeling of the I AM as the reality of who you are, and imagine the offender free and unharmed by your thoughts. As you persist in this inner image, your outward responses lose their charge, and the impulse to strike or seek revenge fades. The law of cause and effect is rewritten by the inner revision; as you hold the perception of forgiveness, events align with the new state. Thus you are not asked to endure injustice but to transform the very nature of your consciousness, and with it the world you call unjust.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: When grievance arises, close your eyes, revise the scene to one of forgiveness, and feel the peace as if it is your new reality. Do this until the sense of grievance dissolves.