Mateus 5:39

Jesus first expounded God’s intention regarding retaliation. Essentially He said: When evil people do you wrong, do not resist them. "Resist" (Gr. anthistemi) means to defend oneself, not to take aggressive action against someone, as the following verses illustrate. When evil people do bad things to us, Jesus’ disciples should accept the injustice without taking revenge. [Note: Stott, p. 105.] Implicit in this view are Old Testament promises that God will take care of the righteous. Therefore to accept injustice without retaliating expresses trust that God will faithfully care for His own. The Old Testament taught that the Jews were to leave vengeance to God (Leviticus 19:17-18; Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalms 94:1; Proverbs 20:22; Proverbs 24:29). Discerning Jews realized this in Jesus’ day. [Note: Plummer, p. 85.] Paul resisted (Gr. anthistemi) Peter (Galatians 2:11) out of love for the gospel and his fellow believers, not out of selfishness. We should stand up for what is right and for the rights of others, but we should trust God to stand up for us.