Lesson Eight • Retaliation
Peter Mason
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38-42
When people first discover I lived in England for six years, one of the first questions is, “What is it like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road?” Driving “backward” is disorienting to say the least and it took me months of focused mental energy to rewire my instincts from driving on the “right” side of the road. Even after years in the UK, I still caught myself turning into the right-hand lane for a few quick milliseconds. Maybe you have had similar disorienting experiences traveling to where people do things “backward.”
1. Have you ever had disorienting experiences while traveling abroad where things felt backward like driving on the “wrong” side of the road? What was that like?
Jesus’ teaching in His Sermon on the Mount would have similarly sounded “backward” to the way the world worked in first century Israel. However, Jesus was not suggesting His listeners travel to another part of the world where they do things “backward.” He was teaching His listeners to live this “backward” way of life in their daily lives; to go in the opposite direction. Imagine not only driving on the left side of the road in England, but driving on the left side of the road in Michigan! What would happen? Well, a lot of collisions.
Jesus knew His Kingdom way of living would cause lots of collisions in the first century; you would be reviled, persecuted, and all kinds of evil would be uttered against you (Matthew 5:10-11). Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:38-42 how to respond when we are shamed, insulted, reviled, and humiliated. It is when we collide with other people.
2. Why is it helpful to be aware that Jesus’ teaching goes against the direction that our world wants to go?
Matthew 5:38 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’”
Jesus’ quote of Exodus 21:24 permitted limited retaliation in response to injustice. In a tribalistic culture, one wrong could evoke an even worse and spiteful response which would, in turn, evoke an even greater injustice and so on. One bad decision could lead to decades of tribal warfare. Even in the 21st century, we understand this cycle of retaliation where things spin out of control. A humiliating moment, five months later becomes a game of “getting even;” whether amongst our families, colleagues, or even church community.
Jesus has come to fulfill the Law’s intention of establishing peace, harmony, and righteousness (Matthew 5:17). Jesus comes to deal with our hearts and thereby end these cycles of retaliation. His teaching sounds “backward” to our normal ways of asserting our justice when we are mistreated.
3. Have you ever tried to “get even” with someone who insulted, shamed, or dishonored you?
4. Did it solve the problem or make it worse?
5. How can trying to “get even” or simply allowing others to insult you perpetuate a cycle of retribution?
Matthew 5:39-42 continues, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
Jesus is often misunderstood in these verses as suggesting that we simply submit and accept unnecessary evil in our lives. On the contrary, N.T. Wright helpfully notes that “do not resist the evil one” in verse 39 can be translated as “do not resist by evil means.” Jesus is not suggesting we simply do not resist evil; He is suggesting we resist evil by doing good. He is showing us how not to get caught up in the unending cycles of retaliation and instead end them. He gives short punchy illustrations of what this resistance looks like.
One disclaimer: these are not situations in which our lives are imperiled or deadly force is being used against us. In these situations, Jesus is talking about shame, dishonor, insult, and humiliation.
“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Being slapped across the face was an act of humiliation and belittlement. Being slapped on the right cheek means the perpetrator would have used his left hand which was considered the “dirty hand” used for taking care of “business” in the first century.
“If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” In the first century, the tunic was the outer garment and cloak the inner. They were expensive; think of the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garment. Even more, if you gave both your cloak and tunic, you would be standing humiliated and naked.
“If anyone forces you to go to one mile, go with him two miles.” Roman soldiers, who were the occupying forces in the Jewish people’s homeland, could make anyone carry all their gear like a pack mule at the drop of a hat.
Socially and physically degraded.
Stripped of one’s dignity.
Inconvenienced and belittled in your own home.
In all these situations, our immediate instinct would be to retaliate with at least equal force in return. However, Jesus’ teaching is the opposite. Jesus is forbidding us from entering into the cycle of counter-strike, but He is also forbidding us from doing nothing.
On an average day, most of us do not get slapped across the face or asked to haul a soldier’s gear a mile down the road, or have the clothes on our backs demanded from us. However, there are plenty of circumstances and contexts where we do experience shame, insult, humiliation, and dishonor.
6. Where do we tend to encounter some of those experiences?
7. Can you think of any examples of this happening in your own life?
Notice:
• Jesus is not teaching us to passively “take it,” scowling as we are beaten to a pulp.
• Jesus is not teaching us to begrudgingly walk alongside a Roman soldier as we are engulfed in anger.
• Jesus is not teaching us to reluctantly accept when someone takes our cloak.
There is nothing redemptive about any of that. It simply allows the perpetrator to continue.
Jesus instead teaches us to actively respond in a surprisingly redemptive way:
•We not only do not hit back; we offer the other cheek.
•We not only allow our tunic to be taken; we give our cloak as well.
•We not only walk the one mile; we keep going for another mile.
As Peter Leithart describes, “Instead of a series of slaps and return slaps, there are at most two slaps, both on the cheeks of the disciple, and then it’s over. Instead of a cycle of vengeance and retribution, it’s all over after two miles, after the disciple strips down to nothing. There is no more to be done.”
Following Jesus’ teaching also subtly restores the dignity of the person under assault. Instead of being a victim, the disciple takes initiative into his own hands (he offers his cheek, he removes his undershirt, etc.) The slapper wants to treat the slappee as a victim. However, when he turns and offers his other cheek, the slapper is suddenly put on the spot. He is forced to decide whether to slap again. The disciple has wrestled initiative out of his hands. The cycle has been broken.
A picture of Jesus’ teaching was displayed early one morning on Martin Luther King Jr.’s front yard where the night before rioters had burned crosses. News reporters were crowding waiting for Dr. King to open the front door and see his response. Eventually, the door opened and Dr. King came out, picked up the blackened and charred cross, and proceeded to lead the reporters in a time of prayer for those who that night had sought his own downfall and end. It was a moment of surprise that caught all off guard and arrested the cycles of evil. Neither passively shrinking back in fear, nor retaliating with anger. He prayed for those who persecuted him. It was a small glimpse of the redemptive Kingdom of God.
Perhaps what allowed Dr. King to respond like that is because he knew the man who lived entirely in the Kingdom of God. A man who refused to “get even” with His enemies, but instead prayed for them. A man who was Himself was struck and slapped (Matthew 26:27), who walked alongside roman soldiers who forced Him to carry a heavy weight. A man whose garments (Matthew 27:35) were taken from Him and hung naked and humiliated upon a cross. The man Jesus Christ who died for his enemies: Dr. King, you, and me. While we certainly find ourselves in the shoes of the victims in these stories, we certainly are first the perpetrators. The Good News is that there is One who has already offered His other cheek, and His very life so that we might be saved.
8. Is Jesus teaching us to simply be a doormat for someone’s anger, frustration, or evil intent?
9. What makes Jesus’ teaching and tactics to be shamed or humiliated redemptive?
10. How does Jesus’ teaching end the cycle of retribution?
11. What gives us the strength and courage to actively seek to end these cycles of humiliation, shame, and insult?
When people first discover I lived in England for six years, one of the first questions is, “What is it like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road?” Driving “backward” is disorienting to say the least and it took me months of focused mental energy to rewire my instincts from driving on the “right” side of the road. Even after years in the UK, I still caught myself turning into the right-hand lane for a few quick milliseconds. Maybe you have had similar disorienting experiences traveling to where people do things “backward.”
1. Have you ever had disorienting experiences while traveling abroad where things felt backward like driving on the “wrong” side of the road? What was that like?
Jesus’ teaching in His Sermon on the Mount would have similarly sounded “backward” to the way the world worked in first century Israel. However, Jesus was not suggesting His listeners travel to another part of the world where they do things “backward.” He was teaching His listeners to live this “backward” way of life in their daily lives; to go in the opposite direction. Imagine not only driving on the left side of the road in England, but driving on the left side of the road in Michigan! What would happen? Well, a lot of collisions.
Jesus knew His Kingdom way of living would cause lots of collisions in the first century; you would be reviled, persecuted, and all kinds of evil would be uttered against you (Matthew 5:10-11). Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:38-42 how to respond when we are shamed, insulted, reviled, and humiliated. It is when we collide with other people.
2. Why is it helpful to be aware that Jesus’ teaching goes against the direction that our world wants to go?
Matthew 5:38 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’”
Jesus’ quote of Exodus 21:24 permitted limited retaliation in response to injustice. In a tribalistic culture, one wrong could evoke an even worse and spiteful response which would, in turn, evoke an even greater injustice and so on. One bad decision could lead to decades of tribal warfare. Even in the 21st century, we understand this cycle of retaliation where things spin out of control. A humiliating moment, five months later becomes a game of “getting even;” whether amongst our families, colleagues, or even church community.
Jesus has come to fulfill the Law’s intention of establishing peace, harmony, and righteousness (Matthew 5:17). Jesus comes to deal with our hearts and thereby end these cycles of retaliation. His teaching sounds “backward” to our normal ways of asserting our justice when we are mistreated.
3. Have you ever tried to “get even” with someone who insulted, shamed, or dishonored you?
4. Did it solve the problem or make it worse?
5. How can trying to “get even” or simply allowing others to insult you perpetuate a cycle of retribution?
Matthew 5:39-42 continues, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
Jesus is often misunderstood in these verses as suggesting that we simply submit and accept unnecessary evil in our lives. On the contrary, N.T. Wright helpfully notes that “do not resist the evil one” in verse 39 can be translated as “do not resist by evil means.” Jesus is not suggesting we simply do not resist evil; He is suggesting we resist evil by doing good. He is showing us how not to get caught up in the unending cycles of retaliation and instead end them. He gives short punchy illustrations of what this resistance looks like.
One disclaimer: these are not situations in which our lives are imperiled or deadly force is being used against us. In these situations, Jesus is talking about shame, dishonor, insult, and humiliation.
“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Being slapped across the face was an act of humiliation and belittlement. Being slapped on the right cheek means the perpetrator would have used his left hand which was considered the “dirty hand” used for taking care of “business” in the first century.
“If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” In the first century, the tunic was the outer garment and cloak the inner. They were expensive; think of the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garment. Even more, if you gave both your cloak and tunic, you would be standing humiliated and naked.
“If anyone forces you to go to one mile, go with him two miles.” Roman soldiers, who were the occupying forces in the Jewish people’s homeland, could make anyone carry all their gear like a pack mule at the drop of a hat.
Socially and physically degraded.
Stripped of one’s dignity.
Inconvenienced and belittled in your own home.
In all these situations, our immediate instinct would be to retaliate with at least equal force in return. However, Jesus’ teaching is the opposite. Jesus is forbidding us from entering into the cycle of counter-strike, but He is also forbidding us from doing nothing.
On an average day, most of us do not get slapped across the face or asked to haul a soldier’s gear a mile down the road, or have the clothes on our backs demanded from us. However, there are plenty of circumstances and contexts where we do experience shame, insult, humiliation, and dishonor.
6. Where do we tend to encounter some of those experiences?
7. Can you think of any examples of this happening in your own life?
Notice:
• Jesus is not teaching us to passively “take it,” scowling as we are beaten to a pulp.
• Jesus is not teaching us to begrudgingly walk alongside a Roman soldier as we are engulfed in anger.
• Jesus is not teaching us to reluctantly accept when someone takes our cloak.
There is nothing redemptive about any of that. It simply allows the perpetrator to continue.
Jesus instead teaches us to actively respond in a surprisingly redemptive way:
•We not only do not hit back; we offer the other cheek.
•We not only allow our tunic to be taken; we give our cloak as well.
•We not only walk the one mile; we keep going for another mile.
As Peter Leithart describes, “Instead of a series of slaps and return slaps, there are at most two slaps, both on the cheeks of the disciple, and then it’s over. Instead of a cycle of vengeance and retribution, it’s all over after two miles, after the disciple strips down to nothing. There is no more to be done.”
Following Jesus’ teaching also subtly restores the dignity of the person under assault. Instead of being a victim, the disciple takes initiative into his own hands (he offers his cheek, he removes his undershirt, etc.) The slapper wants to treat the slappee as a victim. However, when he turns and offers his other cheek, the slapper is suddenly put on the spot. He is forced to decide whether to slap again. The disciple has wrestled initiative out of his hands. The cycle has been broken.
A picture of Jesus’ teaching was displayed early one morning on Martin Luther King Jr.’s front yard where the night before rioters had burned crosses. News reporters were crowding waiting for Dr. King to open the front door and see his response. Eventually, the door opened and Dr. King came out, picked up the blackened and charred cross, and proceeded to lead the reporters in a time of prayer for those who that night had sought his own downfall and end. It was a moment of surprise that caught all off guard and arrested the cycles of evil. Neither passively shrinking back in fear, nor retaliating with anger. He prayed for those who persecuted him. It was a small glimpse of the redemptive Kingdom of God.
Perhaps what allowed Dr. King to respond like that is because he knew the man who lived entirely in the Kingdom of God. A man who refused to “get even” with His enemies, but instead prayed for them. A man who was Himself was struck and slapped (Matthew 26:27), who walked alongside roman soldiers who forced Him to carry a heavy weight. A man whose garments (Matthew 27:35) were taken from Him and hung naked and humiliated upon a cross. The man Jesus Christ who died for his enemies: Dr. King, you, and me. While we certainly find ourselves in the shoes of the victims in these stories, we certainly are first the perpetrators. The Good News is that there is One who has already offered His other cheek, and His very life so that we might be saved.
8. Is Jesus teaching us to simply be a doormat for someone’s anger, frustration, or evil intent?
9. What makes Jesus’ teaching and tactics to be shamed or humiliated redemptive?
10. How does Jesus’ teaching end the cycle of retribution?
11. What gives us the strength and courage to actively seek to end these cycles of humiliation, shame, and insult?
Lesson Eight • Retaliation
Peter Mason
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38-42
When people first discover I lived in England for six years, one of the first questions is, “What is it like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road?” Driving “backward” is disorienting to say the least and it took me months of focused mental energy to rewire my instincts from driving on the “right” side of the road. Even after years in the UK, I still caught myself turning into the right-hand lane for a few quick milliseconds. Maybe you have had similar disorienting experiences traveling to where people do things “backward.”
1. Have you ever had disorienting experiences while traveling abroad where things felt backward like driving on the “wrong” side of the road? What was that like?
Jesus’ teaching in His Sermon on the Mount would have similarly sounded “backward” to the way the world worked in first century Israel. However, Jesus was not suggesting His listeners travel to another part of the world where they do things “backward.” He was teaching His listeners to live this “backward” way of life in their daily lives; to go in the opposite direction. Imagine not only driving on the left side of the road in England, but driving on the left side of the road in Michigan! What would happen? Well, a lot of collisions.
Jesus knew His Kingdom way of living would cause lots of collisions in the first century; you would be reviled, persecuted, and all kinds of evil would be uttered against you (Matthew 5:10-11). Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:38-42 how to respond when we are shamed, insulted, reviled, and humiliated. It is when we collide with other people.
2. Why is it helpful to be aware that Jesus’ teaching goes against the direction that our world wants to go?
Matthew 5:38 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’”
Jesus’ quote of Exodus 21:24 permitted limited retaliation in response to injustice. In a tribalistic culture, one wrong could evoke an even worse and spiteful response which would, in turn, evoke an even greater injustice and so on. One bad decision could lead to decades of tribal warfare. Even in the 21st century, we understand this cycle of retaliation where things spin out of control. A humiliating moment, five months later becomes a game of “getting even;” whether amongst our families, colleagues, or even church community.
Jesus has come to fulfill the Law’s intention of establishing peace, harmony, and righteousness (Matthew 5:17). Jesus comes to deal with our hearts and thereby end these cycles of retaliation. His teaching sounds “backward” to our normal ways of asserting our justice when we are mistreated.
3. Have you ever tried to “get even” with someone who insulted, shamed, or dishonored you?
4. Did it solve the problem or make it worse?
5. How can trying to “get even” or simply allowing others to insult you perpetuate a cycle of retribution?
Matthew 5:39-42 continues, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
Jesus is often misunderstood in these verses as suggesting that we simply submit and accept unnecessary evil in our lives. On the contrary, N.T. Wright helpfully notes that “do not resist the evil one” in verse 39 can be translated as “do not resist by evil means.” Jesus is not suggesting we simply do not resist evil; He is suggesting we resist evil by doing good. He is showing us how not to get caught up in the unending cycles of retaliation and instead end them. He gives short punchy illustrations of what this resistance looks like.
One disclaimer: these are not situations in which our lives are imperiled or deadly force is being used against us. In these situations, Jesus is talking about shame, dishonor, insult, and humiliation.
“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Being slapped across the face was an act of humiliation and belittlement. Being slapped on the right cheek means the perpetrator would have used his left hand which was considered the “dirty hand” used for taking care of “business” in the first century.
“If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” In the first century, the tunic was the outer garment and cloak the inner. They were expensive; think of the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garment. Even more, if you gave both your cloak and tunic, you would be standing humiliated and naked.
“If anyone forces you to go to one mile, go with him two miles.” Roman soldiers, who were the occupying forces in the Jewish people’s homeland, could make anyone carry all their gear like a pack mule at the drop of a hat.
Socially and physically degraded.
Stripped of one’s dignity.
Inconvenienced and belittled in your own home.
In all these situations, our immediate instinct would be to retaliate with at least equal force in return. However, Jesus’ teaching is the opposite. Jesus is forbidding us from entering into the cycle of counter-strike, but He is also forbidding us from doing nothing.
On an average day, most of us do not get slapped across the face or asked to haul a soldier’s gear a mile down the road, or have the clothes on our backs demanded from us. However, there are plenty of circumstances and contexts where we do experience shame, insult, humiliation, and dishonor.
6. Where do we tend to encounter some of those experiences?
7. Can you think of any examples of this happening in your own life?
Notice:
• Jesus is not teaching us to passively “take it,” scowling as we are beaten to a pulp.
• Jesus is not teaching us to begrudgingly walk alongside a Roman soldier as we are engulfed in anger.
• Jesus is not teaching us to reluctantly accept when someone takes our cloak.
There is nothing redemptive about any of that. It simply allows the perpetrator to continue.
Jesus instead teaches us to actively respond in a surprisingly redemptive way:
•We not only do not hit back; we offer the other cheek.
•We not only allow our tunic to be taken; we give our cloak as well.
•We not only walk the one mile; we keep going for another mile.
As Peter Leithart describes, “Instead of a series of slaps and return slaps, there are at most two slaps, both on the cheeks of the disciple, and then it’s over. Instead of a cycle of vengeance and retribution, it’s all over after two miles, after the disciple strips down to nothing. There is no more to be done.”
Following Jesus’ teaching also subtly restores the dignity of the person under assault. Instead of being a victim, the disciple takes initiative into his own hands (he offers his cheek, he removes his undershirt, etc.) The slapper wants to treat the slappee as a victim. However, when he turns and offers his other cheek, the slapper is suddenly put on the spot. He is forced to decide whether to slap again. The disciple has wrestled initiative out of his hands. The cycle has been broken.
A picture of Jesus’ teaching was displayed early one morning on Martin Luther King Jr.’s front yard where the night before rioters had burned crosses. News reporters were crowding waiting for Dr. King to open the front door and see his response. Eventually, the door opened and Dr. King came out, picked up the blackened and charred cross, and proceeded to lead the reporters in a time of prayer for those who that night had sought his own downfall and end. It was a moment of surprise that caught all off guard and arrested the cycles of evil. Neither passively shrinking back in fear, nor retaliating with anger. He prayed for those who persecuted him. It was a small glimpse of the redemptive Kingdom of God.
Perhaps what allowed Dr. King to respond like that is because he knew the man who lived entirely in the Kingdom of God. A man who refused to “get even” with His enemies, but instead prayed for them. A man who was Himself was struck and slapped (Matthew 26:27), who walked alongside roman soldiers who forced Him to carry a heavy weight. A man whose garments (Matthew 27:35) were taken from Him and hung naked and humiliated upon a cross. The man Jesus Christ who died for his enemies: Dr. King, you, and me. While we certainly find ourselves in the shoes of the victims in these stories, we certainly are first the perpetrators. The Good News is that there is One who has already offered His other cheek, and His very life so that we might be saved.
8. Is Jesus teaching us to simply be a doormat for someone’s anger, frustration, or evil intent?
9. What makes Jesus’ teaching and tactics to be shamed or humiliated redemptive?
10. How does Jesus’ teaching end the cycle of retribution?
11. What gives us the strength and courage to actively seek to end these cycles of humiliation, shame, and insult?
When people first discover I lived in England for six years, one of the first questions is, “What is it like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road?” Driving “backward” is disorienting to say the least and it took me months of focused mental energy to rewire my instincts from driving on the “right” side of the road. Even after years in the UK, I still caught myself turning into the right-hand lane for a few quick milliseconds. Maybe you have had similar disorienting experiences traveling to where people do things “backward.”
1. Have you ever had disorienting experiences while traveling abroad where things felt backward like driving on the “wrong” side of the road? What was that like?
Jesus’ teaching in His Sermon on the Mount would have similarly sounded “backward” to the way the world worked in first century Israel. However, Jesus was not suggesting His listeners travel to another part of the world where they do things “backward.” He was teaching His listeners to live this “backward” way of life in their daily lives; to go in the opposite direction. Imagine not only driving on the left side of the road in England, but driving on the left side of the road in Michigan! What would happen? Well, a lot of collisions.
Jesus knew His Kingdom way of living would cause lots of collisions in the first century; you would be reviled, persecuted, and all kinds of evil would be uttered against you (Matthew 5:10-11). Jesus teaches us in Matthew 5:38-42 how to respond when we are shamed, insulted, reviled, and humiliated. It is when we collide with other people.
2. Why is it helpful to be aware that Jesus’ teaching goes against the direction that our world wants to go?
Matthew 5:38 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’”
Jesus’ quote of Exodus 21:24 permitted limited retaliation in response to injustice. In a tribalistic culture, one wrong could evoke an even worse and spiteful response which would, in turn, evoke an even greater injustice and so on. One bad decision could lead to decades of tribal warfare. Even in the 21st century, we understand this cycle of retaliation where things spin out of control. A humiliating moment, five months later becomes a game of “getting even;” whether amongst our families, colleagues, or even church community.
Jesus has come to fulfill the Law’s intention of establishing peace, harmony, and righteousness (Matthew 5:17). Jesus comes to deal with our hearts and thereby end these cycles of retaliation. His teaching sounds “backward” to our normal ways of asserting our justice when we are mistreated.
3. Have you ever tried to “get even” with someone who insulted, shamed, or dishonored you?
4. Did it solve the problem or make it worse?
5. How can trying to “get even” or simply allowing others to insult you perpetuate a cycle of retribution?
Matthew 5:39-42 continues, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”
Jesus is often misunderstood in these verses as suggesting that we simply submit and accept unnecessary evil in our lives. On the contrary, N.T. Wright helpfully notes that “do not resist the evil one” in verse 39 can be translated as “do not resist by evil means.” Jesus is not suggesting we simply do not resist evil; He is suggesting we resist evil by doing good. He is showing us how not to get caught up in the unending cycles of retaliation and instead end them. He gives short punchy illustrations of what this resistance looks like.
One disclaimer: these are not situations in which our lives are imperiled or deadly force is being used against us. In these situations, Jesus is talking about shame, dishonor, insult, and humiliation.
“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Being slapped across the face was an act of humiliation and belittlement. Being slapped on the right cheek means the perpetrator would have used his left hand which was considered the “dirty hand” used for taking care of “business” in the first century.
“If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.” In the first century, the tunic was the outer garment and cloak the inner. They were expensive; think of the soldiers gambling for Jesus’ garment. Even more, if you gave both your cloak and tunic, you would be standing humiliated and naked.
“If anyone forces you to go to one mile, go with him two miles.” Roman soldiers, who were the occupying forces in the Jewish people’s homeland, could make anyone carry all their gear like a pack mule at the drop of a hat.
Socially and physically degraded.
Stripped of one’s dignity.
Inconvenienced and belittled in your own home.
In all these situations, our immediate instinct would be to retaliate with at least equal force in return. However, Jesus’ teaching is the opposite. Jesus is forbidding us from entering into the cycle of counter-strike, but He is also forbidding us from doing nothing.
On an average day, most of us do not get slapped across the face or asked to haul a soldier’s gear a mile down the road, or have the clothes on our backs demanded from us. However, there are plenty of circumstances and contexts where we do experience shame, insult, humiliation, and dishonor.
6. Where do we tend to encounter some of those experiences?
7. Can you think of any examples of this happening in your own life?
Notice:
• Jesus is not teaching us to passively “take it,” scowling as we are beaten to a pulp.
• Jesus is not teaching us to begrudgingly walk alongside a Roman soldier as we are engulfed in anger.
• Jesus is not teaching us to reluctantly accept when someone takes our cloak.
There is nothing redemptive about any of that. It simply allows the perpetrator to continue.
Jesus instead teaches us to actively respond in a surprisingly redemptive way:
•We not only do not hit back; we offer the other cheek.
•We not only allow our tunic to be taken; we give our cloak as well.
•We not only walk the one mile; we keep going for another mile.
As Peter Leithart describes, “Instead of a series of slaps and return slaps, there are at most two slaps, both on the cheeks of the disciple, and then it’s over. Instead of a cycle of vengeance and retribution, it’s all over after two miles, after the disciple strips down to nothing. There is no more to be done.”
Following Jesus’ teaching also subtly restores the dignity of the person under assault. Instead of being a victim, the disciple takes initiative into his own hands (he offers his cheek, he removes his undershirt, etc.) The slapper wants to treat the slappee as a victim. However, when he turns and offers his other cheek, the slapper is suddenly put on the spot. He is forced to decide whether to slap again. The disciple has wrestled initiative out of his hands. The cycle has been broken.
A picture of Jesus’ teaching was displayed early one morning on Martin Luther King Jr.’s front yard where the night before rioters had burned crosses. News reporters were crowding waiting for Dr. King to open the front door and see his response. Eventually, the door opened and Dr. King came out, picked up the blackened and charred cross, and proceeded to lead the reporters in a time of prayer for those who that night had sought his own downfall and end. It was a moment of surprise that caught all off guard and arrested the cycles of evil. Neither passively shrinking back in fear, nor retaliating with anger. He prayed for those who persecuted him. It was a small glimpse of the redemptive Kingdom of God.
Perhaps what allowed Dr. King to respond like that is because he knew the man who lived entirely in the Kingdom of God. A man who refused to “get even” with His enemies, but instead prayed for them. A man who was Himself was struck and slapped (Matthew 26:27), who walked alongside roman soldiers who forced Him to carry a heavy weight. A man whose garments (Matthew 27:35) were taken from Him and hung naked and humiliated upon a cross. The man Jesus Christ who died for his enemies: Dr. King, you, and me. While we certainly find ourselves in the shoes of the victims in these stories, we certainly are first the perpetrators. The Good News is that there is One who has already offered His other cheek, and His very life so that we might be saved.
8. Is Jesus teaching us to simply be a doormat for someone’s anger, frustration, or evil intent?
9. What makes Jesus’ teaching and tactics to be shamed or humiliated redemptive?
10. How does Jesus’ teaching end the cycle of retribution?
11. What gives us the strength and courage to actively seek to end these cycles of humiliation, shame, and insult?