A Message From The Heart
An Eye for an Eye, Pt 2 (Matt 5:38-42)
By: Curtis Baker
Last week we began to look at Jesus’ teaching on the principle of nonresistance in the Sermon on the Mount. This is one of Jesus’ more difficult teachings to swallow, but my hope is we will see Jesus is teaching us how to be a different kind of person. In a society that is so obsessed with making sure our “rights” are not infringed upon, taking a step back to consider instances when we might refuse resistance seems like lunacy to us. After all, why should we allow anyone to walk over us? But upon further investigation, Jesus is not advocating a passive weakness on our part; in a very real sense, he is teaching us how to take control of situations in a completely different sort of way.
As we noted last week, the teaching of the law in Jesus’ time was based on the principle of “an eye for an eye.” This law was intended to stop others from taking undue revenge, which is a common human tendency. But as we discussed previously, that law only produces a standard of “minimal decency.” True goodness, found in the Kingdom of God, goes much deeper than a preventative law. Remember, if we are following the logic of the sermon, Jesus has already addressed the issues of anger, contempt, and lust in the human soul. If those things are put in their proper place, a person looks at the world with a very different set of eyes. In Matthew 5:39-42, Jesus gives us four illustrations of what true goodness might look like in regard to the evil of others.
The first example is the proverbial turning of the other cheek. The context of this is not so much a fight scenario as it was one of superior and inferior ranks. If a superior officer wanted to offend a person of lesser stature, as a Roman official might do to a Jew in that society, he could take his left hand and strike them across the right cheek. Having used his non-dominant hand to strike, he shows contempt for his subject. But rather than strike back, which only escalates the situation, Jesus recommends turning the other check to him. This forces him to strike with his dominant hand, which he does not want to do. The result could be the embarrassment of the superior officer. Far from being a door mat, the victim actually takes the initiative by his non-violent resistance. The same thing might be said of the soldier who forces a civilian to carry his load for a mile. Rather than simply fulfilling what is required of you, Jesus suggests you might carry it two miles instead. No doubt, any officer of that day would not have quite known how to handle it.
In a similar way, Jesus tells his disciples to give to those who ask of them, and to allow others to borrow from them. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from a seminary teacher was to never loan out money unless you could live without it being paid back. Otherwise, you willingly put an obstacle between yourself and your fellow man. Jesus even goes so far as to suggest if someone sues you for your coat, you should give him your shirt as well. Could you imagine the scene if the one sued stripped off his clothes for the other in the middle of court. Anyone would think twice about suing him again!
So the point of Jesus’ teaching is not to become a door mat. In a way, Jesus is endorsing a bit of holy mischief in dealing with others. He is encouraging us to be creative in how we handle evil people, rather than simply responding with the same anger and contempt that usually comes from them. Anger and contempt have long been plagues on human existence. A plague that the “eye for an eye” law did little to curb. But the good heart of a person at home in the Kingdom of God has more at his disposal than laws of “minimal decency.” They simply see the world in a different way. Can you see the difference
(“A Message from the Heart” radio program is moving from Saturday mornings to Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Please join us on KJAK 92.7 FM or streaming live on www.kjak.com.)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com) Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
