There are some red letter verses in the Bible that can’t be properly interpreted without knowing a little bit about the culture of the first century. As a result, these three verses have entered our language to mean almost the opposite of what Jesus was teaching.
| . Verse in Matthew Chapter 5 | Modern Use | What Jesus Meant |
| 39 Turn the other cheek | Forgive and forget. Make peace, not war | The passage does not say “Turn the other cheek” as if to say that the disciple should invite another blow of the same kind. The first blow was to the right cheek, which was the backhand slap that demonstrated to onlookers the dominance of a powerful man over a poor person who may have gotten in his way. The slapper wants the slappee to slink away in shame. But when the slappee is a disciple, he/she is to hold his/her ground and offer the left cheek. This forces the man of power to either escalate his persecution to a blow in earnest or to back down and slink away in shame. The disciple reflects the evil back to its source even at the risk foo injury. |
| 40 Give the other cloak. | Don’t get upset over a minor loss. After all, you have insurance. | After a land Judge lethargic again What am I supposed to do I don’t know l Jeffre Oh now look I’ve got all this lethargic **** in my document now ord foreclosed on a failed farm property, he would sue the farmer for everything else he might own–but would never claim the “cloak”–the garment warn closest to the skin–by Deut. 24:12-13. But Jesus says that the disciple will not withhold even the cloak. He would add the cloak to the pile of assets and walk, naked, out of the court and into the arms of his fellow disciples–saying, in effect, “There–now you have everything. You have no more hold over me.” This, of course, forced the persecutor to look upon nakedness, a sin. But the person who is involuntarily made naked does not sin (see Gen. 9:20ff. Again, the sin of the persecutor is reflected back to its source by the disciple of Christ. |
| 41 Go the second mile | Don’t get upset over a minor loss. After all, you have insurance. | The verb here is not “force,” but “requisition.” It is only otherwise used in the New Testament to describe the requisitioning of the labor of Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross (Mt. 27:32). Roman centurions had the authority to requisition citizens to carry a pack for one mile–but anything further than that would cause the centurion to be judged guilty of the abuse of a citizen! It was common for the powerless to be “hassled” by the Roman occupying forces in this way–but Jesus says that the disciple is to pick up the pack gladly (perhaps engaging the adversary in banter as he carries the pack–asking about his family, the weather, and so on!). By continuing past the 1-mile limit, the disciple turns the tables on the persecutor, forcing him to beg him to drop the pack! |
While these exact circumstances may not apply directly to the modern world, the principles of resisting power as a Christian are a valuable lesson.
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