You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I say to you, do not fight back against the evildoer. Instead, if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. ~ JESUS (Matthew 5:38-42)
Surprise people with unexpected love. ~ JESUS (paraphrased)
[Before we begin: I have been invited to partner on an exciting writing project and we are at the final stages of design and layout. Soon you'll hear more about it, but in the meantime I'm asking for prayer as we put the finishing touches on something that will help us all understand and communicate the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth with our friends and family. Thank you for praying!]
SUMMARY: Read this and skip the rest (if you want)
Jesus teaches us how to surprise our enemies with unexpected acts of love.
This fifth of the six antitheses provides the nonviolent peacemaking illustrations of which the sixth and final antithesis will provide the principle behind it all: enemy love. So these last two antitheses are best understood together, as Luke's version makes more clear.
The Hebrew Bible taught the lex talionis, the law of retribution. It is a limiting law, meant to curb the impulse of retaliation escalation.
The lex talionis is a command of God. So when Jesus undoes this mandate, he is sitting himself in the seat of ultimate authority.
The Gospel is the ultimate context for understanding the idea of enemy love. We love our enemies because when we made ourselves God's enemies, he loved us to death.
Jesus' nonviolent peace teaching is not passivity, but active instances of agapé astonishment, giving aggressors an opportunity to wake up and possibly choose a different path.
The Christian Church has used a variety of rationalizations to marginalize the peace teaching of Jesus, allowing for Christians to engage in physical and relational violence to this day.
In order to follow Jesus' pathway of peace that counters cultural norms, rejects church traditions, and even pushes back against our own instincts toward self preservation, we will need the strong support of one another through loving, Christ-centred community.
CORE
(The heart of the message)
The element of surprise has always been a tactical advantage in warfare. And in our spiritual warfare against evil, surprise is still a key strategy. God has surprised us with undeserved, unexpected, unconditional love, and we should pay it forward. Freely we have received, and freely we should give.
A word of caution: Don't expect the peace teaching of Jesus to be fair. It is not fair; it is gracious. What do you want - fairness or grace? Don't demand fairness in this life and expect grace in the next.
CONTEXT
(What’s going on before and after this passage)
This is the fifth of the Six Antitheses - six illustrations or case studies that demonstrate the contrast between religious righteousness and Kingdom righteousness (recall Matthew 5:20).
Now, through these six examples, Jesus is teaching us how to read our own Bibles with with love, not law, at the centre of the process.
Let's look at five contexts:
1) Immediate
2) Old Testament
3) New Testament
4) Cultural
5) Gospel
1. Immediate Context...
In our last study, we saw how Jesus took complete authority over the Torah. God had allowed, regulated, and even commanded oaths, and now Jesus forbade them completely in his New Covenant Kingdom. He even said that if we try to go back to the old ways of the Old Covenant, we are walking in the way of the Evil One. Yikes.
And in our study before last, we learned why God used the rule of law for a temporary season of time - because our hearts were hard. The implication being that Jesus is bringing the heart-softening presence of the Holy Spirit to all of our lives.
Now Jesus has done it again. The Old Covenant commanded what Jesus here forbids.
"Jesus' command not to resist evil demands the opposite of the Old Testament legal principle. They exclude each other; they are contradictory."
~ John Piper (Love Your Enemies)
"It must be frankly admitted that here Jesus formally contravenes OT law. What it permits or commands, he forbids." ~ D.A. Carson (The Expositor's Bible Commentary)
Jesus is not exegeting the Word of God to tease out its true meaning - he is being the Word of God afresh. He is not saying "Thus saith the Lord" like the prophets, but saying "Thus saith me, take it or leave it." He does not make a claim to any authority outside of himself! Once again we are left asking the question Jesus often provokes: Who do you think you are, God?
Jesus has been teaching us... (Wait. Let's dial up the seriousness of this sentence shall we?) ... Take 2: Jesus has been warning us that our righteousness (right-relatedness) must go beyond the religious righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees if we want to really enter into his Kingdom way of living.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness goes above and beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of the heavens. ~ JESUS (Matthew 5:20)
This is serious business. Every day we are being offered a false righteousness by our flesh, our culture, and even our religion. This false way of other-condemning, self-edifying, ingroup aggrandizing, outgroup ostracising, pseudo-righteousness will feel life-giving, but like the older brother in Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son, it will keep us outside the houseparty of the Father.
For the past two thousand years, the Church has struggled to move beyond the religious righteousness of the Pharisees to fully embrace the relational righteousness of the Kingdom, with more failure than success filling up the pages of our history. So as we pay attention to and really try to live out the principles within the eight Beatitudes and the six Antitheses, we are doing deeply important work.
Jesus has already taught about the danger of unchecked anger (see our study on anger here). Now he counters the person who says, "I don't get mad; I get even."
We are used to a teacher laying out a principle followed by examples. Here Jesus reverses that order, giving examples of enemy love before laying out the principle of enemy love in the sixth and final antithesis. So this current peace teaching sets the stage for and is connected to Jesus' radical love teaching.
The last two of the six antitheses belong together (as they are in Luke's version), united by a common theme: the right reaction to being wronged. Luke's parallel version of this teaching makes the connection between peaceful protest and enemy love more clearly, blending the two together into one holistic teaching:
But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. ~ JESUS (Luke 6:27-31)
Notice that in Luke's version Jesus counsels a three-stage expression of enemy-love:
1) Do good (Active)
2) Bless (Verbal)
3) Pray for (Personal)
This happens while our enemies:
1) Hate us (Personal)
2) Curse us (Verbal)
3) Mistreat us (Active)
See the pattern: as our enemy gets more expressive, we become less expressive. When we become aware that someone "merely" hates us, that's when we are most active, serving them in loving ways. Once they begin cursing us, we won't be able to serve them as well as before, but we can still bless them. And once they start actively persecuting us, we will "only" be able to pray.
The key is taking that first step: Are you aware that someone you interact with hates you? Find ways to do good to them. This first step - this could change the world.
"Our attitude towards outsiders, the unlovely and unloving, and even those who persecute us, must not be hatred, rejection or indifference. We must positively seek their good." ~ Joe Kapolyo (Africa Bible Commentary)
So we see the link between peace and love. Provocative peacemaking (this antithesis) is a creative expression of enemy love (the last antithesis).
The last two blessings in the Beatitudes (the preamble to the Sermon on the Mount), deal with being: a) peacemakers (see our study on peacemaking here), and b) persecuted (see that study here). We know that persecution often follows peacemaking; now we see that peacemaking can follow as our response to persecution.
2. Old Testament Context...
This fifth antithesis addresses a fundamental human impulse: retaliation escalation. The earliest stories about human history demonstrate our innate inclination to revenge what we perceive as wrongdoing against us with excessive evil.
In Genesis chapter 4, Cain is insulted by God's acceptance of his brother's sacrifice of blood and rejection of his own sacrifice of "fruit" (Cain must have thought himself clever, paying God back the very thing his parents had wrongfully taken). God warns Cain not to give into his rising anger, but Cain does not listen and instead murders his brother Abel. Early in the Biblical narrative we see that reactionary "overkill" is a primitive and deeply rooted human instinct.
(As a side note: Notice how Social Media fuels in us today both of the key ingredients in Cain's murder of Abel - envy and anger.)
God responds to Cain with consequence mixed with mercy. He sends Cain away from the land he murdered his brother on, yet promises to protect him. Cain is afraid that people (people? What people? Where did all the people come from?) will hear about the murder and want to kill him. (Mob violence is an ancient impulse.) So God puts a mark of protection on Cain and claims: "Anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over" (Genesis 4:15). Interesting, in Cain's case, God specifically promises overkill; seven times overkill. That is God's prerogative. (For more on Cain and Abel and anger's connection to murder, see this study.)
Now catch this: The very next story in Genesis 4 is about Lamech, a descendant of Cain. Lamech has heard the story of the mark of Cain and God's overkill promise of protection. So Lamech takes his cues from God and goes one step further in vowing overkill vengeance. He says in a prideful boast:
I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times. ~ Lamech (Genesis 4:23-24)
There is no commentary given in the text on whether Lamech is to be condemned or commended for his overkill on God's overkill approach to vengeance. Escalation in retaliation is simply noted as the way of humankind.
Many generations later, God would give laws to limit the spiral of violence illustrated by Lemech. In three places in the Torah (Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:17-21; Deuteronomy 19:14-21), God commands what is known as the lex talionis, Latin for the law of retribution or retaliation:
Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. ~ Yahweh (Deuteronomy 19:21)
Along with the three clear statements of the law of retaliation, the Hebrew Bible includes many other allusions that either support or wrestle with the law (e.g., Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:28-32; Leviticus 19:18; Numbers 35:30-32; Deuteronomy 25:11-12; Judges 1:6-7; 2 Samuel 4:9-12; 1 Kings 20:39, 42; Esther 7:10; Job 2:4; Psalms 9-10; Proverbs 15:1; 20:22; 24:29; 25:21-22; Daniel 6:19-24; etc).
The lex talionis, though clearly biblical, is not limited to the Bible. The law of proportional punishment is found in most law codes, going as far back as the Code of Hammurabi (a Babylonian legal text composed around 1750 BC). And yet, in most ancient law codes, including the Code of Hammurabi, there are different levels of retaliation depending upon the social status of the person offended. Only the Torah given to Moses is completely egalitarian on how the lex talionis is applied.
In sum, three things are true about the lex talionis in the Bible:
First, it is a command of God. It is part of God's inspired Torah. It must be done. To do less is sin.
Second, it is a limiting law, designed to prevent the escalation of violence. To do more is sin. If someone knocks your tooth out, you don't get to murder their whole family. The punishment must fit the crime. This is the form God's love took while we were hard-hearted. (See this previous study for more on human hard-heartedness.)
Third, unlike the Torah revealed to Moses, there is nothing in Jesus' teaching that seems like he is making accommodations for human hard-heartedness. Now that Jesus brings the New Covenant, including the heart-softening power of the Holy Spirit, it's time to do better.
"Through Jesus, retribution is replaced with forgiveness and generosity. While Moses limited revenge, Jesus taught the total abandonment of vengeance and its replacement with loving-kindness seen in action."
~ Grant R. Osborne (Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)
3. New Testament Context...
Later in Matthew's Gospel Jesus will sound like he believes in the lex talionis with that "Whoever denies me before men I will deny before my Father" business (Matthew 10:33). But we know that Jesus later overrides his own words by forgiving and restoring Peter after Peter denies Christ (for more on this, see our study on Coal Fire Fellowship). And the apostle Paul sees value in the lex talionis in the application of justice, but is clear that only God can be trusted to apply this justice properly, usually through the State, while the Church should focus on mercy (Romans 12:14-13:7; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17). And the apostle John describes visions of God enacting the lex talionis in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 6:9-11; 16:4-7; 18:4-8; 19:1-2; 20:11-15). But again, regardless of how we interpret these apocalyptic passages, one thing is clear - God is the only one qualified to wield the sword of justice, with the robes of Christ already dipped in, not the blood of his enemies, but his own blood (Revelation 19:11-16).
So Christ-followers pray, "Dear God, we trust you to bring justice however you know is best", while at the same time committing ourselves to the mission of bringing mercy.
Later in Matthew's Gospel Jesus will tell his disciples to be harmless or innocent as doves, but as wise or shrewd as serpents (Matthew 16:10). Here he shows us all what this can look like.
The New Testament Church fully embraced and reinforced the peace teaching of Jesus:
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. ~ The apostle Paul (Romans 12:17-20)
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. ~ The apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
4. Cultural Context...
When Jesus was giving his disciples this radical peace teaching, other Jews were sowing the seeds of violent rebellion against Rome. Those seeds would be watered over the decades that followed and in the 60s Israel would go to war with Rome, seeking to overthrow their oppressors. That war would lead to Israel's utter defeat and the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD.
Uprisings of revolt were nothing new for Israel. In 6 AD, Judas the Galilean founded what eventually became the Zealot movement and led a violent resistance against Rome. It didn't end well: Judas was executed by Rome and his followers dispersed (Acts 5:37). Once the leader was killed, especially if he was crucified by Rome, dispersion and dissolving into nothing was the typical end of any ancient messiah movement. (Which makes one wonder: Why did the Messiah Movement of Jesus grow even stronger after his crucifixion? Hmmm.)
Jesus was offering Israel a live choice in real time: to make peace with her enemies rather than revolt against them. Historically, we know Jesus was right, though Israel would not listen.
In Jesus' day, the Zealots had given rise to a splinter cell known as the Sicarii, or dagger-men. They are the first organized assassins recorded in human history. These urban stealth terrorists carried small curved daggers (sicae) in their cloaks which they used to assassinate Roman soldiers. They would move through the crowds on the streets and maneuver themselves to get close to Roman soldiers, fatally stab them or slit their throats, and then slip away into the crowd again. Some scholars believe Judas Iscariot was affiliated with this group, believing that his second name may be drawn from his identity as a sicarius.
All this to say, if ever Jesus had wanted to make an exception to his nonviolent peacemaking enemy-love, if ever he might have envisioned his people using justified aggression to fight oppression, surely his own first-century context as part of a violently oppressed people group would have provided that exception. But Jesus teaches the opposite of the way of the Zealots and Sicarii.
Jesus was not just teaching hypotheticals. Joining a real-life resistance movement in the name of justice was a live option that made sense to a lot of Jews at that time. It is within that context that Jesus was offering his disciples a different way. The Jesus way used extravagant and shocking displays of enemy-love to create opportunities to turn adversaries into friends.
5. Gospel Context...
For Jesus followers, the Good News of God's grace is the context within which we best understand every Bible teaching.
The Gospel announces God's passionate pursuit of the worst of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15-16) and other lost sheep to bring them into the miracle of reconciliation with the Father and his family (Matthew 18; Luke 15; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21). The Gospel is not just a message about God caring for the weak and marginalized (this is "good" but not yet "gospel"). The Gospel is a message of "God who justifies the ungodly" (Romans 4:5; 5:6).
Through Jesus and his followers, God is on a mission to redeem, reconcile, and restore rather than reject sinners.
"Within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals." ~ Martin Luther King Jr. (A Knock at Midnight)
Most religions and philosophies, including most secular societies, teach that we should care for the downtrodden, the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized. Care for the oppressed is not uniquely Christian. Only the Gospel of God calls us to care for both the downtrodden and those doing the trodding down. As we see in Jesus' teaching, that "care" for sinners may take the form of creative confrontation, but its goal is always conversion and restoration, not condemnation. Love for the enemy and grace for the sinner is the unique thing that Jesus brings to the table in any social justice conversation. How sad whenever the Christian Church gives up this one defining quality of our faith in order to fit in better with our surrounding culture's emphasis on justice over mercy.
To put this in a first-century context, God cares about the oppressed Jews, yes, but his Gospel would not be on full display until the oppressors, the Romans, would experience a softening of heart leading to repentance and being welcomed into God's family. Mind you, welcoming their oppressors into their family of faith as sisters and brothers would itself require a softening of the hearts of Jewish believers (see this study for more on the sociological miracle of the early Church).
God always cares about the person being slapped, insulted, oppressed, or victimized - the entire Bible testifies to this. But ultimately the goal of the Gospel is not just to rescue the powerless, it is also to soften the hearts of the powerful, and then to soften the hearts of the downtrodden to forgive and accept their oppressors as family. Now THAT is something surprising.
Radical reconciliation is the Gospel.
Jesus' teaching about nonviolent peacemaking and enemy-love will only make emotional sense to our souls when we understand and embrace the Gospel. Jesus' cheek-turning, second-mile-walking, enemy-loving examples are a kind of lived parable of God's grace toward us. Loving our enemies is our opportunity to offer others what God has offered us.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ... For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ~ The apostle Paul (Romans 5:8-10)
When we keep this in mind, we can see every example of peacemaking enemy-love that Jesus gives in this passage as an attempt to help the powerful to reconsider, repent, and rethink their view of reality. Turning the other cheek and going the second mile is evangelism. When we actively love our enemies, we are embodying the Gospel.
CONSIDER
(Observations about the passage)
You have heard. Not "You have read". This reminds us that most of Jesus' audience were unable to read. And even if they were literate, they would not have had access to their own copy of the Scriptures, but heard them read at their local synagogue. Personal Bible study is a modern invention. Community learning is the historical norm.
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. Jesus is addressing what became known as the lex talionis - the law of retaliation (see above). It included corporal punishment (tooth for tooth) and capital punishment (life for life). Jesus is quoting Scripture. It is a direct command of God to Israel (Exodus 21:23-24; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:19-21), and yet Jesus sets himself against it. Dude! Also note that the lex talionis was a societal law, not a private ethic. It is not commanding personal vengeance but societal justice to be applied by the community of Israel. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is laying out the new community Torah, the new Constitution for his new Kingdom. Jesus is truly establishing a new alternative society.
But I say to you. The word order of the original is "I however say to you" which puts the emphasis on the "I" (Greek, egó) - the most important word in the paragraph. (More on this in a previous study.) Jesus is drawing a sharp "that was then, this is now" contrast based on no appeal to any authority except his own. Jesus does not exegete a different passage of Scripture to help his disciples have a balanced view of Christian ethics. No, he simply asserts his authority over the entire business. For a disciple of Jesus, he is our ultimate authority and interpreter. Jesus is King of his Kingdom.
Do not fight back against the evildoer. The Greek word here translated "fight back against" (anthistémai) has a wide range of meanings, depending on context. It is often translated "resist" or "oppose" and in this verse it can sound like Jesus is telling his disciples to never oppose evil. However, Paul uses the same word to describe how he "opposed" Peter for his legalism and hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11) and both James and Peter use this same word when they tell us to "resist" the Devil (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). So, Christians do seem to "resist" and "oppose" evil in some fashion. Here Jesus seems to be saying "don't fight back against the evil person using their methods", or the proverbial, "don't fight fire with fire." Jesus' disciples will not let our attackers set the terms of engagement. This fits with another common use of the Greek word used here to refer to military aggression, to "attack". Indeed, as we read on, we see that Jesus is not telling us to let evil do whatever evil wants without responding. There is no doormat theology to be found here. Jesus calls us to be pacifists, but not passivists; active peacemakers, not inactive benign blobs. (For more on the pacifist-vs-passivist distinction, see this study here.) In the verses that follow, Jesus will teach his disciples how to be active instigators of peace, using love to overcome hate and using kindness to counter cruelty. So Jesus tells us to actively respond, yes, but in a way that is creatively and surprisingly nonviolent. The "evildoer" can be translated as "evil" or "evil one" (same word as in 5:37). The word may refer to: i) the specific evil action (a slap, a lawsuit, or forced labour), ii) or to the person who is acting evil, iii) or even to the satanic energy behind all hateful actions (as in Matthew 13:19, 38; John 17:15). Whether the word for "evil/evil one" means the act or the actor or the energy behind it all, Jesus does not downplay the situation - it is pure "evil". And it deserves a response, though the response will be surprising. This removes our excuse-making mechanism to always assume our scenario today (imagined or real) is more extreme than what Jesus envisioned and experienced, as though our situation should be an exception to his teaching. (e.g., "Sure Jesus talked about nonviolence, but he didn't have this scenario in mind. My situation is pure evil and demands a violent response.") No, Jesus is teaching us how to behave in truly evil situations, no exceptions. Active nonviolent enemy love is the way of Christ.
"Jesus is suggesting a vigorously activist (although certainly nonviolent) response to evil and injustice." ~ Ronald J. Sider (If Jesus is Lord)
Next Jesus gives us four examples of what this principle might look like (three responses to evil and one response to need). No doubt, in the examples Jesus paints for us, our anger would be enflamed. Overcoming our own rage-reflex in order to offer creative, grace-extending confrontation would be an important part of ongoing discipleship if we are to live out the nonviolent reactions that Jesus describes. Jesus has already challenged his disciples on the topic of anger (see our study on anger here), encouraging sorrow over outrage. Jesus aligns with Solomon who says:
One who is slow to anger is better than a mighty warrior, and one whose temper is controlled is better than one who conquers a city. ~ King Solomon (Proverbs 16:32)
In these four examples of battles between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Christ, each one illustrates a kind of subversive shock treatment, a creative confrontation, that produces moments of potential love and light...
Turning the other cheek. When insulted, disciples of Christ should not respond in kind, but in kindness. Jesus is not teaching passivity. Jesus does not say that if someone slaps us we should stay still, do nothing, and let them hit us again. But neither is he prescribing violence. Jesus has ruled out lex talionis living. Instead, Jesus is teaching us a third way. In once sense, we are told to actively go on the offensive, but to shift the rules of engagement. Our fight is waged with different weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4). Jesus is oddly specific: the slap is on the "right" cheek. As theologian Walter Wink has pointed out, unless otherwise stated, most texts assume use of the right hand. To strike someone on the right cheek using the right hand means Jesus is talking about a backhanded slap. This is not just a matter of injury but insult, the slap of a superior to an inferior, a master to a slave, a bully to the belittled, a man to a woman. In Jesus' day, this kind of slap was thought to be so demeaning, the Tradition of the Elders said that among Jews, a backhanded slap deserved a higher fine than a regular punch in the face (Mishnah, Baba Qama 8.6). This was the slap that said "I am above you and you are below me; I am super-human and you are sub-human." Hence, to offer the other cheek, the left cheek, is to present oneself as an equal. "You may strike me again," we are saying, "but do so, not toward your inferior, but someone who is your equal. In fact, see me as someone who is potentially your friend and brother." This subversive shock treatment injects a moment of agapé astonishment: by being completely unexpected, this cheek-turning action subverts the normal flow of aggressive power dynamics (fight, flight, or freeze; also known as hit, split, or sh*t). Instead it gives our enemy a chance for creative reassessment. It offers the attacker the chance to see things differently. They may or may not "wake up" to the lie of their superiority, but we have loved them enough to offer the opportunity. While they might want to damage our head, we want to soften their heart.
Losing our shirt. Jesus envisions a scenario where a person is so vindictive they sue us for the shirt off our back. In this scenario, we apparently don't own much worth suing for except our clothing. So in court, after they take away our outer garment, we willingly offer them our inner garment (Luke's version reverses these and makes the context seem more like a robbery than a court proceeding). The Mosaic Law forbade anyone from taking someone's outer garment (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13), so the person suing in this scenario is showing a flagrant disregard for God's teaching let alone abandoning basic human compassion. And in response we are saying, "If you are that desperate, you probably need this as well." Now, in Jesus' day, that was everything that everyone wore: one outer garment and one inner garment. So Jesus is painting a picture of his disciples being so provocatively generous that they are left standing naked in court. (We can imagine a ripple of giggles going through Jesus' original audience at this point.) And here's the interesting thing about nakedness in the Bible - ever since Genesis 3, self-conscious nakedness has been a sign of sin and shame, and yet, catch this, in some scenarios nakedness shames the one seeing it as much as the one being seen (e.g., Genesis 9:20-27). So again, here Jesus is describing a creative act of enemy love that offers the opportunity for reflection and reassessment. It forces everyone to think about what is really going on here. This act says: "Friends, this isn't justice - it is vindictiveness, and let us all acknowledge where that will lead if we let it. Here, I'll go first." Sometimes we read parables, sometimes we tell parables, and sometimes we become parables. (Note: Some commentators have pointed out that it is very possible a disciple would have a second set of clothing at home and no nakedness need be involved in this scenario. But that misses the point. Jesus is using extreme imagery to describe a disposition or principle or creative approach that can be lived out in a variety of scenarios. This is the practice of agapé astonishment or subversive shock treatment - using gestures of unexpected grace to throw the usual pattern of human behaviour off its centre and give everyone involved a chance to rethink, repent, and do better.)
Going the second mile. Going the second mile has today become a cliché meaning something like going beyond minimum requirements and giving extra effort. But there is so much more going on here. Jesus' reference to the Roman "mile" (the word here comes from a Latin root meaning a thousand steps and is not a Jewish unit of measurement) alerts us that Jesus has a specific situation in mind. Roman soldiers could requisition/commandeer/conscript civilians to carry their military gear or other luggage for one mile. (Think of how Simon the Cyrene was compelled to carry Jesus' cross in Matthew 27:32.) What an affront: to be forced to help a foreign oppressor carry the tools he uses to oppress you. Jesus tells his disciples that when this happens, after you are released from your forced labour, offer to continue carrying their gear a second mile as a kindness. The first mile is slavery; the second mile is freedom. The first mile gives to Caesar what is Caesar's; the second mile gives to God what is God's. Second-mile serving is an act of worship. Again, this act of agapé astonishment helps the oppressor see you, not as the oppressed, not as the conquered, not as an inferior, but as an equal, and even as a helpful friend. And you are freeing your own mind as well, not to see him as your enemy, but as a fellow human being in need of some assistance. "Going the second mile" not only shapes our relationships, it also shapes our souls.
"By doing more than what the oppressor requires, the disciples bear witness to another reality (the kingdom of God)." ~ Richard B. Hays (The Moral Vision of the New Testament)
These first three examples can be summed up in the words of Jesus:
Do good to those who hate you. ~ JESUS (Luke 6:27)
Giving to those who ask. This last of the four examples is less sensational and even seems a little anticlimactic, but it is very practical. Don't lecture - give. Don't shame - share. The text is powerfully people-centred (e.g., "Do not turn away from" those in need). Note that Jesus does not say "give whatever is asked of you" but "give to whoever asks". It is people, not things, that Jesus draws our attention to. Giving away everything we own would quickly make us a beggar, asking for help and unable to help others. But we should still have something set aside to give to whoever we meet that is in need. Love necessitates a response to someone's need, even though love may guide us not to give them everything they ask for. For instance, someone may ask for money and we may respond with our time and attention and a shared meal together. Or we may give them exactly what they ask for because we believe their request reflects their true need. The important thing for Jesus' disciples is that we do respond to those in need with practical love. Our generosity should be limitless in who we help, though not necessarily in what we give. All of this raises some convicting questions: Who do we know who is in need? What poor people come across our paths? How many poor people in our lives can we name? And what is our plan for helping them? (These are convicting questions!) For many of us, our lives may insulate us from poverty in artificial ways and we may need to start by changing our life patterns to even make it possible for us to live out this teaching. At the same time, the "need" some people among us have may not be material or financial, but relational, emotional, and spiritual. Some of us are poor and some of us are poor in spirit - in need of grace, mercy, and compassion. This too is a real poverty among us and around us, and Christ-followers should "not turn away" from those in need. In Luke's version of this sermon, Jesus moves straight from addressing enemy love into the topic of offering others our forgiveness rather than our judgement. May all disciples of Jesus become increasingly generous with forgiveness as much as finances.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ~ The apostle Paul (Philippians 2:3-8)
"Never is the disciple more like the Saviour than when he responds to abuses graciously and without retaliation." ~ Charles Quarles (Sermon on the Mount)
"When the wronged party shows generosity to the one who has committed the wrong, it is immensely powerful." ~ John R.W. Stott (The Message of Matthew)
CONFESSION
(Personal reflection)
I confess I want to punch back. I want to judge those who judge me, accuse those who accuse me, condemn those who condemn me, trash talk those who trash talk me. I want an eye for an eye and a tweet for a tweet.
When someone gives me our cultural equivalent of a backhanded slap, I want to defend my honour. This is especially true these days, while I have very little honour left to defend. I am guilty of so much failure, it is almost too much to bear. On days when I am struggling to face the magnitude of my actual immorality, to be accused falsely on top of it all feels overwhelming. I sink quickly. Shame is heavy.
Next to Jesus, the wisest man who ever lived wrote:
A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. ~ King Solomon (Proverbs 22:1)
I hear you Solomon. We react against anyone trying to drag our name through the mud (I can do that just fine by myself, thank you very much).
Recently, my heart was encouraged by reading this one commentator's paraphrase of Jesus' teaching:
"Stop fighting for honour. Turn the other cheek. Let others defraud you; let God defend you. That is easier said than done, because it defies human nature. But it is consistent with a believing heart, a heart that trusts God for vindication. A man who has been humbled by his sin, a man who knows he is guilty and redeemed by grace alone, will not protest too much at a false charge. We are like criminals who are guilty of one hundred crimes, but who, oddly enough, are not guilty of the charges at hand." ~ Daniel M. Doriani (Reformed Expository Commentary)
Somehow, this way of thinking is freeing for me. Yes, I have pleaded "not guilty" to a particular charge, because I believe I'm actually not guilty. I lied for a long time about my sin and this is not the time to exchange that lie for another lie just to appear contrite. I am renewing my commitment to tell the truth. But even this journey was not simple for me. For a while, for the sake of unity, I was ready to confess to anything using any words, just to keep peace and show contrition. Then, Jesus' words shook me into clarity.
I resonate with Bob Marley's lyrics: "I shot the sheriff, but I didn't shoot the deputy." I have often wondered, is it worth even bothering to make the distinction? I have done a terrible thing, but I have not done that terrible thing.
In Fyodor Dostoevsky's book, The Brothers Karamazov, one of the brothers, Dmitri, becomes caught up in a dilemma I resonate with. He hates his father (that's not the part I resonate with) and even intends to kill him (not that either), but after knocking his father down, he refuses to finish the job and runs away. Moments later, while fleeing, Dmitri violently strikes and knocks down another man, who Dmitri thinks he has probably killed. Later Dmitri is arrested for murder. He submits willingly, believing he is guilty. And yet, to his surprise, he learns that the man he thought he killed has recovered, and he is actually under arrest for the murder of his father - a crime he didn't commit. (Apparently someone else took advantage of the situation and killed the Karamazov father after Dmitri beat him, knowing it would likely point to Dmitri.) In learning this, Dmitri now knows he has not murdered anyone! BUT... he wanted to kill his father, was aggressive toward another man, thought he had actually killed that man, and then ran away to avoid the consequences. So why, he wonders, should he bother to defend himself in court. In his heart, he is murderer, even if he is innocent of the specific charges brought against him.
The plot line is complicated, but wow, Fyodor, you get me. You get all of us really. We are all "guilty as sin" about something, and often more guilty than anyone would ever dream. But we are also often condemned unjustly or criticized by people who don't have a sweet clue what is really going on. So we have a choice: we can focus on how offended we are by the false judgements, or we can be humbled by the truth about our actual guilt before God.
For me, pleading "not guilty" to a specific charge does not leave me feeling innocent in all things. I know I have failed. I know I need mercy. I know I have repented, am repenting, and want to live in repentance. I am learning all I can about moving forward in grace and truth. And the grace God has given me, I am ready to offer others, whether they are asking for it or not.
"We see our injurer as more than that one who has imposed on us or hurt us. We recognize his humanity, his pitiful limitations (shared with us), and we also see him under God. This vision, and the grace that comes with it, enables the prayer: 'Father forgive them, for they do not really understand what they are doing.'" ~ Dallas Willard (The Divine Conspiracy)
About this image above, the creator Michael Belk, writes:
"Jesus’ teachings on this subject were revolutionary: “Love your enemies as yourself. Pray for those who persecute you. Forgive people seventy times seven.” Jesus reminds us that, just as God forgives us, we are expected to do the same for others. His teachings on forgiveness, however, are often more beneficial to us than the people we forgive." ~ Michael Belk, Photographer
COMMENTARY
(Thoughts about meaning and application)
In the early 2000s, a "Holy War" between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia’s Molucca Islands reached its boiling point. As is always the case, political, ethnic, geographic, and economic factors played a role in this war, but the saddening truth is that religious affiliation escalated rather than de-escalated the violence. Both sides used kids as young as 11 years old to attack their enemies. On the Christian side, parents were proud of their children participating in the fight. One fourteen-year-old Christian boy told a reporter: "My mom says, ‘War for God is okay.’" Another boy said: "Burning houses and killing people were always in my memory. I couldn’t sleep. But after the priests prayed and gave me blessed water to drink, I stopped thinking about it." (Amazing: My conscience bothered me, but my religious leaders helped me get over it.) Another teenage soldier commented: "My job is to throw bombs and burn houses... I didn't set out to kill, but because they started first, I have to kill them." The Christian kids would throw homemade bombs into groups of Muslims, and sometimes after they had injured them, they would run into the group and slit their throats to make sure they were all dead. Otherwise, the bombs just caused people to run away so the boy-soldiers could move in with gasoline and burn down their houses or Mosques. Some of the young Christian soldiers wore shirts with the slogan: "God is love." And as they hurled their bombs, some of them shouted, "Blood of Jesus!" (See: Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2001)
Such an extreme example feels so far removed from our daily lives. But the same attitude lurks beneath the surface of our Western religious culture. For us, we throw our bombs over X (twitter), and burn down reputations through instagram - all the while believing we are doing God's good work, because war for God and goodness is okay.
As long as we are convinced of the wrongness of our enemy, we can convince ourselves of the rightness of almost any kind of seek-and-destroy tactic. But Jesus won't let true disciples get away with mimicking the world in these ways.
According to Jesus, the ends do NOT justify the means. Once more for the people at the back: the ends to not justify the means. In fact, for Jesus, the means are the ends. In other words, the way we live is the end goal. There is no other end goal that Christ-followers have to achieve other than living loving lives. Living loving lives - that is, lives that pour out grace, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion - is our worship.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ~ The apostle Paul (Romans 15:7)
Disciples of Jesus do not follow his nonviolent teaching because it always "works" to produce positive change. We may turn the other cheek and be punched in the stomach. We may give the shirt off our back and simply be called an idiot. We may go the second mile and the soldier remains unchanged. We may give freely to those in need and still be taken advantage of. But we will lay our head down at night with the knowledge that today we followed Jesus.
Jesus' life ended in what looked like utter defeat. Victory was not evident until the resurrection. Should we expect anything different?
"Jesus modeled a prophetic activism inseparable from martyrdom."
~ Craig S. Keener (The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary)
There are multiple spheres of application for Jesus' peace teaching: responding to physical violence, yes, but also relational, verbal, emotional, financial, economic, political, and legal violence, to attempt an incomplete list. In each case, disciples of Jesus ask what it means to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. And thankfully, the rest of the New Testament offers us a variety of early church examples and encouragements.
Let's look at the topic of physical violence first, then broaden the focus of our application.
Here is a question: Who can a Christian kill? (Feel free to answer this question in your own mind or group before reading on.)
Can Christians kill fellow Christians? No. We are fellow citizens of the Kingdom of Christ and should demonstrate our Kingdom unity even if our earthly kingdoms go to war. How about non-Christians? No. We are bound to witness to them, not remove their opportunity to accept the Gospel in this life. Better that we die than any non-believers.
The plain truth is, Christians should make lousy soldiers on the battlefield, unless we play the role of a non-combatant, like a medic. As a fighting soldier, every time we'd raise our weapon to fire upon the enemy, we'd have to ask the question - Who can I kill? And the answer is, no one.
For a Christ-follower, it is always okay to die for a cause, just not okay to kill for a cause.
For the first three-centuries of the Jesus Movement, nonviolent peacemaking was the unanimous ethical position of all Church leaders. Stamped it, no erasies. Then something happened. Historians call it the Constantinian Shift and we discuss it in more detail in this article here.
The Catholic Church became a violent persecutor of anyone they considered an infidel or heretic, including Protestants, then the Protestants became violent Persecutors of Catholics, and they all persecuted Anabaptists and Jews.
One of the saddest bits of Martin Luther's writings is this justification of Christians going to war in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount...
"When they were called to arms even by infidel emperors and lords, they went to war. In all good conscience they slashed and killed, in this respect there was no difference between Christians and heathen. Yet they did not sin against this text. For they were not doing this as Christians, for their own persons, but as obedient members and subjects, under obligation to a secular person and authority. But in areas where you are free and without any obligation to such a secular authority, you have a different rule, since you are a different person." ~ Martin Luther (Sermon on the Mount)
Luther effectively quarantines Jesus' peace teaching into the personal and private sphere of life. When the government asks us to be violent, we shift from living like a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ to living like every other citizen of our earthly nation.
Scot McKnight, an Anabaptist theologian, comments on Luther's position:
"The question that confronts any serious reading of the Sermon on the Mount is this: Would Jesus have seen a difference between a kingdom ethic for his followers in their so-called private life but a different ethic in public? I doubt it." ~ Scot McKnight (Sermon on the Mount)
It was Luther's line of thinking that allowed the German Protestant Church to unconditionally support the Nazi state leading up to and during World War II.
Sometimes some Christians protest:
"If Christians were all nonviolent, Hitler would have won World War II!"
To which the fact should be pointed out:
If Christians were all nonviolent, Hitler would not have had an army.
The truth is, no individual soldier can know if their government is telling them the full truth before going into war. Soldiers need to trust their higher-ups. That's how soldiering works. In an army, individual combatants do not get to decide war by war, battle by battle, skirmish by skirmish, whether or not their "Just War" conscience will allow them to participate. Armies must function with a single mind and a shared plan of attack that demands absolute unhesitating obedience. It's hard to be a good soldier without saying "Caesar is Lord." (See our last article here about another reason why the early church leaders taught against joining the army.)
Anabaptist theologian Ron Sider writes:
"Understood in its historical setting, Jesus' call to love enemies clearly cannot be limited to the personal sphere of private life." ~ Ronald J. Sider (If Jesus is Lord)
So we are left with a question: Why have the majority of Christians throughout Church history not adhered to Jesus' teachings on nonviolence and enemy love?
Even today, although the global Church has rejected religious violence (like Holy Wars and Inquisitions), most professing Christians still support Christian participation in secular wars as well as the use of violence in personal self-defense. But this raises the question: If we refuse to kill for the cause of Christ, why would we consider killing for a lesser cause?
(I once heard a visiting pastor at our church say: "Strike me once and I might turn the other cheek. But hit me again and I'll knock your block off. I've only got two cheeks!" Cute. But ultimately unhelpful.}
It's as though we just can't imagine Jesus actually meaning what he says and saying what he means on this point. Surely we have to "balance" Jesus' teaching here (where "balance" is code for watering it down).
Our Just War sisters and brothers have a few approaches the Sermon on the Mount to help them justify violence. We want to understand them and remember that many good and godly people who are more educated and experienced than us hold to a Just War position. So we should cling to our beliefs with both conviction and humility.
Here are four approaches that Just War theorists have used to respond to Jesus' teaching on the topic of nonviolent enemy-love. Most Just War Christians will use one or a combination of the following lines of logic...
CLASSIC CATHOLIC: The Sermon on the Mount is directed to specific holy Christian leaders, like monks and nuns, but not all disciples of Jesus are expected to follow all of Jesus' teaching.
CLASSIC PROTESTANT: The Sermon on the Mount preaches unattainable "law" in order to prepare our hearts for the Gospel of grace (which is preached later by Paul and the apostles). The New Covenant would not come until the cross of Christ, so the Sermon on the Mount is an interim ethic for his disciples in the meantime.
TWO-SPHERE PROTESTANT: (This was Luther's approach.) In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is challenging personal retaliation, sure, but never means to overturn the idea of Christian participation in governmental violence, like war or policing. Sure Christians should be peaceful in our private/personal lives, but we can be violent in the public/political sphere. That's why Paul wrote Romans 13. Jesus is telling his disciples not to become private vigilantes, yes, but they should still participate in practicing the lex talionis in the legal, governmental, or military sphere.
CLASSIC BIBLICIST: Yes Jesus clearly teaches nonviolence, but we must balance Jesus' teaching with the rest of Scripture, which includes lots of God-ordained violence. Balancing Jesus with, say, Moses and King David is how we obey the whole counsel of God and truly live out God's Word in this world.
PAUSE BREAK: Before we process some possible responses to these ideas below, take some time now to talk (or think) about how you would respond to each.
Now for some brief responses...
The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus addressed his teaching to his disciples (his students, his followers, his apprentices). That's all of us who identify as Christian. There is no evidence that Jesus intended his Church to have different kinds of disciples who follow different ethical guidelines.
Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with the story of the wise and foolish builders, with the distinction between wise and foolish being who does and does not put all of Christ's teaching into practice (Matthew 7:24-27). According to Jesus, to not follow everything he teaches is "foolish". Jesus said we are truly his disciples if we hold to his teaching (John 8:31-32) and we show our love for him by following his commands (John 14:15). Jesus' last instruction to his followers, called the Great Commision, was to make more disciples, "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:18-20). Surely Jesus expected his future followers to learn and to live all of the Sermon on the Mount.
The Church has a distinct and different calling than secular government. Before Paul wrote Romans 13 (about God working through governments who "bear the sword") he wrote Romans 12 (about Christians not participating in that very work). Christians are not meant to follow Jesus' teaching in their personal lives but abandon it in their public lives. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (spoken in 1933 to the World Alliance in Denmark): "This distinction between person and office is wholly alien to the teaching of Jesus. He says nothing about that. ... The precept of nonviolence applies equally to private life and official duty. He is the Lord of all life, and demands undivided allegiance." Yes, you might be both a Christian and a Canadian, for instance, but when the kingdom of Canada tells you to do something that Jesus forbids, your allegiance should be clear, for "We must obey God rather than mere mortals" (Acts 5:29).
Jesus is not just one more Bible character - Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1, 14). We read the Bible so we can follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24; Luke 14:27; John 8:12; 10:27; 12:26). Until Christ, we haven't really seen God (John 1:18), so it is potentially dangerous for a Christian to try to "balance" the teaching of Jesus with Old Testament values. We are living in the New Covenant. In fact, if we don't read the Bible with Jesus at the centre of it all as our ultimate authority and interpretive principle, we are not actually engaging with the Word of God (John 5:37-38). Christians don't "balance" the teaching of Jesus with the Torah of Moses or the example of David. The Old Testament is context and backdrop, a signpost pointing to Jesus. David and Moses sing backup. Only Jesus has the spotlight. Through the cross, Jesus shows us how God himself deals with sin, violence, and injustice - he absorbs it into himself and drags it down into the grave with him, offering forgiveness and cleansing in return (Luke 23:34; 24:46-47; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus loves his enemies, and he has given us this example that we should follow in his steps (Luke 9:23; 1 Peter 2:21).
As mentioned above, if ever there was a "just war" to be supported, would it not have been the Zealot uprising of the first century? But Jesus opposes the Zealot movement and invites his disciples to find creative ways to turn Romans into friends. "Just War" is not a Christian concept.
"The Christian fathers of the first three centuries were generally adamant that discipleship requires close adherence to the nonviolent and countercultural example of Jesus' own life. They were ready to assume that the one who follows Jesus will be at odds in significant and dangerous ways with the prevailing social ethos." ~ Lisa Sowle Cahill (Love Your Enemies)
We may never be called upon to join the army, but the peace teaching of Jesus is relevant to all of our relationships all of the time. We will all sin against someone and be sinned against by someone. We will all play the role of victim and victimizer to some degree at different times in our lives. We will all need to receive and extend mercy, kindness, and compassion to those we perceive as enemies if we want to experience maximum human flourishing.
A concerning trend in the contemporary Christian Church is the mimicking of our surrounding society's emphasis of retribution over restoration, "calling out" rather than calling in, and punitive justice over restorative justice (better termed "restorative love" or "restorative mercy"). Some of us missed the memo: Lex talionis living is not the mission or ministry of the Church.
In a world where someone's moral failure is often met with everything from performative moral outrage, cancel culture crusading, online stonings, to crucifixions of character, the Gospel shows the world something we can't find anywhere else: restoration of even the worst of sinners. (More on this topic in our first post here.)
If Galatians 6:1-2 were written today by religious zealots, it might say: "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should publicly expose them as the monster they are. Since they were "caught" and did not voluntarily confess, do not allow anyone among you to speak with compassion, lest that be misinterpreted as lack of care for those sinned against. Do not go directly to them, but pontificate about them publicly. Do not even hint at showing them mercy, but instead show your aggressive support for justice, for victims, and for payback. There must be no talk about forgiving and restoring sinners, only punishing them. In this way you will fulfill the law of lex talionis."
Thankfully, the early Church knew better:
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ~ The apostle Paul (Galatians 6:1-2)
When someone aggresses against us, rather than tear them down with our moral outrage, we surprise that person with unexpected gracious love. And when one of our own fails catastrophically, rather than move quickly into public pronouncements of shock, horror, and disappointment, all the while trumpeting our own moral outrage and redoubling our commitment to punitive justice, we surprise the whole world with unexpected gracious love (which includes confrontation and invitation to repentance).
At least, that's what Jesus wants.
Our cheek-turning, second-mile-walking, naked-in-court kindness may take a more subtle approach today. Perhaps there is a coworker, family member, or neighbour who we are called to love with unexpected agapé. Jesus is extending the invitation to "do good to those who hate you."
"Disciples are above revenge. There are too many other important matters in life - Christian mission most of all. It appears that disciples have their centre of gravity outside themselves, in Jesus. They are so concerned to do his mission in the world that insults are taken as invitations to creative mission, and threats of lawsuits as opportunities to prove oneself a follower of Jesus." ~ Frederick Dale Bruner (The Christbook)
"Disciples of Jesus have experienced the surprise of unexpected grace, so they act in a similar manner toward the undeserving among them." ~ Grant R. Osborne (Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)
At the Transfiguration, the apostle Peter wanted to build three shelters to honour Jesus alongside Moses and Elijah, celebrating all three equally. God descended in a cloud, removed Moses and Elijah, and said:
This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! ~ God the Father (Matthew 17:5)
God still speaks these words to us today.
CONCLUSION
(One last thought)
We can't do this alone. We need each other. Of all the teachings of Jesus, the commands in the last two of the six antitheses - to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and go the second mile - will lead us in the opposite direction of our own instincts and impulses, as well as setting us at odds with our surrounding secular society and even at odds with a significant number of Christian voices today. We will need emotional support, theological training, and relational practice. If we are not constantly practicing "enemy love" with fellow followers of Jesus, we won't be ready to enact this counter-cultural behaviour if we are ever attacked by nonbelievers.
Enemy-love is unidirectional. Enemies by nature do not love us first or love us back. Cheek-turning, second-mile-walking, naked-in-court relationships will be draining. To do this well, we will need the ongoing support of spiritual sisters and brothers who are walking the same path.
What kind of Spirit-empowering, love-infusing friendships are you currently experiencing? Who is pouring divine love into you, so you can go and pour God's love out to others? Finding and fully embracing spiritual family may be the most important next step you take.
If you would like some ideas about forming your own small church group, see our small church page.
If you would like to connect with an already existing small church in this area or online, please be in touch: theghostof1820@gmail.com.
Get connected, then let's go be surprising.
CONTEMPLATE
(Scripture passages that relate to and deepen our understanding of this topic)
Luke 6:27-36; 9:23; Romans 5:8-10; 12:17-13:7; 15:7; Philippians 2:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Peter 2:21
RECOMMENDED READING:
Speak Your Peace, by Ronald J. Sider
RECOMMENDED LISTENING:
Here is a link to a secular radio show on this topic. Note how unique, radical, and attractive Jesus can be. He is the most interesting man in the world: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.6616748
CONVERSATION
(Talk together, learn together, grow together)
What is God revealing to you about himself through this passage?
What is God showing you about yourself through this passage?
If Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan differently, where the Samaritan happened upon the man at the side of the road in the middle of being beaten and robbed by the bandits, how do you think Jesus would have finished the story? Or, if Jesus said, "If you see someone slapping someone else...", how do you think he would have completed the sentence?
What is one thing you can think, believe, or do differently in light of what you are learning?
What questions are you still processing about this topic?
So good but so hard! Surprising people with unexpected love is fun and beautiful (when I like them). But offering this to people I don’t particularly enjoy- that would be so hard - and no one would even notice if I didn’t do it. And I have a peaceful safe life - how would victims dealing with hate, suppression, cruelty, ridicule, or fear do this? They would definitely need Jesus to help them.