Matthew 5:38-42
Key Verse: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” (Matthew 5:38-39 CSB)
How should you treat someone who has wronged you? When someone has hurt you, whether in word or action, how are you supposed to respond? The most natural reaction is to want to get even. That person said something unkind about me, so I will say something unkind about them. They treated me with disrespect, so I will do the same to them. We want to take justice into our own hands to even the score.
Back in the first century, one of the principles of justice that were in play was something called “Lex Talionis” or the law of retaliation. It was the principle of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” When someone hurts you, appropriate retribution was acceptable and expected. According to Jesus though, to follow in His footsteps and to live under His kingdom rule includes giving up our right to retaliate. When people hurt us, we are not to respond with an attitude of personal vengeance or retribution, but rather with grace, mercy, and love.
Jesus gives several examples to help us see what this looks like. He said, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek” (v.38). In the first century, a slap or strike to the face was one of the most insulting and humiliating things you could do to a person. Since most people were right-handed, slapping someone on the right cheek would require using the back of your hand. A backhanded slap was even more insulting. But according to Jesus, vengeance or retribution in response to the most humiliating insult was not the answer. Instead, turn the other cheek to them as well.
In the next example, Jesus speaks about someone “who wants to sue you and take away your shirt” (v.40). In those days, this would happen. You could sue a person for the literal shirt off their back. People wore a shirt or a tunic as an undergarment and a coat or a cloak as the outer garment. If someone had no money or possessions and got sued, they would be required to give up their tunic. According to Jesus, if someone tries to sue you in this way, “let them have your coat as well.” Go above and beyond.
Finally, Jesus references the person who “forces you to go one mile” (v.42). Roman officials and soldiers during that time had the legal right to force someone to carry their load for a mile. If you were walking along a road and a Roman soldier came up to you and asked you to carry their weapons and their equipment, you were required by law to do so. In that situation, Jesus tells His disciples to not just willingly go one mile with the Roman official or soldier. “Go with him two,” Jesus said. Go the extra mile. Go above and beyond what is expected.
This is all pretty radical, isn’t it? Yet, this is the kind of radical and revolutionary living to which Jesus calls us. It is also exactly what Jesus modeled for us as He went to the Cross. Though He was innocent and deserved nothing, He was mocked, insulted, falsely accused, beaten, flogged, and ultimately crucified. But He didn’t fight back or retaliate. He didn’t call down fire from heaven on the people or rally His angels to respond with vengeance and wrath. “When he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus chose the better way.
This is the path for all of us who seek to follow Jesus. When others hurt us, we are not to hurt them back. Instead, we are to take a posture of grace and of faith. We are not to retaliate but instead entrust it into God’s hands to deal with. May God helps us to do this, no matter how hard it may seem.
Prayer: Jesus, vengeance belongs to you, not me. When people hurt me with their words or their actions, help me not to retaliate. Instead, help me to entrust it to your hands. You will make all things right in your time and way. Amen.
