This country is a different place since my last post. I took a break for the holidays. As I work through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the essence of the Jesus Movement, the life Jesus wanted His followers to actually live, we now come to the hard stuff. So far we've talked through things like honesty and kindness; things everyone agrees are a part of being human. Now we come to teachings that seem to stand in contrast to commonsense, the law of the schoolyard, and our American inclinations to stand up for our rights. Here we go...

Remember in my former posts I said that Jesus has a formula He repeats throughout these teachings. He will say, "You've heard that it was said...," then He'll quote ancient wisdom familiar to His crowd. Once the concept is in the front of their mind with all its implications, Jesus would say, "But I tell you...", shattering common practices with a new interpretation of an old law. You'll see Jesus return to that formula in our passage today- a reminder of the old way and an introduction of a new way.

Matthew 5

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

Jesus appears to be dealing with revenge that slides into self-defense implications. Is Jesus saying that He doesn't expect His followers to ever raise hands, even in self-defense? If someone punches you in the face, does Jesus expect His followers to do nothing in response? What if someone breaks into your house? What if you are mugged?

Those are two verses with intense implications.

WHAT'S CLEAR

Let's start with what's clear. Jesus is referencing a passage from the Old Testament. There are several instances where we can find the phrase "eye for eye and tooth for tooth". One has to do with protecting the legal system from liars. If someone was caught lying about something they saw happen, whatever they lied about was to be done to them- "eye for eye and tooth for tooth." The other two occurrences have to do with due process and fair sentencing. The punishment is to fit the crime as closely as possible. This code kept a situation where someone got drunk and threw a punch from turning into a punishment of death by slow torture.

By Jesus' day, this was obviously being used as a mandate for revenge. "Eye for an eye" was seen as God's green light for getting even. Clearly, Jesus didn't view that as the spirit of the command. But what about self-defense?

It is also clear that Jesus uses hyperbole a lot in this sermon. He's already told His crowd to pluck their eye out if lust is a problem. His disciples didn't follow through with that, so it should be understood as an exaggeration. Maybe, when Jesus says we should turn the other cheek and get slapped twice, He's just overstating for effect.

Can we breathe a sigh of relief now? "Phew! We can shoot an intruder after all! Jesus was using hyperbole when He said to not resist an evil person!"

JESUS' EXAMPLE

One way to tell how we should apply the teachings of Jesus is to look to His example. In Rabbinic culture, disciples would obsess over the words AND the actions of their rabbis. These gospels come to us in this context. If strange words are spoken, we must look for actions. If the author gives us the words and the actions, this is significant and intentional. Matthew does just that.

EXHIBIT A - THE ARREST (Matthew 26)

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must...