Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Coming at just the right time, this PODCAST will, if we take Jesus’ words to heart, transform our lives in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine.
I offer it to you as a gift of love from my heart to yours.
Matthew 5:38-42 (Go the Second Mile)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Does this contradict the scriptures written by Peter and James? Did Jesus practice what He preached when He cleared out the temple of the moneychangers?
First off, we need to understand what Jesus was talking about when He addressed the people in Matthew 5 and then we need to see how all these verses apply to our lives, in our culture, in our day.
The answer to the second question first. What Jesus is saying as far as a description of God’s people is this: God’s people are not vindictive. God’s people do not carry grudges, exchange tit-for-tat or seek retaliation.
In Deuteronomy, when the law says “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, what it means is that within a court of law, the punishment should not exceed the crime. However, in Matthew, Jesus is saying that this phrase has nothing to do with personal issues – not administered by individuals, but only by court authorities.
Now the answer to the first question. In context of the times when Jesus spoke these verses, it’s likely that the “evil people” he referred to were the Romans who were occupying Israel at the time. He then went on to –using hyperbole – list four different illustrations depicting common abuses that the Roman soldiers would inflict upon the Jews.
You see, if a Jew would resist the Romans in that day, the Jew would almost assuredly be executed. Secondly, when Jesus refers to a slap on the right cheek, He was likely talking about an insult. Jesus then meant that it would be better to lose your honor through an insult than to lose your soul by striking back in an act of bitter vengeance.
The second illustration refers to when a Roman ripped them off, it’s better to lose even your tunic – valuable and necessary for keeping warm during the winter – than to lose your soul by vindictively seeking revenge on the person who stole from you.
Thirdly, when Jesus talks about going the second mile, He was likely referring to the common practice of Romans compelling the Jews to performing arduous and unpleasant tasks against their will. Jesus, in this context, is saying that it would be better to follow through with the Roman’s bidding and then some than to lose your soul by vengefully refusing and striking out against the Roman soldier, as they would be tempted to do.
One last example: in Jesus’ day, the Romans could requisition anything from the Jews at any time. In a tone of exaggerated hyperbole, it would be better for a Jew to lose all of their possessions to a Roman soldier than to punch back, seek their own retaliation and lose their soul in anger.
In other words, we go the extra mile, we turn the other cheek in order to protect our hearts from hate. Because vengeance – the desire to get even – springs from hearts full of hate.
And God’s people are not vindictive.
Instead, once we get out of the way and allow God to intervene, then one of two things will happen: either they will repent and turn to God, or they will answer to God for their abuses. This is God’s right as Judge. Not ours.
As Paul wrote: Don’t let evil conquer you, but you conquer evil by doing good. That is how we protect our hearts from hate and avoid being vengeful.
HAPPY LISTENING.