Study – Grow – Know

The Christian and the Sermon on the Mount, Part 1

October 24, 2010 at 5:10 PM Leave a comment

Turn the other cheek…what does THAT mean?  Find out on Study, Grow, Know with Dr. Fred DeRuvo!

Christians are always segregated to the area of passivity when it comes to resisting evil.  When people think of Christians, we are supposed to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and much more.  To the world, the Christian is really a wimp, with no resolve, except to be a doormat for the world and anyone who would like to walk all over us.

Where does the world get this idea?

Is it true?

Is it accurate?

Most people who are familiar with any of these sayings know that to some degree at least, they come from the Bible.  Specifically, they come from the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the gospel of Matthew 5-7 and taught by Jesus Himself.

I would like to take a few aspects of the Sermon on the Mount – the parts that most people are familiar with – and discuss them.  Does Jesus really mean that if someone slaps you on the cheek, you are immediately to turn the other one to that person so that they can slap you on the other one as well?

As we read through the Sermon on the Mount, it becomes clear (or should be) that Jesus uses hyperbole and exaggeration to make some of His points.  For instance, in Matthew FIVE, VERSES 29 through 30, Jesus says these two startling statements:

QUOTE:
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. UNQUOTE

At first glance, it SEEMS as though Jesus is saying that we should LITERALLY pluck out our eye or cut off our hand if our eye or hand causes us to sin.

In other words, if we have a problem with lust, then it APPEARS as though Jesus is saying to get rid of our eyes and that will take care of the problem.  Is He?

No, because we know that even if we had no eyes, we would STILL be able to lust because of images that come into our minds.  In fact, this is where we DO lust – in our mind’s EYE, so eliminating our physical eyes would not cure the problem.

If a person has a problem with shoplifting, would cutting a hand of even both hands eradicate the desire to steal?  No, of course, not.  The desire does not begin in our hands.  The desire begins in our heart, or our mind’s eye.

So if Jesus is not saying that we should actually get rid of certain parts of our bodies, what IS He saying?

Jesus was making some very critical points and He was using hyperbole to get the crowd’s attention. The fifth chapter starts off with the words,

QUOTE:
¹And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

²And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
UNQUOTE

Because of the crowds that had followed Him, or gathered around Him, He used the opportunity to teach them.  In order to drive points home to them, He deliberately opted to use hyperbole and exaggeration to keep their attention.

This type of teaching was common during that time period and in fact, it is commonly used today in normal, everyday speech.

If I met some friends at a restaurant and said to them, “Man, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!” my friends would understand me to be saying that I was very hungry and I was planning on eating a lot of food.  They would NOT expect me to order a horse from the menu.

This type of exaggeration is commonly accepted and understood within cultures.  Only people from other cultures that do not use the same type of hyperbole would miss the point.

Okay, so what is Jesus saying then?  It should be clear that Jesus is saying that we need to do whatever it takes to overcome any problem areas in our life.  This may mean drastic “surgery.”  What Jesus is really saying is that the only surgery that will help eternally is by receiving the salvation that He offers and He gets around to indicating that later on.

Proof of this is found in the verse just before verse 29, which says:

QUOTE:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
UNQUOTE

So we need to be aware of the fact that hyperbole is one way that Jesus gets His points across.  It is a way in which people will have no difficulty understanding His message.

Jesus was not advocating self-mutilation.  He was not saying that we should dismember ourselves so that we would avoid spending eternity in hell.  He was saying that we need to do whatever is necessary in the spiritual realm in order gain entrance into heaven.  That comes only through faith in Jesus as Savior.

Jesus then moves into another area that affected Jewish people during His lifetime.  He speaks about how to react to others when He states,

QUOTE:
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

³⁹But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

⁴⁰And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

⁴¹And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

⁴²Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
UNQUOTE

Notice that He begins this section off by pointing out what everyone already knew.  Everyone was familiar with the idea that if someone does something terrible to you, you have the right to do the same thing back to them.

Jesus offers another strategy that people would ultimately be shocked to hear, much less to do.

He says that instead of looking for retribution, people should not respond in kind, but do something completely unexpected!

Jesus says instead of hitting someone back (or wanting to), turn the other cheek to them.Why does He do that?  Is it because He is a pacifist and wants His followers to be pacifists?

In order to answer that question, it is probably best to look at the culture in which Jesus and other Jews lived.

During the time of Jesus, Rome controlled Jerusalem.  The city and its inhabitants were under their care and control.  So what does that have to do with anything?

Because Rome dictated things to the people who lived in the Roman Empire, there were certain rules that applied to every person in Rome unless they were Roman soldiers or legislators, or otherwise within the ranks of government.

Because of the plethora of rules that existed within the Roman Empire, the average person was often made to feel little more than a slave.

We see this in action during the road leading up to the cross for Jesus.  Because Jesus fell under the weight of the cross beam and because He had been up all night and had also been flogged, He had little strength left to carry a heavy piece of wood over a mile.

Well, to keep things moving, the guards simply commanded a man named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross beam.  Simon could not ignore the command without breaking the law.  He had no choice but to obey.

Imagine how Simon felt carrying a cross beam for a convicted criminal – Jesus – who was on His way to His death.  This is what the cross beam signified.  Anyone carrying the cross beam would be associated with the death penalty.

People would not necessarily know that Simon was not the one who had been condemned to death.  The point is though that the Roman soldiers compelled Simon to do what he did not want to do – carry Jesus’ cross beam.

If a Roman soldier got tired of carrying his pack, it was easy enough for them to simply point to any man that saw on the street and demand that they carry the pack.  By law, the person was required to carry it for one mile.

So imagine yourself a Jewish person in the Roman Empire.  You’re walking along, minding your own business and you feel a rough hand on your shoulder.  You turn to see a couple of Roman soldiers, one of whom is shoving his heavy pack in your face.  You know the drill, so in complete disgust, you reach down, lift the heavy pack, and follow the soldiers for one mile.  You count the steps until you realize that the mile has come to end.  The mile no sooner ends and you drop the pack and hasten away, unable to move away fast enough.

In another instance, maybe you did not move fast enough to get out of another soldier’s way.  In response to your slowness, the Roman soldier strikes you on the cheek.

You also have to know that Roman soldiers were often sadists.  These men were trained to fight and kill.  That’s what they did.  They were feared by everyone, including members of other armies from other nations.  When other nations saw or heard that Roman soldiers were on their way to attack them, it was not uncommon for some of these nations to simply give up rather than fight and likely die.

We often hear that Jesus received 39 lashes during His illegal trials, but the truth of the matter is that Jesus was probably whipped with roughly 120 lashes, with a Roman soldier on each side and behind Him.  They would take turns raining down the blows until either Jesus would have passed out, the soldiers would have grown tired or bored, or both.  Roman soldiers loved inflicting pain and lording it over others.

When a Roman soldier hit someone in battle, it was completely different than when they hit an average person of the Roman Empire.  In battle, the intent was to inflict serious damage until death.  Every Roman soldier knew that if they did not kill the other person, they would be killed.  It was a fight to the finish, or be finished.

When Roman soldiers dealt with average citizens, the object was not to kill, or maim necessarily.  The purpose was to embarrass and take away someone’s dignity.  At every turn, Roman soldiers delighted in reminding Jews especially that they were subservient to them.  They were completely unequal to Roman soldiers and the soldiers to pains to remind them of this.

With this background in place, how do we understand Jesus’ words to turn the other cheek, or if anyone forces you to go with them a mile, go with them two?

Each of these statements by Jesus is designed to help people to RETAIN their dignity.  That may sound strange at first, but let’s look at things more closely.

In the case of a Roman soldier forcing you to carry his pack one mile, Jesus is saying go beyond that and make the deliberate decision to carry it TWO miles.  Why?  Simply because you were compelled to carry it the first mile, but you have DECIDED to carry it a second mile.  You have decided on your own to prove that you are your own person.

The last thing a Roman soldier would expect would be for you to DECIDE on your own to carry his pack a SECOND mile.  As the end of the first mile approaches, the Roman soldier would expect you to simply drop the pack and go your way without looking back.

Imagine his surprise when he saw you going PAST the end of the first mile and into the second.  He would not have a clue WHY you are doing what you are doing!  Because he sees that you have decided on your own to carry his pack past the required distance, he would be confused at the least, and have respect for you at most.

The same applies to hitting you on one cheek.  When a Roman soldier hit an average man in the Roman empire, he would do so with an open hand.  It would be an open-hand slap, the way a father in the Roman Empire might discipline one of his children.  The father would never hit his child with a closed fist.  That was reserved for someone who was his equal.

The Roman soldier would never hit another soldier with an open hand slap.  In battle, he would use a closed fist and any weapon he had at his disposal.

When a Roman soldier hit someone with an open hand, it was to remind the individual that they were not the soldier’s equal.  So, aside from the pain of being slapped, there was the additional pain of suffering the indignity of being embarrassed by being treated as someone who is less than someone else.

Consider that when a Roman soldier hits a person with their open hand and the person just hit turns the other cheek, the only way the soldier could hit that person again is with a CLOSED fist.  By hitting a person with a closed fist, that meant that the Roman soldier was ELEVATING that individual to equal status with the soldier.

So, in the end, what was Jesus advocating? Was Jesus saying that at all costs, every one of His followers should become doormats for the world, to be used any way the world finds convenient?  No.

Jesus was not saying that when I became a Christian, I also became a doormat.  He was saying that there are ways to react to the world that allow me to retain my dignity as the human being that God created.

There are ways to kill people with kindness.   There are ways to force people to see your worth as a human being without doing the same thing they are doing.

We also must remember that Jesus was talking to Jewish people.  In fact, Jesus said on more than occasion that His ministry was to the lost sheep of Israel.  Once the religious leaders fully rejected Him, He began to widen the scope of His ministry and even told His disciples to take His Word – His Gospel to the ends of the earth, making disciples of all nations.

Because Jesus’ ministry was essentially to Jewish people, He was speaking to them and their specific situation as they lived within the Roman Empire.  Theirs was a peculiar situation because of the rules and laws within the Roman Empire.

In today’s society within democratic nations, Christians are not in the position of having to carry a Roman soldier’s pack for a mile, or worry about being hit on one side of the face.

During Roman times, a person could also sue another person and take even their coat.  By CHOOSING to give that person who just took your coat, your CLOAK, you have made the decision to RETAIN your dignity as a human being and you have literally forced them (without using force) to recognize your equality with them.

In the United States, or Canada, or other democratic societies, laws such as those that existed within the Roman Empire do not exist.  In fact, many of the laws that this country of America was founded on are based on the Bible.

Christians in America do not have to worry about a Roman soldier LEGALLY forcing someone to carry a pack, or being hit on the cheek.

We are NOT talking about a criminal trying to kidnap you, or attempting to rape someone, or rob you, or simply beat you.

What the Roman soldiers did was within the scope of the existing LAWS of the times.  A criminal works OUTSIDE the law and attempts to perpetrates crimes on people by BREAKING the law.

Now how does this apply to a situation in which you or someone you love is being attacked by someone who is bent on robbing them, or raping them?  We will talk about that next time right here on the STUDY-KNOW-GROW blog.

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