A Word From Joel - February 26, 2025
“Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also”
Luke 6:27-29
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, he teaches us to love everyone without exception—even
our enemies. That’s a lot easier said than done, and most of us dismiss this part of
Jesus’ teaching as idealistic. After all, doesn’t turning the other cheek enable bad
behavior? It sounds like Jesus is calling us to be a walking door mat. Historically, that’s
what the church told slaves, women, and children—all while covering up for their
abusers. If Jesus’ advice doesn’t protect the weak, then what good is it? Understood
correctly, though, Jesus outlines the path of non-violent resistance, and it all starts with
the radical act of turning the other cheek.
In the ancient world, when you hit someone, you always used your right hand. Eating,
waving, and slapping were all done with the right hand, while the left was used for
personal sanitation. Matthew’s version includes a key detail that Luke omits, saying, “If
anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” 1 The only way to strike
someone on the right cheek is with your backhand. In that culture backhanded slap was
the most demeaning thing you could do to someone. It’s akin to spitting in someone’s
face. Jesus is telling us what to do when slapped by someone higher up on the social
hierarchy who wants to humiliate you. Hitting back might get you killed. Doing nothing
reinforces the hierarchy. Instead, Jesus says to turn your left cheek to them.
This forces the enemy to make a choice. They physically can’t backhand you on the left
cheek, but they can square up and punch you with a fist. Yet to do this is to treat you as
an equal, which they cannot do without subverting the hierarchy. By turning the other
cheek, Jesus is telling us to turn the tables on your enemy without becoming violent
yourself. Walter Wink says turning the other cheek is telling your enemy, “Try again.
Your fist failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am
a human being just like you. Your status does not alter that fact. You cannot demean
me.”
Jesus is not inviting the weak to just take it, but to bravely stand up to their abuser and
force them to acknowledge their dignity. It’s the opposite of being walked on. Jesus is
calling us to love everyone without exception, even your enemies, but love is not weak,
and it never dehumanizes. Jesus’ world like ours is full of hierarchies and systems that
privilege some and oppress others. The path to freedom is not through submission to
injustice but through courageous, non-violent love, the kind that leads Jesus to the
cross. Will we follow him there?
1 Matthew 5:39
2 Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers (Fortress Press, 1992), 176.
Luke 6:27-29
In Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, he teaches us to love everyone without exception—even
our enemies. That’s a lot easier said than done, and most of us dismiss this part of
Jesus’ teaching as idealistic. After all, doesn’t turning the other cheek enable bad
behavior? It sounds like Jesus is calling us to be a walking door mat. Historically, that’s
what the church told slaves, women, and children—all while covering up for their
abusers. If Jesus’ advice doesn’t protect the weak, then what good is it? Understood
correctly, though, Jesus outlines the path of non-violent resistance, and it all starts with
the radical act of turning the other cheek.
In the ancient world, when you hit someone, you always used your right hand. Eating,
waving, and slapping were all done with the right hand, while the left was used for
personal sanitation. Matthew’s version includes a key detail that Luke omits, saying, “If
anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” 1 The only way to strike
someone on the right cheek is with your backhand. In that culture backhanded slap was
the most demeaning thing you could do to someone. It’s akin to spitting in someone’s
face. Jesus is telling us what to do when slapped by someone higher up on the social
hierarchy who wants to humiliate you. Hitting back might get you killed. Doing nothing
reinforces the hierarchy. Instead, Jesus says to turn your left cheek to them.
This forces the enemy to make a choice. They physically can’t backhand you on the left
cheek, but they can square up and punch you with a fist. Yet to do this is to treat you as
an equal, which they cannot do without subverting the hierarchy. By turning the other
cheek, Jesus is telling us to turn the tables on your enemy without becoming violent
yourself. Walter Wink says turning the other cheek is telling your enemy, “Try again.
Your fist failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am
a human being just like you. Your status does not alter that fact. You cannot demean
me.”
Jesus is not inviting the weak to just take it, but to bravely stand up to their abuser and
force them to acknowledge their dignity. It’s the opposite of being walked on. Jesus is
calling us to love everyone without exception, even your enemies, but love is not weak,
and it never dehumanizes. Jesus’ world like ours is full of hierarchies and systems that
privilege some and oppress others. The path to freedom is not through submission to
injustice but through courageous, non-violent love, the kind that leads Jesus to the
cross. Will we follow him there?
1 Matthew 5:39
2 Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers (Fortress Press, 1992), 176.
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