By giving his interpretation of some familiar legal principles found in Hebrew Scripture, beginning with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Jesus instructs us on how we are to live our lives. 

Mahatma Gandhi famously believed that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Instinctive retaliation against others we feel have wronged us ultimately makes the whole world angry, too. 

This principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is found in the book of Exodus, the book of Leviticus, and the book of Deuteronomy.  The original intent of this legal principle was to put limits on penalties. 

This principle was meant to prevent the escalating cycles of violence and personal vendettas to which we human beings are so prone.  But the followers of Jesus are not to succumb to any acts of revenge against “an evildoer” or they are liable to become the very evil they oppose.

In his book, ‘Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination,’ Walter Wink, a former professor at Auburn Theological Seminary in Manhattan, asks “How can we oppose evil without creating new evils and being made evil ourselves?”  In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus gives us some concrete examples of how this can be done.  

The response to a slap on the right cheek is to “turn the other also.”  A slap on the right cheek was understood to be a backhanded, demeaning slap by a person who considered themselves superior.  This slap on the right cheek was a shaming act, an affront to personal honor.  It carried more psychological insult than physical injury.  

Turing “the other” or left cheek would require the aggressor to use the fist of his right hand to strike another blow.  And to hit someone with the fist was to acknowledge the other person as an equal rather than an inferior.  So turning the other cheek denies an aggressor’s power to humiliate and dehumanize you.  

In the face of a dehumanizing act, in the face of a humiliating act, a strike on the right cheek, Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and refuse to give in.  Evildoers, Jesus tells us, try to make others feel humiliated and inferiority.  But by turning the other cheek, we  assert that we are, all of us, equal before God.

Turning the other cheek is not about being passive.  It a psychological move. It is about asserting our humanity without resorting to returning physical violence for physical violence.

And when someone wants to sue us and take our coat, we are to give them out cloak, too.  Jewish men wore two garments. A tunic of linen wool was worn next to the skin with a heavier cloak over it.  The outer garment was often used as a blanket, like a Mexican poncho, or a Roman poncho like the chasuble that Fr. Chuck wears to celebrate the Eucharist here every Sunday.

As we read in the book of Exodus, the outer garment, often used as a blanket, was specifically protected by the Law and could not be required as security for a loan.  The outer garment could not be required as security for a loan.  Only the inner garment could be required as security for a loan. 

A lawsuit is envisioned here by Jesus.  A lawsuit in which a debtor who is ordered to give up his coat should give up not just his coat, but his cloak, too.  Indebtedness was a very common situation in first-century Palestine as a consequence of the oppressive taxes imposed by the Roman occupation.

By giving up both his garments, both his coat and his cloak, the defendant would now be standing naked.  And because it was shameful to look upon the nakedness of another, the creditor, the creditor suing you and trying to take your coat, would have brought shame upon himself.

So Jesus has his followers turn their misfortune, their possible misfortune of being taken to court and having their coats taken away, into a teaching moment of silent resistance in the face of oppressive debt.

And next we hear about our being forced to go a mile and choosing to go a second mile, too.  Occupying Roman soldiers had a legal right to force people into service as porters.  Recall the story of Simon of Cyrene who is pressed into service by Roman soldiers.  Simon from Cyrene in North Africa was forced into labor, was forced to carry the cross of Jesus. 

As they lead Jesus on the way out of the city of Jerusalem, they see that Jesus is too weak from pain to carry the crossbeam of his own crucifixion.  The way of the cross is up the rocky hill of Golgotha outside the city gate and alongside an old road where Simon is ordered by occupying soldiers to shoulder the weight of the Cross in step with Jesus.  And Jesus is not reluctant to accept Simon’s help.

Roman law stipulated that a soldier could require a civilian to carry his personal baggage for only one mile, only one mile, or risk disciplinary action.  Roman soldiers would be reprimanded for ordering random civilians to serve them for more than a mile.  So Jesus cleverly urges his followers to go an extra mile instead of resisting. 

When Jesus says to go more than a mile, more than that one oppressive mile, he is offering people a way to nonviolently protest a despised law.  An oppressed people are given a way to protest a despised law.  The aggressors, the ones that force you to carry their baggage, the ones that burden you with their load, they will face reprimand.

We perceive that we have a problem.  We have no choice but to go one mile. But if we simply go two miles, the burden that has been unjustly laid on our shoulders, is put back where it belongs. Go an extra mile and aggressors will think twice before forcing you to shoulder their burdens.

Once again, Jesus shows us the way to turn our lives around without doing harm to others. 

As for beggars and borrowers, a disciple is instructed to simply give. “We are all beggars,” confessed Martin Luther in his last written words. To an oppressed people, to beggars, Jesus says be generous because sharing is one of the ways that material poverty can be alleviated and human dignity can be restored.  

So let us live into our full humanity and share in God’s perfection, in God’s wholeness and holiness, by turning our other cheek, giving our cloaks, going the extra mile, sharing our possessions, being loving, and praying for all people.