Turn The Other Cheek

Most people have heard the phrase ‘turn the other cheek.’ It has become a common idiom to promote restraint in the face of a wrong. Yet, this remains one of the most challenging teachings of our Lord to put into practice. In our fallen state, there is something within humanity that instinctively responds to force with force. When someone hits us, we want to hit them back. When someone takes from us, we want to take it back. Jesus calls to rise above this and to love our enemies, love those who harm or persecute us, the way that Jesus loves.

Turn The Other Cheek

Gospel - Matthew 5:38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:

"You have heard that it was said,

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,

turn the other one to him as well.

If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,

hand him your cloak as well.

Should anyone press you into service for one mile,

go with him for two miles.

Give to the one who asks of you,

and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow."

Scriptural Analysis

Jesus begins this admonishment by quoting the Old Testament standard of equivalent retribution, “If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:23-25) These rules were intended to prevent escalating violence by ensuring that legal punishments were proportionate to the crimes committed. A Jew could legally demand retribution for a wrong that was committed against them.

Jesus challenges the disciples, however, to offer no resistance to those who do evil to them. He gives the disciples several examples, challenging them to resist returning one offense for another. He then presents a series of examples to illustrate this extreme resistance to responding to evil with evil. First, Jesus tells his disciples that if someone strikes you on the right cheek, you should turn the other cheek to him as well. What is lost to our modern reading of this passage is what striking someone on the right cheek means. For a right-handed person to strike the right cheek of another would indicate a backhanded slap. In the Jewish Mishnah, this is considered far more insulting and would incur double the penalty of a regular slap. Yes, Jesus is challenging the disciples to forgo the financial compensation that one could receive and instead, present the other cheek and undergo further insults.

Jewish men would typically wear two garments: a tunic and a heavier outer cloak. A man could be sued for his tunic but not his outer garment, “If ever you take your neighbor’s garment in pledge, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down.” (Exodus 22:26) Yet Jesus once again challenges his disciples telling them that if someone sues them for their tunic, they are to hand over their outer garment as well.

In Ancient Rome, Roman law allowed Roman soldiers to force someone into service carrying their equipment for one mile. Jesus challenges his disciples, telling them that if this were to happen to them, don’t simply carry it for one mile but rather carry it for two miles. One must keep in mind that the Jewish people were under Roman occupation and oppression at this time. For Jesus to ask the Jewish people to show this level of kindness toward their oppressors would have been shocking and difficult to receive.

Daily Application

Jesus calls humanity to love in a radical way. It is love he models for us through his death on the cross. It is a love characterized by self-sacrifice, radical self-giving, and forgiveness. To love like this, we must change how we respond to perceived injustices. This is one of the hardest things for us to accept and then to conform our lives to.

Humans are fallen creatures, and one of the consequences of original sin is concupiscence, our tendency to sin. This sin can take many forms, and one of the most common is our lack of understanding regarding justice. When you examine the examples Jesus presents, most people find it difficult to accept them because they conflict with our mistaken understanding of justice. If someone hits me, I should hit them back. If they take from me, I take back. If they are oppressing me, I don’t help them in that oppression. That is just.

Saint Thomas Aquinas defines justice as a constant and firm will to give to God and neighbor what is due. To act in justice is to have a reason for the common good and to guide our actions in a way that prioritizes the needs of others over our own. Before unpacking that, let’s consider first the examples that Christ presents. In these examples, the “victim,” although wronged, lives. There was no immediate threat to his life. In those cases, while not required, a response to preserve one’s life would be justified.

However, what Jesus is presenting to us are the ordinary interactions that occur almost every day in our lives. Nearly every day, we can point to some way in which we were wronged: where someone put their own needs above ours. Drive for any length of time in any major city, and someone is going to cut you off or try to jump the line and merge before you. In our fallen nature, our first reaction is often to become angry. However, according to Aquinas, for us to act justly, we must prioritize the needs of others over our own. So, instead of getting mad at the line jumper, let another person jump the line as well.

This is the kind of love that Jesus calls us to. It is a love that turns the other cheek. When Christ was nailed to the cross, his response was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Is that our response when someone wrongs us? Do we continue to will the best for them, or do we desire “justice?”