It's Not What You Think| Jesus and Nonviolence | Part 1 | Courtney Clark
Transcript: It's Not What You Think
Good morning, I tried to come up with like a cute quip-y story to lead us into our text today, but I couldn’t think of anything. If I’m being honest, I have always hated this text and tried really hard to just pretend like it didn’t exist. So of course I picked it to write a sermon on because why not? So we’re going to skip the formalities and just going to dive right in. Pick up with in the middle of the sermon on the mount starting in Matthew 5:38-41. This is not talking about personal retribution. This is Jesus mentioning laws in place at the time, their judicial system. The law in Deuteronomy 19:21 was established in such a way that people would pay equal recommence for their crimes. If they steal an eye they pay for an eye, not the whole head. Or in other words they pay for the crime they committed nothing extra. A lot of communities at this time would punish criminals ten fold to prove a point. Jewish law was established in such a way so this would not happen.
Then we kind of get into the weeds a little. The next few verses at face value look like jesus is encouraging us to stand around and accept abuse in the name of being a good Christian. To be honest I’ve always kind of hated this section. I don’t want to just sit around and suffer abuse because fighting back makes me a ‘bad person’. This understanding of the text is pretty common. In fact a quick google search will bring up several variations of a similar interpretation. Most of them coming to the conclusion that Jesus is arguing we fight evil with being good and refuse to fight back. One article stated “Christian’s must willingly give up their right to retaliation” going on to say that you can call the police and use the legal system if you’re being harmed, but you are never to take matters into your own hands. Rather you are to willingly endure suffering for the sake of suffering.
Looking at this through the lens of a first century Jewish listener/reader I don’t think they would have seen it this way either. For starters the Jewish law doesn’t say anything about accepting abuse. In fact it urges it’s followers to step in if they see someone being beaten or taken advantage of. In Leviticus 19:16. Neglecting to step in for yourself, would be counter to this Jewish understanding.
Secondly, we have to look at the culture in which these people live. They had laws to follow and a legal system to assist them in circumstances in which that was warranted, but there were some forms of abuse that would have been considered legal. For example, anyone considered superior,( think slave owner, solider, husband) could be put someone deemed inferior their place with a slap. So the law wouldn’t have done much for them in these circumstances, specifically if you’re in a marginalized group like Jesus would have been speaking to, the poor, foreigner, women, children, slaves, Jews.. But none the less, this is abusive and degrading. Jesus recognizes this. His pairing this with a common understanding of how the law works is his way of saying, I know we have laws for wrong doing, but there are things that slip under that system. Here is how you respond when you’re being harmed legally.
Notice Jesus specifically says when you are slapped on the RIGHT cheek, not just any cheek.
In this culture, in fact in most middle easter cultures still to this day, you are to use your right hand for most everything. The left hand is reserved for unsanitary tasks like blowing your nose, wiping after using the restroom etc. Even to gesture with your left hand is considered punishable according to The Dead Sea Scrolls. So to slap someone with your right hand on the right check would mean you are backhanding them. Which is a way of saying you’re lower than me. This is a normal way of admonishing someone inferior. Again think slave owners punishing slaves, husbands punishing wives, parents punishing children, or Roman’s punishing Jews. This is a widely accepted practice and something Jesus’s listener or Matthew’s reader would have understood as normal.
We still see this dynamic played out today. I hear stories of cops taking advantage of their position of power to abuse people and basically scare them into compliance. George Floyd had a police officer kneel on his neck until he died just to prove he was superior. Or Elijah McClain who was walking home
from a convenience store when he was put in a choke hold by police for not listening. He had on headphones and never heard them. He died on the way to the hospital all the while apologizing, when he had done nothing wrong. The officer who killed him was released of all charges. The listener would have understood Jesus’s reference to be slapped on the right cheek because it was a common occurrence. Much like we understand I can’t breathe as a reference to police brutality. It’s a common occurrence in our society, and we’ve developed a short hand to reference that experience. Jesus is doing the same.
The only way you an be slapped on the right cheek with the right hand would be if someone is using the back of their hand. Which we now understand is a power play by people in positions of power to someone they view as inferior. Slapping someone in this way is degrading. The expected reaction is to cower in submission. Fighting back would have halve deadly consequences. But to turn the other cheek, specifically the left cheek. Would mean you’re forcing the person to choose one of two options. To 1) slap you with the palm of their hand equating you as equal or 2) to slap you with the back of the left hand, that is considered of limits, in all circumstances. And would come with consequences for the person delivering the blow.
This isn’t a passive resistance or a willingness to take abuse. It’s an act of complete defiance. Non-violent defiance. Jesus is giving them a way to stand up for themselves in the midst of a power imbalance. Again here, we see Jesus flipping tables of power imbalance, of the expected. Just like we talked about in the book of Luke we see Jesus exhibiting here in the book of Matthew as well.
The person is now forced to see the humanity in the person they are slapping. No longer are you an object to be owned and tossed around, but you’re a person standing in courage against an oppressive system who sees you as a tool to be used. Even if the oppressor sends you to be flogged for an act of defiance the point has been made. You have forced the oppressor to see your humanity and they have had to face their own shame and embarrassment.
The next few verses are in the same vein. This is a set of examples of how to do things a third way. Human nature has us set to choose between fight or flight when we’re in situations like this. Meaning we fight back or we submit. This would have been commonly understood even at this time. Jesus’s audience would have known their choices were limited and neither had a good outcome when power dynamics come into play. Jesus is telling them you have another way, but it takes some creativity. So he provides a list of 3 examples. Let’s look at the next one. Matthew 5:40.
This second example is set in a court of law. Look closely at the pronouns Jesus is using, he’s repeatedly saying the word YOU. Meaning his audience wouldn’t have been the one’s doing the suing or slapping but the ones being sued, being slapped. This is important. This indicates that the primary audience here would have known all too well what it was like to be oppressed, marginalized, to struggle and feel powerless. In this situation someone is being sued for their outer garment. Why does this matter and what does it mean? Let’s look at the OT, Deuteronomy 24:10-13;17
The person being sued is VERY poor. Meaning they have nothing left to pay back their debt other than the clothes on their back. Poorest of the poor levels of poor. Jewish law has a system set in place for these circumstances. As we just read the garment is to be returned each night so the person can sleep in something warm because they have nothing else. This person has nothing left to give so they’re being taken for whatever is left. Jesus is alluding to exactly this. The audience who lived in a society where Rome took well advantage of its occupied citizens and forced them into poverty would have been familiar with this. The poor person cannot repay their debt so the creditor has taken them to court to sue them for the clothes on their back. This is a situation no one wants to be in. So why is Jesus saying don’t just give them your coat give them your shirt too? This means they’re stripping stark naked to pay back their debts. That doesn’t seem right. But put yourself in the shoes of the poor person here. You’re walking into a trial you can’t win. You can’t pay back this debt that you had no choice of going into. The law is in the favor of the rich. So why not maliciously comply and just strip naked. Sure you want to take
my coat because it’s the only thing I own, I can do better than that here take my underwear too. This person is refusing to be humiliated by the situation. Instead turns the tables and embarrasses everyone in the court room. In this culture the shame of nakedness didn’t fall on the naked person like it does today, but rather it falls on anyone looking. This is a stunning protest of malicious compliance toward a system that can sue you for the clothes off of your back.
Not only does this make a big statement, it offers the chance for the debtor or anyone else in the immediate vicinity to see the flaws in the system and start to question hey maybe this is a little messed up. Maybe we shouldn’t be allowed to take the clothes off of someone’s back. Jesus is encouraging this group of oppressed people to accept the laws as they stand but then push them to the point of absurdity to reveal what they truly are, abusive.
Our last example is Matthew 5:41 we often misquote this as “to go the extra mile”, meaning to do above and beyond what is expected of you to achieve or to please someone else. But again, the first century Jewish reader wouldn’t have heard this 21st century platitude.They would have heard reference to a law well known under the oppression of Rome.
One of those legal forms of abuse was a roman soldier could require any subject of a territory they occupied to carry their stuff for them but ONLY for one Roman mile (which is approximately half a mile as we would understand it). Their roads even had mile makers to indicate where the limit would be. Jesus’s audience would have been faced with the realization of this law day in and day out. To require this of a person is to turn them into an object, a pack mule. Offering to exceed this legal limit would put the solider in a bind. To accept the act of going the second mile would be illegal and pose as a severe threat to the soldier. Again flipping the power dynamic by playing directly into the system with malicious compliance. The ‘pack mule’ is asserting their own humanity, their dignity in a situation that can’t be changed for the time being. The rules belong to Cesar, but how you respond belongs only to you. Jesus is saying here use what power you have to your advantage. This act of continuing on forces the soldier to question. Are you being nice? Are you insulting his own ability to carry the weight? Are you trying to get him in trouble? You’ve done something unexpected and it’s caused an uproar.
Jesus is demonstrating for us what a life of non-violent defiance looks like in a world where the reader would have known only oppression and legal abuse by the state of Rome. He’s showing them a new way. Rather than returning violence with violence, force your oppressor to see your humanity. Don’t passively accept the abuse waiting for someone else to do something about it, rather stand your ground. Do what they’re asking in such a way that they see the flaws in their own system. That they begin to question the abuse and oppression. That is when we see change. Walter Wink in his book Jesus and Nonviolence summarizes Jesus’s approach in this way:
Seize the moral initiative
Find a creative alternative to violence
Assert your own human dignity as a person
Meet force with ridicule or humor
Break the cycle of humiliation
Refuse to submit or to accept the inferior position
Expose the injustice of the system
Take control of the power dynamic
Shame the oppressor into repentance
Stand your ground
Force the powers to make decisions for which they are not prepared
Recognize your own power
Be willing to suffer rather than to retaliate
Cause the oppressor to see you in a new light
Deprive the oppressor of a situation where a show of force is effective
Be willing to undergo the penalty for breaking unjust laws
Die to the fear of the old order and its rules
Jesus was the first example of non-violent protest, non-violent defiance. Others would go on to follow in his footsteps, MLK Jr, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela just to name a few. But this third way as Wink calls it, is not in our human nature. It’s something that has to be learned and practiced. A way of life. Jesus is giving real life practical examples to his audience. We could have used so many more examples, but we were only given 3. It’s possible. Many others have lived life in this way, we can as well. But it takes seeing the passage for what it is, and putting in the work to be the change and live in the third way. We can start by listening to stories of our own, learning ways we can live out the third way in our world today. I would love to hear your stories. What are ways you’re seeing this play out around you? How are you living it? I’ll go first. I read a story recently of an elementary school teacher in Florida as a response to the don’t say gay bill sent this email to parents:
Dear Florida Parent/Caretaker:
The Florida House of Representatives has recently ruled that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
To be in accordance with this policy, I will no longer be referring to your student with gendered pronouns. All students will be referred to as “they” or “them.” I will no longer use a gendered title such as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or make any references to my husband/wife in the classroom. From now on I will be using the non-gendered title “Mx.”
Furthermore, I will be removing all books or instruction which refer to a person being a “mother,” father,” husband” or “wife” as these are gender identities that also may allude to sexual orientation. Needless to say, all books which refer to a character as “he” or “she” will also be removed from the classroom. If you have any concerns about this policy, please feel free to contact your local congressperson.
Thank you, Mx. XXXX
Of course the sermon on the mount continues. Turning tables is fun, but the goal here for Jesus, and should be for us as well, is long term change. And that requires vision and an alternative way of being. Yes Jesus taught a third way to respond to violence and degradation but he also established a new community of followers with a new way of living. He set out with a vision of the kingdom here on earth NOW. He didn’t want to just out wit the enemy and replace the powerful with the powerless. The goal was to open up to the possibility that the oppressor, the enemy would change. Jesus goes on to urge his listener to pray for their enemies and to love. The goal is to find the humanity in all of us, to believe that God can transform even the worst of us, myself included, and we can come together to treat one another with dignity and respect.
We will leave with simply this quote by Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel:
“What has always caught my attention is the attitude of the peace movement inEurope and the United States, where nonviolence is envisioned as the final objective. Nonviolence is not the final objective. Nonviolence is a life-style. The final objective is humanity. Is is life.”
May you go and find the humanity. May you live in the third way. Grace and Peace be with you.