Turn the Other Cheek?
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 79
When I was in kindergarten, I met my first bully. I don’t remember his name, but I remember getting punched when we were out on the playground. My teacher told my mom I needed to fight back. My mom told me to turn the other cheek. I spent the rest of the year avoiding the bully.
When I was in about the fourth grade, I met my second bully. John Paul picked on me, and picked on my sister, and picked on the other kids in the neighborhood. He lived waaaaay down the road, but made the two mile trip on his bike just to hassle us. Mostly, we tried to ignore him. One day, he stole the jump-rope my sister got for her birthday, and stood there making fun of her while she cried.
I beat the snot out of him.
When John Paul’s mom came down the road to yell at us, my mom told her the whole story, and that I’d done the right thing. My recollection is that John Paul’s mom whipped his butt all the way home.
Was my mom right the first time, or the second time? Would Jesus say I did the right thing by thrashing John Paul, or the wrong thing? Jesus says we should offer no resistance to one who is evil. He says that when someone strikes us on the right cheek, we should turn the other one as well.
This isn’t just a philosophical or theoretical question. We live in an increasingly violent world, and even churches have been targets of violence. How do we live as Christians in such a world? Some people suggest Jesus is calling us to absolute pacifism, and prohibiting self defense. Are they right?
In ancient times, it was not uncommon for an insult to escalate to a blow, a blow to a wound, a wound to maiming, a maiming to a murder, and a murder to generations of blood feuds and wars. The Code of Hammurabi is the first known code of laws that curbed this escalation, and limited punishment and vengeance to what was appropriate to the crime. It is from the record of Hammurabi’s decisions that the idea of restricting vengeance to “an eye for an eye” was introduced. The Jewish law went even beyond this standard, and replaced equivalent physical punishment with fines in most cases. Furthermore, Jewish law forbade revenge and grudges entirely between the Children of Israel.
When Jesus contrasts worldly justice of “an eye for an eye” with his instruction not to resist an evil person, he is asking us to relinquish our right to take vengeance for a wrong. This is not about our response in the moment, but about giving up the right to seek even just revenge.
In Jesus’s time, a backhand slap on the right cheek was considered a high insult. It said “you are beneath me.” This was how the Romans would strike a non-citizen. Their intent was to say “you are a second-class person.” If two Romans came to blows, they would use an open right palm or fist to strike the face, but never a backhand. When backhanded, a Jew had two options: fight back, and likely be executed, or take the blow and do nothing. When Jesus asks his listeners to offer the left cheek, he is asking them to choose a third way other than striking back in fruitless anger or accepting the blow. He is asking them to present themselves as equals, thus challenging their oppressor to reconsider the relationship between them.
“Turning the other cheek” is about peacefully resisting oppressive authority or demeaning behavior. It is about accepting harsh insults with an invitation to think again, rather than cowering or striking back in anger. Jesus is teaching the heart of what would become the concept of passive resistance. It isn’t fast, and it isn’t easy, but it does offer a path to the long term change violence so often fails to accomplish.
So, Jesus asked us to give up revenge, and to respond to abuse and insult in a way that invites conversation and conversion, rather than escalates conflict.
I’ll come back to that, but, first, I want to more clearly answer the question we started with.
No, Jesus is not calling us to be a doormat, to simply accept abuse, or prohibiting self defense. The catechism is clear on this around 2263, and here are three relevant points from scripture:
First, Jesus and the Apostles did not simply accept every assault. When the people came and wanted to throw Jesus off the hill to his death, he resisted that attempt on his life by slipping away as if invisible. Saint Paul avoided death by sneaking out of the city in a basket lowered over the city wall. Both of them suffered and died, and both submitted peacefully and joyfully when their time came, but they had to discern when that time was. Some are called to martyrdom, but none of us need to seek it.
Second, when Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him to the towns nearby where he would soon come, he told them not to take swords, shoes, food, or purses. When he sent them out into the world, he told them to buy a sword, and bring a money bag and the other usual travel equipment. Saint Peter carried a sword, and suffered no rebuke, although he had to be told not to defend Jesus when Jesus knew his hour had come. From this, we see that not only are we not called to be doormats, or to seek out martyrdom, but that our Lord even instructed his Apostles to carry arms to defend themselves against the perils of travel through dangerous territory.
Thirdly, Leviticus 19, from which we heard this morning, recounts the heart of the Jewish Law beyond the ten commandments. Here, we see the commandment that “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” shortly after the command to “not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake.” The law of Moses established that defending our neighbors is part and parcel to loving them. Jesus invites us to fulfill this even more broadly, by loving our enemies, but does not set aside the first.
Jesus is not calling us to accept abuse or seek out martyrdom, nor is he prohibiting self defense or the defense of our neighbors.
So, my mom was right both times. When possible, we should live in peace with all people. When that is impossible, we should act courageously. In all cases, we set aside our right to revenge. We strive always to respond in ways that invite conversation and conversion, and to love our enemies. We are called to a high standard.
Ash Wednesday and Lent are only days away. It is good to pray, to fast, and to give alms. It is good to give time in prayer, talent in service, and treasure to those who have less. For me, though, this last Sunday before Lent is inviting me to think about how I interact with my enemies, and with those who are abusive or disrespectful towards me.
The Lord is kind and merciful to us. I pray he will help us to be likewise kind and merciful to others, especially our enemies.
