Take My I
“You have heard it said ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.”
Jesus said this. The word resist means to withstand the action or effect of. So Jesus said that although we have learned in the past that justice requires an equitable penalty for an offense, we are to voluntarily relinquish our desire for justice (some may call it vengeance) and accept the action and/or effect of an evil person. WHAT?! Have you ever heard anyone preach that?
Why would Jesus instruct us to do such a thing? How could He instruct us to do such a thing? Afterall, isn’t Jesus the One who came to make all things right and just? Don’t the prophecies state that Jesus is going to get rid of all the evils in the world? Actually, no they don’t. Jesus’ mission is not to remove evil from the world. In fact, some interpretations of Revelation indicate that even after Jesus’ return and physical reign on earth for 1000 years, humans will still conjure up enough evil to try to destroy Him. At that point the earth is purified and a new heaven and earth are established to the glory of God. But that is all eschatology stuff, and I don’t know much about it. So back to the subject at hand - did Jesus really mean it?
As John the Baptist said, “He [Jesus] must increase, and I must decrease.” Take my I.
After telling us to “not resist an evil person”, Jesus goes further by giving particular instances of offense and instruction on how to respond. If someone slaps you on the cheek, turn your other one to receive the same abuse. If someone sues you for your coat, voluntarily give your shirt as well. If anyone forces you to go a mile, go two instead (a reference to the Roman law allowing their soldiers to use Jews as pack mules). He finishes this passage by instructing us to give to the person who asks and loan to the person who wants to borrow.
I will be frank with you - I do not fully understand why Jesus instructs such things. The various commentaries on the passage that I have reviewed, to my simple mind, only add confusion. So my objective is not going to be interpreting what Jesus is saying. On that matter I will only state that I believe Jesus’ instructions should not be construed as an acceptance of evil. We are to resist evil. When Jesus saw evil in the temple, He made a wip and cleared it out. Let’s follow His lead on the treatment of evil.
I will focus instead on why I think Jesus could instruct such a thing as forgoing our own earthly justice, which was apparently authorized in days past, to accept the intentionally harmful deeds done to us. Jesus obviously had some insight that those who heard these words did not have and that we do not have today. There must be something about heaven and the kingdom of God that makes it ok to forgo our own sense of justice. A thing that even makes it ok to put aside the law that established the eye for an eye regulation. After all, the Kingdom of God is what Jesus was talking about. He was telling us about what the kingdom is like. So there is something about the kingdom of God that makes us all good with getting wronged by evil people. What is it?
I will be frank again (by the time I am done with this entry my name will be Frank), I really don’t like Jesus’ direction in this teaching. It does not make me feel good. It challenges the very core of this justice loving, black & white viewing, mind set that I have nurtured over the last 50 years. But my Lord said it and therefore I am compelled to consider how it applies to my life. If you would like to journey along with me on this joy ride, here we go:
Jesus' ministry on earth was intended to glorify God the Father while teaching those who follow Him to also bring glory to God. Jesus taught and purposefully lived out a life of sacrifice in honor to His Father in heaven. Jesus did not live for the world or desire the things of this world. So we can confidently deduce His teachings on the Kingdom of Heaven were themselves absent of a worldly value and instead focused on establishing value for a place beyond the temporal world in which we live. If this is the case, we, who proclaim to be followers of Jesus’ teachings, must also direct our own focus on that place, referred to by Jesus as the Kingdom of Heaven. In lesser words, Christ’s followers need to be concerned with that which Jesus Christ is concerned. Jesus is not concerned with the world, at least not from the standpoint of what the world may provide. Instead Jesus is concerned with the Kingdom of God.
This brings us back to our scriptural focus that causes me such internal consternation. The essence of Jesus’ teaching on turning the other cheek is based on an understanding that there are much greater things than justice in our world. There are greater things than our sense of entitlement or even our own ideas of what is right and wrong in this world. These things have their origin in a kingdom that is unseen and possibly yet to be experienced by human beings living out life on earth. But, in order to follow Jesus’ teachings on the subject one must believe in these things and in the kingdom which possesses them. Any person determined to follow Jesus’ teachings on the Kingdom of God has to believe that there is something much greater than this world. There is no other way to look malicious intent in the face with disregard, forgo any sense of worldly justice and offer up more to the perpetrator of such actions. There is no way to turn the other cheek unless a person understands that the kingdom to come is more real than the world in which we live.
Once grasped, this truth will indeed undo the chains of this temporary existence allowing us to live for that which is yet to come. I fully believe that this is where Jesus was instructing us to go. Frankly, I am not there yet. I hope one day to live in a manner similar to Jesus Christ on this matter. My prayer is that someday I would be able to say “take my ‘I’” for I have no use for it. My “i” is found in Him who is my Savior and the Glory of God.