Matthew 5:38-48
This week’s Gospel reading gives us the rest of chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount. E.P. Sanders cautions us to keep in mind the kind of criticism of the Law that is being voiced here. It’s not, “The Law says x, but the Law is wrong; do y instead.” Rather, Jesus’ approach is, “The Law allows you this much leeway, but I say you should hold yourselves to a stricter standard.” For example, in v. 38 Jesus refers to Torah provisions about the proper damages for personal injury (see, e.g., Ex. 21, Lev. 24). In legal speak we would say that the Law prescribed compensatory damages (an eye for an eye) but not punitive damages. Jesus suggests foregoing the entire lawsuit, so to speak. What I hear him saying here is, Try a different approach. What would it be like if, when someone hit you on one cheek, instead of doing what was expected (hitting them back, suing them for battery) you offered them the other as well? He gives other examples of this kind of behavior, and I’d offer a couple of notes here. “Coat” and “cloak” in v. 40 aren’t very accurate – the first garment was a shirt worn next to the skin, and the second was the outer robe. It makes for a pretty arresting (and humorous) picture: somebody threatens to take the shirt off your back, and you end up standing there naked in front of them. Also, in v. 41 the verb is “if anyone ‘presses you into service’ one mile” – kind of a military image.
What’s Jesus getting at? I think vs. 43ff., where he tells us to love our enemies, bring the preceding verses into focus so that the idea is, Whenever somebody approaches you as an adversary, don’t accept their definition of the relationship; instead, respond as a friend and redefine the relationship. He goes on to say (v. 45) that loving our enemies and praying for our persecutors is a way of being children of God; i.e., this is what God is like. And the goal, after all, is to act the way God acts, to reflect God’s nature. A better translation of v. 48 is, “Be complete, therefore, as your heavenly Father is complete.” The adjective has the same root as telos, meaning “end” or “goal.”
Works Consulted:
E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus
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