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  Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:38-42 (KJV)

YE HAVE HEARD THAT IT HATH BEEN SAID, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH: BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT YE RESIST NOT EVIL: BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL SMITE THEE ON THY RIGHT CHEEK, TURN TO HIM THE OTHER ALSO. AND IF ANY MAN WILL SUE THEE AT THE LAW, AND TAKE AWAY THY COAT, LET HIM HAVE THY CLOAK ALSO. AND WHOSOEVER SHALL COMPEL THEE TO GO A MILE, GO WITH HIM TWAIN. GIVE TO HIM THAT ASKETH THEE, AND FROM HIM THAT WOULD BORROW OF THEE TURN NOT THOU AWAY.

Old Testament again

Once again, our Lord’s transfiguring touch is again laid on the Old Law.  He was dealing with the Retaliation Laws—"If any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."¹ These verses seem to be a kind of amplification of Genesis 9:6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."  This is not a provision for private vengeance; but a direction for magistrates and judges, that they may know how to deal with such cases as may be brought before them and what penalties to inflict—not only to punish the wrongdoer, but also to warn those who would do wrong and to restrain the one wronged.  The Old is a healthful check on private vengeance, but the New forbids private vengeance altogether.

“Resist not evil”

The Master says, "Resist not evil"; and He was not thinking civically or nationally, but individually.  We do not believe that He is teaching that nations are from henceforth to discard their armies, judges, police, and prisons.  No doubt, "the evil" that the Master is here telling us not to resist is that of personal injury.

“Give place unto wrath”

There is an illuminating passage on this point in Romans 12:19-21, where we learn that instead of avenging ourselves for any wrong, we are to "give place unto wrath"—that is, make way for His wrath.  "I will repay," He says.  He will deal with the matter, and with the person.  Our part is to act kindly and generously toward our "enemy": a line of behavior that will certainly "heap coals of fire on his head"—or cause his mind to burn with shame.  A Christian is not to allow himself to be overcome by "the evil," but he is to overcome "the evil" by "the good" way he acts.  This is truly a strange and new kind of retaliation.

There are three things we are to note in dealing with those who do us wrong:

Do not resist,

Do him good, and

Hand him over to God.

The rest of the passage in Matthew 5 is taken up mainly with the first; and it certainly underlines the necessity, not only of doing what is required of us, but of doing that little bit extra—which we now consider.

The overplus—in insult

"Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39).  To the Eastern mind, what mattered was not the pain of it, but the indignity, the insult.  All our natural instincts cause us to hotly return blow for blow; but our instructions are to refrain from any such thing—if there is to be any second blow, we are not to give it but to receive it.

Turn the other cheek

Are Christians literally to "turn" the other cheek?  If ever we are in doubt concerning something that the Lord has said, we can often discover His real meaning if we read in the Word of God some action of His that is germane to the point.  Remember that His behavior will always coincide exactly with His teaching—one will throw light on the other.  Notice John 18:22-23, "One of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand . . . Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?" In a literal sense, the Master did not turn the other cheek to him; but in a real sense He did.  Of a different complexion is Acts 23:2-3, "The high priest . . . commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.  Then said Paul . . . God shall smite thee, thou whited wall."  No doubt the apostle spoke fairly hotly and not in the gentle non-resisting spirit of his Master. It seems doubtful that Paul literally turned the other cheek.  We are told not to resist personal indignity and insult—and if needs be, let him do it to us again; if the first is forced on us, let us voluntarily accept a second.  This is the overplus.

Does it pay?

The story is told of a coal-miner who was converted to Christ; and to the disgust of his fellow-miners gave up his evil ways.  One day, in sheer annoyance, one of them struck him in the face, saying, "Take that for turning religious on us."  He turned and looked at him, and said, "May God forgive you, friend, as I do."  That was in a real sense turning the other cheek.  The story goes that within a few weeks the man who tried to do harm to the brother was himself born again² into the kingdom of our Lord.

Another illustration

An old Marine told the story of a young Christian in his group in World War II.  Seems this young man was determined to be faithful to Christ, even in wartime, and he found himself in a rough situation.  The other men in the regiment gave him a bad time.  One night, as he was kneeling at his bedside, a particularly brutal man, enraged by the young soldier's steadfastness, hurled two boots at his head, causing a serious cut.  The young Christian soldier simply continued on with his prayer and when he stopped, nothing was said by anyone and nothing further was done.  Soon they were all asleep.  Next morning, at the brutal man's bedside was the young Christian’s boots nicely cleaned and polished.  That was turning the other cheek.  As a result, the persecutor soon joined the persecuted in loyalty to Jesus Christ.  Even if it did not pay, it would still be the right thing to do.  But, as a matter of fact it does pay.  Illustrations could be multiplied of the effect produced by this kind of conduct—we may lose our dignity, but we may gain a soul.  And now see—

The overplus—in injustice

"If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also" (Matt. 5:40).  Under Jewish law, a creditor was within his rights if he so desired, in seizing his debtor's coat pending the settlement of the claim; but if he seized the cloke, the loose mantle that served as a poor man’s blanket, must return by nightfall (Ex. 22:26-27).  In the matter before us, the Master is discussing a false claim, a case of injustice under cover of the Law.  Naturally, this would arouse keen resentment, for one would tenaciously cling to his coat.  But no, says Jesus; let him have his demand, let the coat go; in fact, go one better, give that bit extra, let him also have the cloke—the overplus.  The Master will look after the matter of financial injustice.  If one is a Christian, everything we have is Christ's—our money, property, possessions; and He can take care of His own.  Leave the matter and the person to Him.

Does it pay?

The story is told of a wise, old preacher of the Gospel who was owed a small amount of money by a man who was well able to pay the debt, but who refused to do so.  He said, "I am not going to pay you that money."  The preacher knew that if he forced the matter he could get it, but no doubt a friend would be lost. So, instead he "handed him over to God."  A few weeks later he received a letter from the debtor, saying, "I will pay the money I owe, if you will call for it."  It was a busy period of time and so he replied that he would not have time to call.  By return mail another note came that said, "I saw in the paper that you were going to speak at such-and-such meeting next Sunday; I will be there and bring the money."  Sure enough, as the preacher walked into the assembly that next Sunday, he felt a pull on his coat.  He turned and saw the debtor, who immediately put the money into his hand, saying, "Here is what I owe you, now I'm going to stay and hear what you have to say." The clear lesson seems to be that if a Christian suffers from an injustice, spiritual wisdom says leave the person and the injustice for God to deal with, and comply with His demands—even going a little further; that bit extra: "let him have thy cloke also."  And next—

The overplus—in inconvenience

"Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain" (Matt. 5:41).  The reference here is to a Roman custom, taken over through the Greeks, from the Persians: the custom of forcibly "impressing" people for Imperial porterage or business.  A Roman official traveling on the road might need assistance; perhaps he is carrying special goods, or an important message.  If he so decided, he had power to compel one into service, to require one to accompany him and aid him, for the next stage of his journey—"to compel thee to go a mile."  We are aware of only one other occasion where this same Greek word is used in the New Testament; Matthew 27:32³, where "they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country . . . to bear His cross."  That centurion and his company of soldiers had a perfect right to do that, and Simon had no choice in the matter.

Sometimes we are called

The Master says that sometimes it will happen that we will be unexpectedly called on for help or service, and though the rendering will entail great personal inconvenience, it will be of real benefit to someone else.  Then let us go that "mile," and show how gladly we do so by going a second mile—being ready to do, not only what is required, but also something more; that little bit extra, which will mean much to the one we are serving at the time.  Christians are always to be prepared to waive personal liberties, to surrender personal conveniences for the Lord's work.  After all, a Christian is under a compulsion far more stringent than that of Rome ; for, as 2 Corinthians 5:14 reminds us, "The love of Christ constraineth us."  What sweet compulsion.  A young Christian returned home from college and told the story of one he had met who was known as "Two-Miler"—always going out of his way to be of help to everyone he met.  All Christians should aim to be a two-miler—"go with him twain."  Go, "not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7).  Let us each go that second mile singing and joyful, making our help doubly welcome to the beneficiary; and leave God to look after that thing which our service has so inconveniently interrupted.  Trust Him in all things.  And lastly—

The overplus—in indigence

Here is a person in real need: we must help, but not at the expense of our family.  1 Timothy 5:4, 8 is clear on this point,

             If any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God . . . but if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

We must not rob Peter inside to pay Paul outside. We must help, but not at the expense of our duty.  Somebody once said of a brother in Christ that "he was so liberal to the poor that he had little or nothing left to feed his own family."  Bills must first be paid.  We must help, but not at the expense of the poor themselves. Indiscriminate help may, and sometimes does, lead to sad demoralization. The best form of giving or lending is that which helps people to help themselves.  So, with these thoughts in mind, we are told—

“Give to him that asketh thee” (Matt. 5:42)

It seems that this seemingly universal injunction is governed by four considerations:

1. The test should be not what he deserves, but what he needs.  Far too often, our inclination is to say that we will not help undeserving cases; but, if we are to be judged by what we deserve, where would most of us be?  The real point is not, "Does this person deserve it,” but "Does this person need it?" After all, this is God's way.  Look at Matthew 5:45, "He maketh His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."  What one deserves does not enter into the matter at all—good and evil, just and unjust, should be treated alike.  Do they need the "sun"?  Then they shall have it.  Do they need the "rain"?  Then they shall have it.  

2. The limit shall be our ability. In no way are we expected to do what we can not do. Oftentimes we find that a comforting reflection. But Christians ought to try to build up a store, however small, out of which help might be given to "him that asketh." Remember the exhortation to the thief in Ephesians 4:8? Even though, hopefully, none of us are in that category, we may still profit by this advice, "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth." Have such a store, though it may be small, out of which we may have the joy of giving a helping hand.

3. The bottom line will be our family.  Within our powers we are at liberty to help all; but we are bound to help our fellow-believers.  "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all, especially unto them who are of the household of the faith" (Gal. 6:10).

4. The gift will be dictated by the circumstances. We are not told to give everything that is asked for, but to everyone who asks.  Is that not just how God deals with us?  Not always what we ask, but always something.

Borrow

"From him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away" (Matt. 5:42).  Notice that the Master does not say we are necessarily to lend what someone wants to borrow.  What He does lay on us is that we are not to turn our back on him, not to spurn the idea of such a thing, but to kindly listen to his story, to consider it carefully and then to decide and act accordingly—even if "hoping for nothing again" (Luke 6:35), that is, even if we have little hope of ever seeing our money returned.  With both our giving and lending we are to exercise that little bit extra—not carelessly to throw money about, but to give thoughtful help to the one in need.  Psalm 112:5 says that, "A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth;" but it adds that "he will guide his affairs with discretion."

Summary

There is so much we can learn from going beyond, the overplus; that little bit extra.  Is it really difficult?  Yes, of course it is.  Commenting on "the right cheek," Matthew Henry quaintly observes, "If any say, flesh and blood cannot pass by such an affront, let them remember that 'flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God'", quoting 1 Corinthians 15:50.  Flesh and blood cannot get into the kingdom, let alone keep the laws of the kingdom.  But, thank God, those who, by trusting and obeying the Lord, have been baptized and thus, born again, have, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the new power to keep the laws of Jesus Christ.  Any failure to do so is entirely our own fault.

Footnotes:

¹ Exodus 21:23-25; also see Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21.

² For more on born again, see God’s Salvation in A Religion Library section of StudyJesus.com.

³ Also see Mark 15:21.