(Luke 6:38-42)
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the OT an eye for an eye was the fair way of living in community. It was a matter of justice and keeping the communities and individuals within communities from escalating revenge.
In this passage Jesus told his listeners how they should respond to aggressive behavior from others. Rather than responding in the way they had been taught (an eye for an eye), Jesus told them to respond to aggressiveness with passive acceptance... maybe even aggressive acceptance.
It is very likely that any one individual would have only one cloak and one tunic. So to give both to another who was suing was to give away one of life's necessities. Is this verse an overstatement designed to be more symbolic than literal? Or did Jesus want his followers to sacrifice their well being for some greater purpose such as shock the aggressive person into seeing how greedy and selfish they are by taking away someone's cloak (after all taking someone's cloak was forbidden by the Law of Moses)?
Soldiers could and would by law force people to carry their loads for certain distances. Most sources say the limit was one mile: a Roman mile would have been 1,000 paces (a pace was 2 steps) which is a bit shorter than a mile.
COMMENTS
Gahndi resisted by using passive non-violence. Jesus went one step further demanding that his followers actively "go the extra mile." Being unjustly and unlawfully sued for one of life's necessities, give the aggressor even more. Rather than passively resisting a Roman soldier, his followers were to go 2 times what was required by them thus making themselves servants to those who oppressed them.
The reason behind this is debatable. Did Jesus want his disciples to go the extra mile in order to turn enemies into friends? Or was it something else? In Romans 12:19-21, Paul, who usually wrote little about the teachings of Jesus, wrote his commentary of the concept of going the extra mile.
Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,
"I will take vengeance;
I will repay those who deserve it,"
says the Lord.
Instead, do what the Scriptures say:
"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." (literally - "you will heap burning coals on his head.")
Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Although some commentaries believe that heaping coals on one's head was good, the context of Romans suggests that God's wrath would be worse for them by doing good to those who do evil if we repay good for evil.
So why did Jesus tell his disciples to sacrifice life's necessities or to go the extra mile? The answer seems to be made clear in the end of Matthew 5:43-48 or Luke 6:43-48 when Jesus said:
"You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
POLITICS
Does this mean Jesus was like Gandhi and practiced non-violence against governmental oppression? Unfortunately the text does not support this assumption. Jesus addressed village life and spoke within that context. The Sermon on the Mount may have indirectly pertained to the political situation, but not so in any obvious way.
Indirectly then one may conclude that Jesus called his followers to going the extra mile and to love those who were deemed enemies, who oppressed and took from their very subsistence - their rulers and tax-collectors. Jesus would be saying, "If they want to take the shirt off your back, give them more and love them while you do it, because God does."
Today you will object saying that this is unjust. Yes you are right, it is, but show them how unfair it is by giving them even more. You may say that this is foolish because you are giving away what you need to live. Jesus said "yes, but God will provide for you and if you ask and you will receive what you need (Matt 6:25-34 & 7:7-12)."
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