Seeing ‘Jesus’ from below #34

Interpreting such jolting statements as “turn the other cheek . . . love your enemies” is especially difficult because we are both the interpreters and the ones addressed by the text we interpret. With such power over a text, we can hardly resist the chance to defuse a text that is ready to explode in our lives. Wary of this temptation, I still must venture a few suggestions about what ‘Jesus’ does not mean:

• ‘Jesus’ is not expecting us to like everything about our adversaries. The action word agape rather than the more intimate phileo indicates that good deeds -- not feelings -- are enjoined.
• ‘Jesus’ is not instructing us to overlook evil with a smile or fold our hands in passive resignation. Moral farsightedness -- not cowardice -- led ‘Jesus’ to reject violent retaliation.
• ‘Jesus’ does not want a slavishly literal application of his illustrations. When struck by a servant of the high priest, ‘Jesus’ himself questions the motive of the attack rather than turn the other cheek.

Far from this text being harmless after all, I hasten to add that ‘Jesus’ is not reversing his insistence that justice is the measuring rod of human integrity/behavior. The prophets ‘Jesus’ so often references related covenant fidelity to economic and political behavior. Victims of oppression, senseless injury, or exploitation in his hearing have no cause to doubt his alignment with/for them. Whip in hand, ‘Jesus’ drives away from the temple those who had turned the Temple into a den of robbers.

What then is ‘Jesus’ saying when he says -- “turn the other cheek . . . love your enemies”? ‘Eye for an eye’ compensation for inflicting injury had been a step forward in legal justice. ‘Tooth for a tooth’ guaranteed proportional compensation for the injured party while restricting unwarranted penalty for the offender. However, ‘Jesus’ leads us even further away from ever-escalating retaliation. He puts restraint in place of an in-kind response to injury or abuse. Listen to his hyperbolic visual aids:

• “When insulted, facilitate a second blow.”
  
  
• “When sued falsely, ask the plaintiff if he expects your garment as well.”
  
  
• “When bent like a beast of burden with the baggage of a haughty Roman legionnaire, do more than you are commandeered to do.”
  
  
• “When beggars grab for loose change, give expecting no return.”

It is hard to resist ‘hyperbole’ to explain the hard text we are considering. Before sighing with relief as if reassured that ‘Jesus’ is not serious, remember that a hyperbole is an exaggerated comment designed to put in bold print the utter importance of the point being made. The four exaggerated illustrations underline the painful disengagement from self-importance and material possession that finding the ‘blessed’ way of life ‘Jesus’ proposes necessarily entails. Those truly/fully ‘blessed’ know no spirit of retaliation or revenge seeking. Those who bear the imprint of ‘Jesus’ will be liberated from a weak self-image that depends on material things. Thus freed, they will surpass an ‘eye for an eye’/‘tooth for a tooth’ reaction to ridicule or theft. Their criteria for being blessed will not be threatened by insult or material loss. They will not deny in word or deed the vision of ‘Jesus’ for fear of damaged reputation. They will take the victory out of violence by the tactic of restraint. They will stand against injustice without blurring the distinction between the offense of exploitation and the redeemable worth of the exploiter/s. They will appeal to conscience in the midst of power politics. They will not judge an evil deed as an expression of all the offender is. They will be angry, but not sin. They will not find the model for their actions in the behavior of their adversary/ies. They will find the strength and courage to love those who languish in the irresponsible habit of doing unto others only what benefits self-interest. They will break rank with the dehumanizing march of destructive self-promotion.

Am I in that number? Do I want to be . . . really?