The Third Antithesis
Matthew 5:38-42″You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”¹
Many years ago, our family was on a bike ride to get ice cream in town. Our girls were just learning to ride, and the trail was wide enough to share with oncoming traffic. Our youngest, a free spirit and one of the happiest people you will ever meet, was meandering back and forth across the path when a man came from the opposite direction and collided with her. He flew over the handlebars and hit the asphalt hard. Then he looked up and immediately moved to strike my daughter.
I have felt anger before. But in that moment, something rose up in me that I can hardly describe. I felt as if angels were literally holding my arms back. Every instinct I had was pulling in one direction.
Every parent reading this knows exactly what I am talking about.
That is the moment Jesus introduces the third antithesis.
The lex talionis, or what became known as “an eye for an eye,” was never a street-level license for personal revenge. Mosaic law provided this as a judicial restraint, a hard ceiling designed to keep punishment proportional and prevent vengeance from spiraling beyond the original offense.² The religious leaders had quietly weaponized it, moving it from the courtroom into everyday life and placing that judicial authority into the hands of every offended man. What God had designed to limit retaliation, they turned into a justification for it. Jesus is showing a new way.
Jesus confirms the original intent of Mosaic law and then presses into what our response should actually look like as Christians. Turning the cheek, giving the cloak, going the second mile. None are passive acts. Each one is an active, chosen response that refuses to let the offender control the script.
Consider the mile comment. Under Roman law, a soldier could conscript you on the road and require you to carry his gear, but only up to one thousand double-paces, roughly 4,854 feet.³ Imagine heading to the market when you are stopped and told to drop everything and serve one of your oppressors. Jesus says go the extra mile. The soldier owns mile one. Mile two belongs to you. You are no longer carrying his pack because you have to. You are carrying it because you chose to, and that changes everything.
Paul lays it out plainly in Romans 12: “Repay no one evil for evil… Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”⁴
You and I are going to be persecuted, ridiculed, and hurt. None of that removes the legal system from the equation where it is appropriate, but our personal response is a different matter entirely. It should look completely unnatural to anyone watching, because it is. Each of these moments is an opportunity to invite someone who may not know Jesus into the bigger picture.
My daughter cried that day. I stood there for a long moment, every instinct pulling hard. Then I picked her up, and we walked away from his anger. He got to watch a father choose something he could not account for.
Your personal response is what the people around you are watching. It is what they cannot explain. And what they cannot explain, they eventually have to ask about.
How can your reaction change today?
Where is God calling you to walk the extra mile?
Stay on Mission
Matthew 5:38–42 (ESV) ² Lex talionis in the Law: Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21 ³ The Roman angaria system of forced conscription. See also Mark 15:21. ⁴ Romans 12:17–21 (ESV)
Leave a Reply