Sermon 3.8.26 | "The Other Cheek

Feed My Starving Children returns to North Sub in April with ambitious plans to pack 186,624 meals, mobilize a thousand volunteers across nine shifts, and raise $55,000 to fill a tractor-trailer of food. The text then turns to Matthew 5:38–42 and examines how rights function in everyday relationships. The Torah’s “eye for an eye” originally aimed to limit escalating revenge by holding retaliation to a legally sanctioned proportion; over time scribal interpretation twisted that restraint into permission for revenge. Jesus reframes that trajectory: in the kingdom marked by Jubilee, rights no longer form the foundation of relationships. Rather than treating rights as a ledger to balance every wrong, the Jubilee ethic calls people to absorb cost, bear suffering voluntarily, and choose forgiveness even toward those who act in bad faith.

Jesus’s instruction to “not resist an evildoer” targets ordinary interpersonal conflicts—backhanded insults, petty lawsuits, coerced service, and exploitative requests—not public justice systems or political resistance. The four examples (turn the other cheek, give the coat, go the extra mile, give to the asker) function as provocative case studies that widen imagination about what life looks like when restoration reshapes default behavior. Forgiveness, as portrayed here, does not erase cost; it assumes cost. To forgive means to take on the burden that justice would otherwise exact, exposing oneself to further injury while centering the wrongdoer’s future well-being.

That ethic finds its ground in the announced Jubilee and ultimately in the cross: divine forgiveness came at a real price paid by Christ, who bore the penalties owed by evildoers. Thus the call follows: release claims, practice costly mercy, and model a countercultural way of relating that seeks restoration more than retribution. Participation in this Jubilee way neither excuses abusive patterns nor neglects wise boundaries; rather, it orients the heart toward sacrificial forgiveness rooted in the one who forgave without insisting on rights retained.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Rights not basis for relationships Rights function as legal protections, not the foundation for communal life. In the kingdom ethic, relationships require a willingness to relinquish legal recourse when restoration and forgiveness better promote reconciliation. This does not negate justice structures, but it relocates the default posture between neighbors from entitlement to sacrificial mercy. Practicing this reshapes ordinary interactions toward mutual flourishing. [07:38]
• 2. Eye-for-eye limits retaliation The “eye for an eye” law originally constrained escalating vengeance by channeling redress through legal limits rather than personal revenge. When read rightly, that law points forward to a posture that breaks cycles of retaliation by refusing to exceed the harm suffered. Twisting the law into permission for personal revenge corrupts its intent; reclaiming it requires imagining how restraint fosters communal stability. Seeing the law this way clarifies Jesus’s radical call to go further than the limit. [12:02]
• 3. Jubilee reframes rights into forgiveness Jubilee interrupts ordinary claims to land, debt, and recompense by instituting periodic release—temporarily suspending certain rights in favor of restoration. Jesus announces that the Jubilee has arrived, and this epochal shift reorders how people should value possessions, time, and legal claims. Living under Jubilee asks believers to make relational choices that reflect a released ledger rather than a balance sheet mentality. This reorientation trains hearts to steward mercy as the norm. [21:35]
• 4. Forgiveness requires costly self‑sacrifice True forgiveness absorbs cost rather than merely rescinding accusation; it takes on the burden that justice would otherwise demand. The cross models this precisely: debt canceled because someone else paid the price, not because the debt was ignored. Imitating that pattern means sometimes incurring loss or additional suffering to aim for another’s restoration. Such costly mercy proves both the depth and seriousness of a Jubilee people. [32:23]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:15] - Feed My Starving Children announcement
• [01:07] - Volunteer needs and donations
• [02:34] - Opening prayer and Scripture posture
• [02:57] - Rights in everyday relationships
• [06:01] - Reading: Matthew 5:38–42
• [09:00] - Torah principle and pattern
• [12:02] - Eye-for-eye: original purpose
• [13:39] - "Don't resist an evildoer" explained
• [21:35] - Jubilee: year of release
• [23:21] - Four examples of laying down rights
• [31:23] - Christ's example and the cross
• [34:11] - Call to forgive and closing prayer

Bible reading: Matthew 5:38-42 (ESV)
“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.”

Observation questions

1. What four specific examples does Jesus use to illustrate what it looks like to "not resist an evildoer"?
2. According to the teaching, what was the original purpose of the "eye for an eye" law given in the Old Testament? [12:02]
3. What significant event did Jesus announce that changes how his followers are to view their rights and possessions? [21:35]
4. How is true forgiveness described in relation to bearing a cost? [25:03]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus instructs his followers not to resist an evildoer, but this seems to conflict with other biblical calls to defend the innocent. How might these different instructions work together in a believer's life? [15:58]
2. The concept of Jubilee involved the periodic cancellation of debts and return of land. How does this Old Testament practice help interpret Jesus' radical commands about giving up our rights? [20:42]
3. In the example of being forced to go one mile, the hearers would have understood this as referring to Roman conscription. What makes this kind of voluntary, extra service so counterintuitive and powerful?
4. If forgiveness means voluntarily bearing the cost of another's wrongdoing instead of making them pay, how does this differ from simply ignoring the wrong that was done? [25:33]

Application questions

1. Rights are no basis for relationship in the kingdom ethic. What is one relationship in your life where you instinctively assert your rights rather than seeking restoration? What would it look like to lay down a specific right in that relationship this week? [07:38]
2. Think of a recent "backhanded slap" – a situation where you felt personally disrespected or insulted. What would it have looked like to "turn the other cheek" in that moment instead of seeking to balance the ledger? [23:47]
3. The call to go a second mile involves surrendering our right to time and convenience. Who in your life regularly makes demands on your time? How could you proactively choose to "go the second mile" with joy for that person? [28:38]
4. Forgiveness absorbs cost rather than ignoring it. Is there a debt – emotional, relational, or financial – that someone owes you that you need to release, even though it will cost you? What step can you take toward that release? [32:23]
5. How does the truth that Jesus absorbed the ultimate cost for your forgiveness on the cross make it possible to extend costly forgiveness to others who have wronged you? [33:54]
6. In what situations might setting a healthy boundary be the most loving way to "not resist an evildoer," and how can we distinguish between wise boundaries and a refusal to forgive? [24:45]
7. The Jubilee ethic reorients us from a balance sheet mentality to a released ledger. Where in your life are you still keeping a mental "balance sheet" of wrongs done to you? What would it look like to tear up that sheet? [21:35]