URC Daily Devotion for 1-11-2025

St 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 an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;  and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well;  and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Reflection

Walter Wink (1935-2012) was an American theologian and activist who wrote the book ‘Jesus and Nonviolence (A Third Way)’. In this reading Jesus says: ‘do not resist an evildoer’. Wink explains that there are usually two ways to respond to evil – passivity or violent opposition. He then cites that there is a third way, a way of nonviolence, articulated by Jesus: instead of giving back like for like, Jesus encourages loving enemies, with a resistance that disarms the powerful.

When I first heard this I was fascinated and read up on it and demonstrated it in worship. ‘If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also’…at which point the young lad who I had asked to come and help me show what I meant, moved forward slightly and instead of pretending to hit him, I whacked him and momentarily he was unable to turn his head! When he did, I was able to show that, by turning his head back to where it had been, I could not give him a second, backhanded slap, which was the way those in power often humiliated others and asserted their authority. By that small action, the power balance shifted. In relation to going the second mile carrying someone’s pack, a soldier could be punished for letting someone carry their pack more than a mile; and the giving of a cloak as well meant the person demanding the coat would leave the other person with no clothes and so would be the one humiliated (not the naked one). Again, subversion of power.

I really appreciated this interpretation of the text as it shows Jesus advocating a way that isn’t submission (this text has been used – incorrectly in my view – to justify abuse, especially against women) but strength to the oppressed, justice, and a radical standing up to power, systems and structures that oppress. 

Prayer

Justice seeking God,
You call us to live well together in peace and harmony 
and yet we fall short so often. 
We perpetuate systems and structures that oppress
and we fail to look out for the weak, the poor and the marginalised. 
Jesus showed us that there is another way to live that is countercultural and radical. 
Be with us as we seek to follow him. 
Amen.