I hear it all the time in church or growing up: “Turn the other cheek. Don’t fight back, just turn the other cheek.” It’s such a hard concept to actually do. In theory, it’s easy. In reality, our sinful nature wants payback. If someone hurts you, hurt them back. The old term was “eye for an eye, tooth for tooth” from Exodus 21:23. Why does Jesus change the law in the New Testament?
Matthew 5:38-42
This segment of verses is part of what is called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 1-7: 27). It was one of Jesus’ earliest and longest sermons. He had just started His journey and Matthew says Jesus had done miracles, but no documented teachings yet. This huge segment of teachings was a radical change from what the Jews were used to. Here Jesus said that those who suffer on Earth and are considered despised will be blessed after death. Lust is as bad a sin as adultery and insulting your neighbor is as bad as killing them. The Jews had been raised to follow a very strict series of laws, to go by those laws if they ever had to make a decision. Jesus was saying that those laws weren’t being used as intended. Ancient Jews had adjusted the rules to be outward shows of pride more than willing acts of devotion to God. In Matthew 5: 17-20, Jesus said that He had come to fulfill the Law, not destroy it.
God gave the Law in the Old Testament as a focus for the people who claimed to love Him to have ways to show Him their devotion. He knew people were sinful and needed guidelines to remember to get right with God because of sinful natures. So He gave basic but strict rules. He wants perfection from everyone, but only Jesus could give it to Him. Most of the Old Testament laws were intended to be foreshadowing Jesus’ life and ultimate sacrifice somehow. As Hebrews 10 points out, the rituals required by Old Testament Law were done repeatedly. The priests had to continually take away the sins the people committed. Jesus came to fulfill all the sacrifices God needed to see all believers as perfect people. We no longer need to do every single rule the Old Testament Jews lived by. Jesus came to tell everyone that what God really wanted was not outward obedience, but that we love God and each other. Those two rules are all we should need to be perfect.
The Sermon on the Mount was the first of Jesus’ radical new teachings. He used the old laws to show that thoughts and emotions are just as angering to God as actually murdering someone. A lot of the people listening to the sermon probably didn’t understand what He meant, but Jesus would continue to reword the message for three years until His ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
If we don’t punish people, do they go unpunished?
No, Psalms and a lot of the Old Testament writings say that only God can punish evildoers. Psalm 5: 9 talks about how David’s enemies lie, but it doesn’t gloat about punishing his enemies. Verse 10 is a plea for God to judge them guilty and banish them. The psalms are full of cries for judgment against deceit and slander, but no boasts about punishing the writer’s own enemies. Romans 12: 17-21 clarifies what “turn the other cheek” means. We should treat everyone with love, hurting nobody, even if they hurt us. God will punish anyone who needs to be punished. We need to focus on love, not vengeance.
