(Luke 6:38-42)
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
BACKGROUND
Soldiers could and would by law force people to carry their loads for certain distances. Most sources say the limit was one mile: a Roman mile would have been 1,000 paces (a pace was 2 steps) which is a bit shorter than a mile.
Throughout the OT an eye for an eye was the fair way of living in community. It was a matter of justice and keeping the communities and individuals within communities from escalating revenge.
In this passage Jesus told his listeners how they should respond to aggressive behavior from others who want to take a disciple's possessions. Rather than responding in the way they had been taught (an eye for an eye), Jesus told them to respond to aggressiveness with aggressive acceptance.
It is a command to act unfairly toward self in order to be generous to others. The acts Jesus calls for are acts that do not come naturally to most healthy people, they are acts of self destruction for the betterment of others whether or not others are fair in their requests or demands. Furthermore told his disciples to give - not only to people who aggressively demand from them by law or be force, but disciples were to give even to those who simply asked them for whatever they had. Such ability to give so freely could only come if the disciple completely disassociate themselves from what they owned.
It is very likely that most people in Jesus day would own no more than one cloak and one tunic. So to give both to somebody demanding or requesting such was to give away one of life's necessities. Furthermore to take someone's coat for more than a day was forbidden by the Law of Moses.
COMMENTS
When it came to giving to others, Jesus demanded that his followers actively "go the extra mile." Being unjustly and unlawfully sued for one of life's necessities, they were to give the aggressor even more. Rather than passively resisting a Roman soldier, his followers were to go 2 times what was required by them thus making themselves servants to those who oppressed them.
The reason behind this is debatable. Did Jesus want his disciples to give so generously in order to turn enemies into friends? Or was it something else? In Romans 12:19-21, Paul, who usually wrote little about the teachings of Jesus, wrote his commentary of the concept of going the extra mile.
Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,
"I will take vengeance;
I will repay those who deserve it,"
says the Lord.
Instead, do what the Scriptures say:
"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." (literally - "you will heap burning coals on his head.")
Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Although some commentaries believe that heaping coals on one's head was culturally good, the context of Romans suggests that God's wrath would be worse for the aggressor if the victim repaid good for evil.
So why did Jesus tell his disciples to sacrifice life's necessities or to go the extra mile? The answer seems to be made clear in Luke 6:32-36 when Jesus said:
"Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return. "Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Jesus told his disciples to give because God gives. They were to love their enemies because God loved their enemies and gave to them life and subsistence. They were to give so much because it set then apart from the unbelievers and reflected the nature of God. And they were to give to receive a reward in heaven. Matthew added one other reason to give...because God cares for all of his creation so how much more will he meet his disciples' needs.
Luke also tells us: "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving-large or small-it will be used to measure what is given back to you." (Luke 6:38)
On the surface it looks like Luke is saying that if we give away a lot of our possessions or money we will get back even more of the same. The only problem with this is...the context of this verse (IE: the verses right before it, and after) suggest that the giving is not monetary giving but giving in judgment or forgiving. If we give out judgement we will receive even more judgment; If we give out forgiveness (literally "letting go.") we will get forgiveness in return.
Jesus called his followers to go the extra mile and to love those who were deemed enemies, who oppressed and took from their very subsistence - their rulers and tax-collectors. Jesus would be saying, "If they want to take the shirt off your back, give them more and love them while you do it, because God does."
So the question is before us all. Does God want this of us? Or was this understood by people in Jesus day as an overstatement?
