Turn The Other Cheek - The Cowards Favorite Verse

This is primarily taken from Matthew.

Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

It upsets me that so many who call themselves Christians today do not take the time to really study scripture and look into the context which a lot of popular ideas stem from.

This is taken from Matthew 5 which is the beginning of the famous Sermon on the Mount, which goes all the way through to chapter 7.

In this portion Christ is talking about dealing with your enemies. The problem is that there are different types of enemies, enemy personal, enemy universal, enemy corporate. The pacifist lumps it all into one category, “enemy”.

The problem is that what Christ is talking about here is personal enemies and not those who are corporate / universal.

When we read in context we see that Christ is addressing social issues. How to deal with one another, being angry with one another, issues like adultery and divorce, making promises you cannot keep or making promises you should not promise to keep.

We then come to the famous turn the other cheek / love your enemy part.

Matthew 5: 38-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

In this as well as all of Chapter 5, Christ is dealing with personal social issues, not government or corporate issues.

Nowhere does it say that we cannot defend ourselves, not protect the innocent, and not protect our family, etc.

Breaking Down “Turn The Other Cheek” – Which Hand?

Matthew 5: 39 but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

For the past 100 years we have stopped becoming a war like / fighting people. Because we are no longer fighters, we miss out on something that our forefathers understood plain as day.

Let’s look at social norms.

First, the majority of the world is “right” handed. Why is that? I honestly believed that God created man to be right handed and to this day that still remains to be the norm. Only 15% of the world’s population is left handed.

Throughout history and social norms the left hand is always the “unclean” hand. In the days before proper sanitary conditions, men and women used their left hand to deal with all their “nether region’s” hygiene issues. This includes the monthly issues women have to deal with.

SO… no one and I mean no one used the left hand for any sort of social interaction and to this day we still honor that idea.

Just as a quick test, reach your left hand to shake hands and watch the other person’s eyes. You will see that you are “tripping them up” mentally and they will think a moment before offering the left hand, that is if they even offer it at all.

In today’s PC world where people don’t ask “WHY” and do not want to “offend,” most people will then shake with the left if given a few moments to think about it.

We can see that even Luke records the social norm when he references the sermon on the mount.

Luke 6:29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

When you read from the Authorized King James Bible you will notice that the word “ONE” is italicized. It is italicized because he is referencing the “right” cheek or proper cheek. Luke is talking about the “right” side as opposed to the wrong side or second side.

The historical social norm is that the right side is always right / first and the left side is always the wrong side, second or what is “left.”

Do a study on right vs left in social norms, it is amazing to find out why we do what we do and this in and of itself shows that God is in fact our creator and we did not just appear out of some primordial ooze. God put thought into us and ingrained these ideas into our DNA.

Now, with this little history lesson out of the way, let me ask you the following…

How does a right handed person “smite” or strike someone on the right cheek?

Think on this for a moment and hum the Jeopardy game show theme in your mind as you are thinking.

Ready?

The only way a right handed person could strike someone on the right cheek is use the back of the hand to slap them or commonly known as a backslap.

If you would “attack” someone and intend to do serious damage / fight a person, you would use a fist and strike the closest target, that being the left cheek.

But Christ is CLEARLY talking about the right cheek.

Because we are no longer a fighting warlike people we miss the entire context of this and because of that we feminize this. Because we have become so emasculated, we lose out on what Christ is telling us.

Context 1 – Christ is talking about social issues / treating one another.

Context 2 – one NEVER strikes another with a left hand, that is the unclean hand and one just did not break that unwritten social rule no matter what.

Context 3 – in a fighting warlike society if you backslap someone it has always been seen as a form to bring shame / insult the person who is being slapped.

To put it in modern terminology “Bi–h-slap” (think the proper term for a female dog)

To define this we read the following..

Bi–h-slap

“to hit someone’s face (usually the cheek) with the back of one’s hand. Typically performed when the person is being insubordinate and is used to assert one’s authority, rather than to cause great harm. “

Christ is not talking about universal / corporate enemies, enemies at large or nation states that want to do us harm.

He is talking about that real jerk at work that always wants to up you by one, rub your nose in it when you make a mistake, the one who is always starting rumors about you, the one who is most likely be the person who will take their keys and put a huge scratch down the side of your car.

That is the sort of enemy that Christ is talking about here.

But because over the past 100 years we have gone from a fighting warlike people to soft feminized PC “God is Love” sort of people, we have been missing this point.

Did Christ Turn The Other Cheek? HECK NO! The Lion of Judah Comes Out

How many of you know or remember the scene in the garden when Jesus was arrested? There is a lot going on here, but when you read all four accounts from the Gospels, we clearly see the “Lion of Judah” coming out in Christ and not some meek lamb that is often portrayed. In the garden Christ shows His street smarts as well as giving us a peek at the “lion of Judah” but allowed Himself and submitted to being the “lamb.”

John gives an account with a lot of detail that the other gospels did not include. There is a lot there when we really take the time to read.

Please take the time to read this, it is important, so please do not skim it, really read…

John 18: 2 – 11

2 And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.

3 Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.

4 Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?

5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.

6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

7 Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.

8 Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:

9 that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

Did you see the “lion” here?

First point – Judas betrays Christ with a kiss and then returns to the crowd of men. This in and of itself was seen as an insult. Luke even records Christ reaction to this insult…

Luke 22:48 But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

In other words, “Judas, you know who I am (referring to the fact that He is God in the Flesh) and you betray me with a lowly kiss?”

He was basically calling Judas a coward and a panty waist.

Second Point – Jesus recovers from the insult and boldly asks “Whom seek ye?” They answer back “ Jesus of Nazereth.

Third Point – Many people miss the following, we witness The Lion’s Roar and John is the only one who records it…

5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.

6 As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

When Christ said “ I AM HE” He said it as a warrior and one with authority. Remember He was just insulted by the cowardly kiss that Judas gave him. He was letting the mass of people there that He is The Lion of Judah, the Son of God, The Alpha and Omega.

He startled them so much that they all, including Judas were stepping backwards and fell to the ground.

Now, to give you an idea of the mass of people there to arrest Christ we read the following in Mark.

Mark 14:43 And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Here is a very good excerpt describing the “great multitude”…

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