St. Matthew’s “thesis and antithesis” style within the Sermon on the Mount continues this Sunday. Jesus continues to comment on the Law and its interpretation using the common way of understanding the commandments and then asking his disciples to “walk the extra mile.” (That colloquialism comes from this Gospel text.)
Jesus uses three examples of what would be considered shameful behavior to help his disciples understand the radical nature of their commitment to being his disciples.
Being struck on the right cheek means that either the assailant “backhanded” the victim or used the left hand. Either action would have been forbidden by cultural norms.
While taking a tunic would be bad enough, it would be far worse to take the cloak since it functioned not only as a garment but also as a “sleeping bag” or protection from the cold desert nights.
Military personnel were able to coerce a person to carry his kit for a mile, but only for a mile. Jesus tells his disciples that they should go further.
In each case, the response to the dishonorable or shameful behavior would have turned the shame back on the assailant or thief or soldier. They would have incurred the shame of their actions if the victim were to act as Jesus proposes.
This society was driven by the pursuit of honor and the avoidance of shame. Jesus’ teaching not only conveys the message that true honor comes only from God, but it also tell his disciples that humility in these situations is far better than honor.
Jesus then turns to the commandment to love one’s countrymen. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that hatred of one’s enemy was permitted. However, it probably was the popular way of interpreting the commandment of Leviticus to love one’s fellow countrymen. While our text reads “neighbor,” the Hebrew really limits the love of neighbor to fellow Jews. So once again, Jesus is pushing boundaries in teaching that we should love those who do us harm, pray for those who would hurt us. Those who lived through the second half of the twentieth century saw this kind of response lived out by Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Finally, Jesus asks us to be “perfect” as God is perfect. St. Luke uses the word “merciful” rather than perfect, and the reading from Leviticus uses “holy.” The Scriptural understanding of holiness is really the notion of being “other than.” Just as God is like no other, we are called to be other than. We are to be different in our behavior. God created us in God’s image and likeness. This really means that God’s holiness, is “otherness” is to ours as well. This is perfection; this is completion. This is our vocation, something we usually call the “call to holiness.”
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administratory