Luke 6- A Third Way
/Luke 6:21-30
Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
In youth group this fall, we’ve been studying the gospels one at a time, getting to know their authors, original audiences, and unique depictions of Jesus. The gospels are not just the same story four times. The youth all know that Luke is my favorite gospel because it reads like a great Opera—it has a clear narrator, eloquent songs, fanciful Greek, and brisk yet sweeping narrative. Today’s passage comes at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, just after he chose his twelve disciples and it’s often referred to as “the Sermon on the Plains.” He has come down off the mountain to the level place and there he addresses the multitudes of people—Israelites and Gentiles—who have gathered to hear this infamous Rabbi from Nazareth. The sermon is very similar to Matthew’s version of the Sermon on the Mount. Both begin with blessings that we refer to as “the Beatitudes.” Perhaps you’re familiar with them, or least, you thought you were familiar with them but what Nancy read sounded a bit different than what you remembered. If that’s the case, you’re probably like me and you’ve read Matthew’s version more than Luke’s. Whereas Matthew says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” Luke simply says, “Blessed are you who are poor.” It’s different both in tone, audience, and meaning. But Jesus doesn’t stop there.
Frankly, I don’t know how Jesus packed it all into that one sermon. When I tried, I ended up with a mega-sermon that tried to address everything and let’s just say we’re all lucky I have good editors! I could have preached a whole sermon on the blessings, a whole sermon on the woes. I could have practically preached an entire sermon on each individual verse. But I had to keep praying and asking God, what is it you are saying to us today? I think it to focus on the theme that weaves this whole passage together. It’s a passage about things that are not as they seem and getting into what Congressman John Lewis calls “good trouble.” Good trouble is about disrupting an unequal status quo and refusing to accept things the way they are, even when that comes at a cost.
After the blessings and woes, Jesus says, love your enemies, do good to those that hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those that abuse you. No matter how many times I hear it in church, it never stops sounding radical. Pray for those who abuse you. I want to start by being very clear about this verse in particular, although we’ll return to it later because it has been misused in destructive ways by the church to keep women in abusive relationships. Pastors have used this verse to trap women and say, “you just need to pray for your husband to stop physically, verbally, financially, or emotionally abusing you.” Let me be clear—that is not what this verse means. Jesus will never, ever say “stay where you are being hurt.” Jesus proclaims freedom and life abundance for victims of abuse and that means finding safety. You can pray for those who abuse you when you have gotten away from your abuser. Jesus does not tell you to pray for them and remain being abused.
When we talked about this passage in youth group, I asked the students if they only had this passage to go off of, what they would think Jesus cares about? At first, they all said, “the poor.” But then Caroline said, “I think Jesus also cares about mean people.” I asked her to clarify and she went on, “well Jesus says “blessed are the poor” but he also says to pray for those that hurt you, so he must care about them too. Even if they are the ones hurting others.”
It’s one of the hardest things for me to swallow—God loves our enemies just as much as God loves us. God doesn’t love, condone or defend their actions, but God loves them anyway. But so much of what Jesus says cannot be taken at “face value” without interpretation. I grew up with a fear that “interpretation” really meant bending scripture to mean what we want it to, but I now know that couldn’t be farther from the truth. As someone who works with high school students, I know firsthand how important interpretation is! The words and phrases kids use today are practically another language from how adults talk. I feel about a million years old when I get on TikTok and realize that I have no idea what these phrases mean. Interpreting what memes and teenage slang means is essential to understanding what they are talking about.
So too do we need a lot context to understand what Jesus means when he says, “if anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.” At first glance, it sounds like submission to abuse, but that’s because we’re missing some crucial information. It’s important to note that in Matthew’s account, Jesus actually specifies if someone strikes you “on the right cheek.” So why the right cheek? It’s because, in Jesus’ time, you could not use your left hand for anything other than for going to the bathroom. Left hands were considered universally unclean, to the extent that in the community where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, even gesturing with your left hand was a crime punishable with ten days penance.
So, to be struck on your right cheek meant the one hitting you had to use the back of their hand. A backhanded slap was a symbol of power. It was the way powerful people humiliated their inferiors. Masters backhanded slaves. Husbands backhanded wives. Parents to children. Romans to Jews. In contrast, an openhanded slap was a sign of disagreement among equals. A slap to the face might sting, but it is not particularly hurtful. If you wanted actually to injure someone, you wouldn’t slap them on the face. No, a slap was intended to humiliate, to put someone in their place.
Notice who Jesus is talking to. It’s to the ones who are being slapped. To the ones who are hated, cursed, abused, and robbed. He’s talking to victims here, not to perpetrators. It’s those who are forced, as Walter Wink writes, to “stifle outrage at their dehumanizing treatment by the hierarchical system of caste and class, race and gender, age and status.”
So why does Jesus counsel these already humiliated people to turn the other cheek? Because this action robs the oppressor of the power to humiliate. The person who turns the other cheek is saying, in effect, "Try again. Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you. Your status does not alter that fact. You cannot demean me."
Offering your other cheek creates enormous difficulties for the striker from a logistical and symbolic point of view. To explain, I need some help demonstrating because it’s a bit hard to describe. (girls come up). Now, if the master had hit his slave on his right cheek, as Matthew specifies, then would have been with the back of his hand. But, if the slave turns their cheek to offer it to be slapped again, now she has a logistical dilemma. She cannot backhand it with her right hand, and she cannot use her left hand. However, if she hits with a fist or open hand, she marks the other as her equal, acknowledging her as a peer. (thanks girls)
The whole point of the back of the hand is to reinforce institutionalized inequality. By turning the other cheek, the oppressor has been forced, against their will, to regard this subordinate as an equal human being. Even if the superior orders the person flogged for such behavior, the point has been irrevocably made. This is not a conflict avoidance technique. There will almost certainly be consequences.
When faced with the options of giving into the dehumanizing treatment or fighting back, Jesus offers a third way. It is neither submission nor violence. It is non-violent resistance to the dehumanizing status quo. In turning the other cheek, Jesus teaches victims to defend their worth, value, and humanity. There are no second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God. No one receives a backhanded slap.
But also, no one gives a backhanded slap in the Kingdom of God. Because in claiming and proclaiming victims’ dignity, we also must name and proclaim the humanity of oppressors. To abuse and hurt another human being requires abusers to silence and deny their own humanity. It is not possible to hurt another human being without also hurting yourself. Abusive systems hurt both the oppressed and the oppressor. Toxic masculinity and patriarchy have clearly had devastating effects on women for centuries. Patriarchy has kept women subservient to men, unable to use the gifts God has given them and blamed the violence enacted against them because they were “asking for it.” But patriarchy also hurts the men it supposedly supports. Toxic masculinity says that women are “emotional” but men are only “physical” which has resulted in generations of men who have been taught that only sissy’s cry, share their feelings, or forge deep emotional relationships. Toxic masculinity says there is only one, narrow way to be a “real man” which includes violence and domination of women and of creation. It has robbed men of real friendships with women, of respecting women as their bosses and seeing them as their heroes. To be told, explicitly or not, that you are innately more qualified for leadership or power because of your gender robs you from fully recognizing the fullness of humanity in yourself and others. Not all men were created to lead. Not all women were created to follow. This broken system hurts us all and the fight to dismantle it is a fight for everyone’s freedom. But it is not just patriarchy. The same could be said of the way that the system of white supremacy and every other destructive system you can think of.
This is why Caroline said that Jesus cares about mean people too. It’s because Jesus does not want them to be trapped in their patterns of abuse. Jesus longs for human flourishing for all people. For abusers, bullies, and beneficiaries of inequality to change their ways and reclaim their humanity.
In the face of two bad options, Jesus offers his followers a third way. When sin and evil tell you your only options are to hurt or be hurt, Jesus says “not in my kingdom.” Jesus says there is a way to turn your enemies into your partners in peace. People of Southminster, where in your life is Jesus calling you to find a third way? Where is the Holy Spirit nudging you to seek true justice, rather than a false peace that silences the hurt rather than heals it? Is it in your marriage, at your work, with your boss or with a classmate? Is it the co-worker who makes vaguely sexist comments that makes everyone uncomfortable, but no one seems to stop?
There is no end to injustice in this world and in our own lives. White people in this country were born into a system created to benefit us at the expense of others. We didn’t start the fire, but it burns to keep us warm, nonetheless. Whether you have been hurt or dehumanized, you realize that you have been the one to hurt others or to hoard your privilege to serve only yourself, or like me, you are some combination of the two know that Jesus wants more for you. Jesus is actively fighting for freedom from sin and bondage. Jesus is always on the side of healing and wholeness, and it comes with a cost. Our risen savior has holes in his hands and in his side. The wounds of Christ’s nonviolent resistance to sin and death are real reminders that the struggle for justice will also cost us something.
There’s a reason Jesus tells his disciples, “take up your cross and follow me.” It’s not easy work. I wish I could tell you it was. But I can tell you it’s better. I can tell you that following Jesus is a journey toward freedom. I can tell you that Jesus tells us that he has come that we may life and have to abundance. Christ tells that he will be with us, even to the end of the age. This not work you need to do alone.
We all need freedom. We all need a savior who sees us not as oppressors or oppressed, not as victims or victimizers, but as beloved children of God; inherently deserving of flourishing, wholeness, and right relationship with others, with ourselves, with God, and with creation.
I ask you again, where in your life do you see only bad options? Where is God calling you to creativity and courage? Where is God calling to pay close attention to those around you and notice the pain, injustice, or hurt around you? Where can you carve out a third way where none seems to exist? This world is full of problems big and small and I am not saying we can solve them all, nor am I saying that each of your lives has opportunities as epic as a slave turning the other cheek in defiance of an abusive master. But we all have problems that seem to have only bad solutions. We all have opportunities to follow Christ’s calls to turn the other cheek. To proclaim our worth and dignity, and humanity of each and every person in this world.
