Jesus Said, “Go the Second Mile”

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

The main theme of this is to promote de-escalation with a spirit of peace at all costs. Letting go of pride, yielding, even when under attack. When you feel taken advantage of, still go the extra mile. Mercy over justice. Trust God with the results. No longer is it our duty to seek revenge, to get even or even run from hurt.

This is a hard one on so many levels. When I read it, I imagine Jesus being as quiet as a sheep taking the insults, calmly taking the physical hits, not resisting the shoving of a thorned crown on his head. I think of him being invited to parties to be treated like a second class citizen, no feet washing, no oils for fragrance.

Now when I think of myself, I think calm, calm and blow like a volcano. Or calm, calm and then roar like a lion. Or if you hurt me I flush you and run. These are the tendencies I fight daily. I can only take so much then I retaliate most often with my lungs or retreat to a far away place with my legs or I lock you out!

I am very good at looking for a way to hide from the annoyance or perpetrator.

Then, when I think about Jesus going an extra mile, I think of all the times he was tired and hungry and the crowds surrounded him or were waiting on him from a far. For the most part, he pushed through is exhaustion. Not to say he did not recharge with solitude or prayer, he did. But he put his own needs aside more than not.

There are so many reasons he could have ignored requests to go to peoples homes or to pray over someone. But he went beyond the call of duty on so many levels.

I do often go beyond the call of duty, but if I feel the least bit of taken advantaged of, disrespected I tend to harbor a bit of resentment for the other person and then mad at myself for not creating proper boundaries. I would most likely vent about you being this way or that way. Which is not healthy. Why did I do it with any expectation of anything, including the display of proper appreciation?

For instance, I paid for man’s drink yesterday. He did not offer to pay for his own coke nor did he say thank you or acknowledge that I paid. There was no discussion that I would pay. I fully expected him to at least say, ” I will get you next time” or ” I didn’t bring cash. ” I did not even get a thank you. So I vented to my husband. It’s hard to wrap my mind around, I should just pay and not expect even a thank you. I was taught to say thank you or acknowledge kindness. It was not the money it was the principle. Frankly, my thoughts were that the southern social norms of the men are long gone . I regress.

But as you can see by my reaction was not pure love and move on, it bugged me. I have a lot of refining still to do in so many areas.

Radical love is what Jesus teaches. He is against escalating conflict. When you have quietness or peace in response to attacks, the Holy Spirit tends to stir in the spirit of the perpetrator. Many times they start to think about how ugly or unfair they’ve been. Not all the time, but a lot of time. Truly, God stirs hearts when they are ready, primed to receive. Eyes open and ears open, when the heart is ready and an atmosphere of peace and love helps foster spiritual refinement.

When I think about what he is saying…I question if we should even pursue peaceful protests because often times this leads to violence, property damage or even death. He truly wants us to lay our pride aside. He does not want us to promote anything that creates division or stirs people up. It’s not about us. It’s about peace, love, de-escalation. We must get rid of our deep seeded legalistic desire for fairness too. This life is not fair. We are to work hard, be kind, serve others, go beyond the call of duty and take what comes. Learn, grow and carry on.

So in summary, we are to graciously show mercy through tolerating, enduring and loving. It is our lifetime quest to strive to be more than not less than.