What Jesus meant when He said, “Go the extra mile”…

⁴¹If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Matthew 5:41

A Roman soldier could legally make a Jew carry his 60-80lb pack for up to one mile. Anything over one mile would be cruel punishment.  A soldier could be fined, put in prison, or even have his pay docked if a Jew was caught carrying his pack over a mile.  The Romans placed mile markers beside the road so that they would know when the Jew needed to stop (this is where we get mile markers from. Thanks Romans.) When Jesus told them to go the second mile they had to be floored.  This is amazing.  After the first mile the Roman would try to take his pack back but the Jew would insist on taking it a second mile and the Roman would go from being a figure of authority to the one begging the Jew to stop.  Why would the Roman beg him to stop?  Remember the soldier would get in a lot of trouble if the Jew went over a mile. I am sure after this happened a few times the Romans stopped asking the Jews to carry their packs because they feared getting in trouble.

What Jesus meant by saying, “Turn the other cheek”.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus really meant when He said, “Turn the other cheek”? Let me give you some background information before we start. In Matthew 5 Jesus is teaching His disciples.  The Jews were being double taxed.  The Romans conquered Israel.  The Jews were a small minority during this time.  They were heavily oppressed. The Jews were humiliated on a daily basis by the Romans. So Jesus gives them 3 ways to stand against the violence…Turning the other cheek is the first one.

³⁹But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matthew 5:39

The right hand is considered to be the strong hand in their culture.  The right hand represented strength and power.  The left hand was used for unclean task only. The primary use of the left hand was for bodily functions.  When a person would slap they would use the back  of the right hand (again right hand being strength and might).  In that culture the higher up would slap women, slaves, and Jews. When you slapped someone you were telling them that they were lower class.  When the person turned the other cheek the person doing the slapping could no longer slap the person in front of them.  When the victim would turn the other check it would put the slapper in an awkward position. They could not use the back of the right hand to slap the persons other cheek. At that point they would have to punch them. To punch someone meant that you were calling them your equal.  This idea flipped the whole system. The person who was slapped was now in a position to think about what they had done. The slapper is now faced with two options: 1. Punch the person and call them an equal or 2. Walk away. I can assure you that the Romans were much to prideful to call a slave and equal.  But it made them think!

Amazing!

When I do what God has called me to do…

We have to be very cautious when we begin to criticize what others are doing.  When people are following God, they sometimes are called to do things that others may not understand.  For instance, in November of 2009 God very clearly called me to leave my church position.  I did not understand why He would call me to do this, but He did.  What made this even crazier was that He put me in a chiropractic office.  Does that make sense?  While working at the chiropractic office I learned how to be an effective leader and how to see and meet the needs of people.  This was stuff that I never learned in school or in any of my seminary classes.  It was crazy! After being there for 3 months God open up the door for me to step back into full-time ministry.  I struggled with this.  I told God that people would judge me and think that I lied to them.  Because from the outside it looked shady.  I remember in the process of seeking out God’s will for my life He told me to not worry about what others say or think, because that didn’t matter. He gave me some crazy scriptures to look at…

¹² Eat the food as you would a barley cake; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement  for fuel.” ¹³ The LORD said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.” Ezekiel 4:13

God said, I want you to bake a cake, but the kicker is I need you to use human waste or poop as the fuel. Then once you have it ready I need you to eat it.  Um…What do you think the people around Ezekiel had to say about this?  I bet they talked junk about Ezekiel.  But He was only doing what God had called Him to do.  What about this one?

¹ In the year that the supreme commander, sent by Sargon king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and attacked and captured it- ² at that time the LORD spoke through Isaiah son of Amoz. He said to him, “Take off the sackcloth from your body and the sandals from your feet.” And he did so, going around stripped and barefoot.

³ Then the LORD said, “Just as my servant Isaiah has gone stripped and barefoot for three years, as a sign and portent against Egypt and Cush. ( Isaiah 20:1-3)

God told Isaiah to walk around naked for 3 years!  This was bizarre behavior.  I am sure people talked about Him.  But He was only doing what God had called Him to do.

I have come to this conclusion in my life…when I do what God has called me to do, all the criticism in the world doesn’t matter.  The people who have time to criticize are the ones sitting on the sidelines doing nothing to advance the Kingdom of God.  I challenge you today to see what bizarre things God may call you to do.