By Cathy Hird

Last week, I looked at the foundation that grounded M. K. Gandhi's non-violent resistence. In western culture we often quote the words of Jesus, "Turn the other cheek." It is that saying that I want to take a closer look at this week.

The way we quote this phrase sounds like an invitation to just let the person hit us again. But the context makes the instruction stronger, more like Gandhi.

Jesus taught in a corner of the Roman Empire that chaffed against the arrogance, brutality and power of the empire. As a result, soldiers of Rome tended to press their authority in order to keep rebellion under their thumb.

In a dispute with an equal, a soldier would punch the person. Confronting someone who was considered inferior, someone who they wanted to show their power over, they would slap them. And the word Jesus uses means "to hit with an open hand."

So Jesus' instruction to "Turn the other cheek" is more, "if someone insults you by slapping your face, stand there, turn the other cheek, tell them that you are prepared for a fair fight with an equal. Do not let them diminish you or insult you with their violence."

The first time I heard that explanation, I was skeptical. But there is a series of three instructions, and a look at the other two helps us see this first one.

Let me go to the third one because it is clearly about Roman soldiers. "If someone forces you to go one mile with them, go two." The context here is the law which allowed soldiers to conscript anyone to carry their pack, but only for one mile. In effect, Jesus says, "Don't fight the conscription--that could lead to serious punishment--but show the injustice of it by insisting on going further. Make him break his own law when he forces this injustice on you."

In this instruction, we see the fundamental nature of non-violent resistance. It is not an action that simply allows an unjust power to run over a person. Rather, it is an action that demonstrates the injustice of the law. This was a technique used by Martin Luther King Jr and the American civil rights movement: if the law says "whites only" then sit in that restaurant, ride in that part of the bus, walk those streets to show that the law is not just.

The middle instruction reads, "if someone takes you to court to get your tunic, give them your cloak as well." At this time, those would be the only two garments ordinary people would own.

In rural Galilee, land had become centralized in fewer hands, and more people were forced to become day labourers. The wealthier people, the landowners and moneylenders, the tax collectors, pressed the poor hard. Poverty was rampant. In a desperate situation, a poor person who needed money might only have their over-tunic to offer as surety in order to get a loan, though this was an essential garment in colder seasons.

So Jesus says, "if someone has the power and the callousness to demand you give them your tunic as a payment, show how unjust this is by giving them your cloak as well." The person would then stand in the courtroom naked.

Public nakedness was shameful. In another place, Jesus praises people who offer clothing to one who is naked. Because the possession of a tunic was essential, removing the cloak as well shows that the wealthier person is taking away a necessity not a luxury. It shows that the whole process is unjust. Again, Jesus' instruction presses for an action which is not violent, but which uncovers the injustice and oppression of a rule the society has come to accept.

To go back to the instruction to turn the other cheek. Jesus did not expect people to give others the power to beat them. Rather, he talks about shifting the balance of power, making the other person see you as an equal. Fighting back would say that violence was the right way to solve the issue. "Turn the other cheek" means, "Stand there, and make them look you in the eye with respect."

Cathy Hird is a farmer, minister, and writer living near Walters Falls.