Did Jesus turn the other cheek?

[Tomdstone]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

 

[fhansen]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

I think the main point is not to retaliate in kind, not to repay evil for evil.

 

[brad90956]

I think the main point is not to retaliate in kind, not to repay evil for evil.

True followers of Christ, be prepared to have a world make jokes at your expense. You can hardly expect a world to be more reverent to you than to Our Lord. When it does make fun of your faith, it’s practices, abstinences, and rituals, then you are moving to a closer identity with Him Who gave us our faith. Not may you repay sneer with sneer. We cannot fight God’s battles with the weapons of Satan. Repaying jeer with jeer is not the response of a Christian, for under scorn Our Lord “answered nothing” to Herod. The world gets more of it’s amusement from a Christian who fails to be a Christian, but none from his respectful silence.

The answer of Our Lord to Herod was that Our Lord continued to be Our Lord. Dogs bay at the moon all night, but the moon gives back no snarl. It goes on shining. Shine forth in thy white robe of mockery, O Christian. One day it will be the robe of thy glory!

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

 

[RPRPsych]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

I think a better question would be: What will Jesus say to those who proudly proclaim that their religion is “other” than the one he founded?

I have a feeling that would hurt far more than a million slaps.

 

[seagal]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

I think this is the danger of taking the bible too literally. Jesus is one-upping the Mosaic command of “and eye for an eye” (“You have heard it said…” in verse 28). What he’s really saying is do not repay violence with violence. Which is exactly how he responded to being slapped. He turned the tables on the one who slapped him without striking back.

 

[pianistclare]

I think this is the danger of taking the bible too literally. Jesus is one-upping the Mosaic command of “and eye for an eye” (“You have heard it said…” in verse 28). What he’s really saying is do not repay violence with violence. Which is exactly how he responded to being slapped. He turned the tables on the one who slapped him without striking back.

yes. this.

 

[hu324b]

Or look at it like this:

If someone slaps you and you don’t let it stop with you - you might be inclined to do it to another ( not an actual slap) and in turn that person may pass it on. How far might it go?

If you do a kind act maybe that person will perform a kind act on the next person and so on.

Which one would you prefer?

Thats why we should turn the other cheek so that it stops with us.

We all know when someone makes us angry we like to carry it for a while and others pay for this in our attitudes and actions until we are ready to give it up.

 

[Dorothy]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

Many great answers you have received.

Jesus gave all of His Precious Blood for us as individuals. He did all He could to show His infinite love.

 

[undead_rat]

Jesus said that if a person were to strike you on one cheek, you should turn and let him strike you on the other cheek?
Matthew 5:29 “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Luke 6:29* “ To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other.”

But when an official slapped Jesus, Jesus did not turn the other cheek, but He asked: (John 18:23*) *“If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Is it better to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you or not?

**I don’t agree with your assessment that “Jesus did not turn the other cheek.” I would ask you to remember that this Man had the power to call down fire from Heaven on His captors and on those who were abusing Him. Isn’t this this greatest example ever of “do not resist an evil person?”

Jesus did not need to literally turn His face to the person who struck Him. He was a bound captive, so that “other cheek” was readily available to His abuser as long as our Lord refrained from using His Divine Power. **

 

[ssancho]

I seem to recall from Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism series that “turning the other cheek” is about more than just repaying good for evil. He used an example of Archbishop Desmond Tutu being confronted with a racist white man in South Africa who told him, “Get out of my way. I don’t make room for gorillas.” The good Archbishop got out of the street and said, “I do.”

That’s turning the other cheek.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

Some things have to looked at in their cultural context. Jesus, in several instances, would commend creativity in order to ensure that we stay on the right path. Sometimes Jesus gave examples of this. One example is the parable of the dishonest steward. In this parable Jesus is telling the listener to be prudent with creativity because the “children of this world” are creative in worldly matters. So, the “children of the light” should be creative (in a good way) too. usccb.org/bible/luke/16:9

Mt 5:39
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.

But in that world, people did not use the left hand to strike people. It was reserved for “unseemly” uses. Thus, being struck on the right cheek meant that one had been backhanded with the right hand. Given the social customs of the day, a backhand blow was the way a superior hit an inferior, whereas one fought social equals with fists.

This means the saying presupposes a setting in which a superior is beating a peasant. What should the peasant do? “Turn the other cheek.” What would be the effect? The only way the superior could continue the beating would be with an overhand blow with the fist–which would have meant treating the peasant as an equal.

Perhaps the beating would not have been stopped by this. But for the superior, it would at the very least have been disconcerting: he could continue the beating only by treating the peasant as a social peer. As Wink puts it, the peasant was in effect saying, “I am your equal. I refuse to be humiliated anymore.”
dharmagates.org/other_cheek.html

Mt 5:40
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well.
In Christ’s example, He speaks of tunics and cloaks. The Jews of His day wore two principal garments, an interior “coat” or “tunic” (an undergarment), and a more costly exterior cloak (outer garment). This cloak was used, not only as a jacket or overcoat during the day, but also as a covering to sleep under at night. By Mosaic law, the outer cloak was an inalienable possession that could not be withheld from a debtor overnight (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:12-13). Jesus is saying that, if we are sued even for a trifling amount, rather than countersuing and ratcheting up the hostility, we should be willing to give up what is rightfully ours to defuse the situation.
bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/CGG/ID/11586/Tunic-Cloak.htm

Mt 5:41
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.*

Roman law permitted soldiers to force civilians to carry their gear for one mile, but because of abuses stringently prohibited more than one mile.

If they ask you to do that, Jesus says, go ahead; but then carry their gear a second mile. Put them in a disconcerting situation: either they risk getting in trouble, or they will have to wrestle their gear back from you.
dharmagates.org/other_cheek.html

 

[Peebo]

Wouldn’t work here in the US…we have our second amendment right…anyone slaps us on the cheek and we can blow them away and claim “stand your ground” that we feared for our safety…and don’t think it hasn’t happened…George Zimmerman is but one example.