Daily Dose of Hope
May 28, 2025
Day 3 of Week 8
Scripture - Matthew 5:38-48
Prayer: Almighty Father, Thank you for loving us despite our many faults. Thank you for showing us a different way of doing life. Help us seek holiness in all we do. Help us become the people you desire us to be. As we work through today’s Scripture and devotional, I pray that you speak to our hearts. Help us see things differently. We want to hear from you. In Your Name, Amen.
Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we are back in the Sermon on the Mount and learning more about what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. We are finishing up Matthew 5.
The first portion of this Scripture is regarding an eye for an eye. It was said an eye for an eye, but now I tell you to turn the other cheek. I want to be clear, Jesus is not saying that we should never resist those who are trying to harm us. He isn’t say to be Christian doormats.
The Old Testament law about taking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth actually promoted justice rather than vengeance. If someone gives you a black eye, you can’t then break their leg or kill them. Jesus was also all about justice. What exactly is he requiring of us?
Let’s talk about what it means to turn the other cheek. We think of a slap as a pretty terrible thing. If someone slapped me, I would really be taken aback and consider it an assault. Not so much in Jesus’ day. A slap on the cheek would have been an insult but not an assault. Jesus specifically mentioned a right-cheek slap, which would have indicated a backhand slap. That was a real insult, it was the kind of slap someone would give to a person beneath them. It was patronizing and demoralizing. By turning the other cheek, it challenged the offender to now strike the left cheek with an open palm. And open palm slap, at that time, was something done to an equal. Basically, turning the other cheek means that the victim is not taking the backhanded slap as a form of condescending shame. They will face their offender face on, forcing them to either back down or treat them as an equal.
Then, we have Jesus saying that if someone wants to sue you for your shirt, give them your coat as well. The shirt would have been the inner garment and the coat the outer garment. The Old Testament law a
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