#93 - Kyle Thompson // Yeah, That’s Not What That Means - Matthew 5:38-39

We examine one of Christianity's most misunderstood teachings: Jesus' command to "turn the other cheek," revealing why this verse doesn't prohibit self-defense as commonly believed.

• Part of our "Yeah, That's Not What That Means" series covering misapplied scriptures
• Matthew 5:38-39 refers to verbal slights, not physical assaults requiring self-defense
• The "right cheek" reference indicates a backhanded slap, symbolizing insult rather than attack
• Jesus referenced Old Testament laws that limited punishment to be proportional to crimes
• Multiple Bible passages support self-defense, including Jesus telling disciples to buy swords
• Nehemiah 4 shows God's people armed while rebuilding Jerusalem's walls
• Christians should absorb minor offenses in love, but aren't required to endure physical attacks

Don't keep the Daily Blade a secret. Share it around with the men in your life. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review.

Support the show

Want to connect? Email [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The Word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for the fight.
Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
All right, guys, we're wrapping up this week
where we have been doing aseries of episodes called yeah,
that's Not what that Means, soI'm going to cover I ended up
covering six this week of themost common misapplied and
misunderstood scriptures in allof the biblical canon.
Yesterday I talked aboutJeremiah 29, 11 and Romans 8, 28
, and we dispelled with thenonsense that somehow these two

(00:41):
scriptures prove that our livesas Christians will always be
happy and prosperous in anearthly sense.
So today we're going to crushthe dreams and spirits of
pacifist Christians and I'm likesuper here for it and it's just
, I'm just pumped, okay, and I'mpumped about that because we're
going to be looking at thewords of Jesus recorded in
Matthew 5, 38 and 39.
And it's just insane the numberof people that just get this

(01:02):
wrong.
So let's go to the verse here.
The verse is.
Here we go.
You have heard that it was saidan eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth.
But I tell you, don't resist anevildoer.
On the contrary, if anyoneslaps you on your right cheek,
turn the other to him also.
So here Jesus is hearkeningback to a text that everyone in
the crowd would have beenfamiliar with and knew what he

(01:24):
was referring to when he said aneye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth, because they would knowthat that would come from
Exodus 21, verse 24, leviticus24, verse 20, and Deuteronomy 19
, verse 21.
So Jesus is referring to OldTestament law.
And if we back up to Matthew 5,17, jesus says this do not
think that I have come toabolish the law or the prophets.

(01:45):
I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
Okay, so with all of thatcombined, you could easily see
how someone could surmise thatJesus is telling people that if
they are physically assaulted bysomebody, that they should not
defend themselves, that theyshould just, you know, turn the
other cheek and allow theassault to continue.
In a nutshell, the fundamentalmisunderstanding of these words

(02:06):
from Jesus is that people thinkJesus was referring to physical
assaults.
And yeah, that's not what thatmeans, because, in its correct
context, jesus is teaching ushow we should respond to verbal
assaults.
Okay, the original intent ofthose three passages was to
limit the amount.
Again, those three passagesfrom the Old Testament we just

(02:27):
talked about was to limit theamount of punishment for a crime
to that which would beequitable to the original crime
so you weren't to give a greaterpunishment or exact a greater
vengeance than the originalcrime would warrant.
Okay, so now let's go to verse39, turn the other cheek.

(02:50):
Jesus commands turn the othercheek, and that has to do with
our response to a personalslight or offense.
Okay, some situations may callfor self-defense physical
self-defense, but notretaliation in kind.
Okay, the context of Jesus'command is his teachings against
the idea of an eye for an eyeand a tooth for a tooth that we
see in verse 38.
Our self-defense is notvengeful, okay, it's not a
vengeful reaction to an offense.

(03:11):
Okay, in fact, many offensescan simply be absorbed in
forbearance and in love and it'sreally not that big of a deal.
But let's even look at thewords here.
Most of society's right-handedso sorry to left-handed people
out there, but if I'm going totake my right hand and hit
someone on their, on their leftcheek, I'm going to hit them

(03:34):
with my palm right.
But if I were to strike them ontheir right cheek, again,
they're looking at me.
If I were to strike them ontheir right cheek with my right
hand, I would be hitting themwith the back of my hand.
So in context we can even seethat Jesus is talking about a
verbal slight, because you heardabout these backhanded
compliments or these backhandedwords that come from people.
That's what's being said here.
Okay, so Jesus has recorded inMatthew 5, is not advocating for

(03:58):
us to not defend ourselves orother people, and actually, on
the contrary, when you look atthe narrative of scripture, we
see plenty of examples thatpoint to the opposite.
Okay, In Luke 22, jesus told hisdisciples and let the one who
has no sword sell his cloak andbuy one.
Okay.
So, even though Jesus is usingmetaphor in this passage, it was
common knowledge that having aweapon was normal for protection
and self-defense in this age.
I mean, you wouldn't use asword to garden, right, and we

(04:20):
can surmise that Jesus would nothave used this language if he
was expressly against the use ofa sword for self-defense.
Right.
And even later on in thatchapter, in verse 38, they
acknowledge that they do havetwo swords amongst the apostles.
Right, and I'm pretty sure thatJesus would have made them get
rid of their swords if hethought self-defense was morally
wrong, right.

(04:41):
And then, if you go to Luke 11,jesus says when a strong man,
fully armed, guards his ownpalace, his goods are safe.
Again, why would Jesus use thelanguage of self-defense in this
parable if self-defense wereimmoral or sinful or wrong?
And then go back to again one ofmy favorite parts of the Old
Testament, nehemiah 4, verses 17and 18.
Those who carried burdens wereloaded in such a way that each

(05:01):
labored on the work with onehand and held his weapon with
the other, and each of thebuilders had his sword strapped
at his side while he built.
Why would this story be held upas a beautiful thing that God's
people did when they were readyto fight, ready to kill people?
Right, defend themselves anddefend the work that God had
them doing, if that were amorally wrong or reprehensible

(05:22):
thing?
So if we look at the totalityof the ministry of Jesus and of
the narrative of the Bible, itis safe to say that when Jesus
said to turn the other cheek, hedidn't mean to just sit there
and take a butt whooping Okay.
So, guys, thank you so much foryour attention this week.
Don't keep the Daily Blade asecret.
Share it around with the men inyour life.
Be back here Monday to hearfrom Pastor Joby.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Thank you for listening to today's episode
Before you go.
If you want to help equip othermen for the fight, share this
podcast around and leave us afive-star rating and review.
Stay sharp.