The Third Way

A few weeks back I read the book listed on the left, Jesus and non-violence: A Third Way by Walter Wink. Several interesting thoughts in the book. Some I agreed with. Some I didn't. Others I'm tossing around and letting them soak. One in particular was the historical background he unpacked about the famous passage in Jesus' sermon on the mount where he says, "if someone strikes you on the right check, turn to them the other also." Now, unfortunately, I've heard people rip that verse out of context and wrongly counsel people such as battered wives to 'keep letting yourself get hit because that's what Jesus wants you to do.' First of all, no matter how you look at that passage in its context, no one can justify coming up with that kind of counsel. But secondly, one of the things Wink points out in the book is that in the culture at the time, only unclean tasks were done with the left hand. It was a right hand world where certain penalties were even applied for using one's left hand. Therefore, in order for a person to strike someone on the right cheek (which it would have been understood that only one's right hand could be used) the only way that could happen is through a back-handed slap across the face. The right hand can't strike the right cheek otherwise. Similar to today, that type of slap was considered a demeaning statement. It was a devaluing of the person. Now with that in mind, consider the power of turning the other cheek at that point. Consider what's being said. Because now one can't backhand you with their right hand. Turning the other cheek was a reaction that said...you can't devalue me. You don't determine my worth. It was a reaction that left the other person without a way to respond as they had. Upon reflection, Jesus did that all the time in the Scriptures. Responding to questions with questions that left critics speechless and rendered them powerless. When seemingly cornered into only one of two options, Jesus creatively found a beautiful third way. The more I dig into the Scriptures, the more amazing Jesus becomes and the more I long to follow in His Way. Jesus was a revolutionary, world changer-one I'm honored and proud to follow.