Apprentice: Walking the Way of Christ

by Steve Chalke

A controlling and aggressive ‘superior’ would therefore backhand slap a servant with his right hand – striking them across their right cheek. So, when Jesus taught his oppressed hearers to turn the other cheek (so that their left cheek faced their aggressor), he was suggesting that instead of taking the insult they had suffered lying down, they should assert themselves. To that end, notice that he does not suggest that they present their aggressor with the same cheek (the right cheek) again. By following Jesus’ advice and presenting their left cheek, a servant would make it impossible for the master to hit them again with the back of the right hand. Even though the servant’s left cheek would now offer a perfect target for another blow, it meant the aggressor only had one option. Unable to use his ‘unclean’ left hand, he would have to use his right forehand or fist to strike his victim. Doing this presented a cultural problem. Only equals fought in this way. If the master wanted to continue to hit the servant, he could do so only by acknowledging his servant as an equal. And that was precisely Jesus’ point.