29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.
Our natural inclination is to run from violence when it is coming in our direction. But too often we repeat violence when we are the perpetrator. We would love to rewrite the first part of this verse, “If you strike someone on one cheek, hit the other one also.” But Jesus is very radical in the extraction of individual justice. If we have the ability to not demand justice because of an injury to ourselves, then it is our joy to demonstrate the love of God in foregoing justice. We can choose to be wronged and not retaliate. In this way we demonstrate God’s actions toward us. God does not retaliate. Instead, He came and paid the price for our injustices. He took the penalty for our sin. The punishment we should have received, He received. Just as God choose to not react to injustice, we can choose to not react as a witness to the forgiveness we have received in Jesus. We become a living example of the Gospel. Now I want you to know that this is very difficult to do. Our very being is infused with justice because we are made in the image of God. God’s character demands justice, and because we are made like Him, we want justice as well. But the problem with our justice is that we lack perspective. We get caught up in the moment and we react, usually with unjust results. That is why we have the example of a court system in the Scriptures. There is a procedure and process, outside witnesses and an impartial judge weighing the evidence. Of course we don’t have a pure system. Our system is muddied with high-priced lawyers and jury pools tainted with political agendas. Human beings tainted with sin make some sinful decisions. Abortion is an example of this type of decision. Human life devalued to the status of ’tissue.’ All for the sake of a woman’s right to murder. But the decision should go back to bring judgment on the concept that sex is just a physical act rather than a sacred act reflecting the intimate nature of the relationship God wants to have with His people. It could also include the injustice of the place of women in society, that women can be used as objects. We could continue to trace this back to Adam and Eve devaluing their relationship with God and trading it for an empty lie. Now that is injustice.
The Arnold Journey 