7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C February 23, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
Once, while I was a seminarian teaching catechism to kids, a student struck me on the cheek and ran away. To be fair, he didn’t mean to actually hit me. He was acting on a dare to touch my beard, which was laughably bad in those days. Nervousness made him move too quickly, but it’s not like it even hurt… more surprised me.
Eventually, of course, his classmates told their parents, who told the pastor. When the pastor asked me about it, I told him, “I kind of wish he hadn’t run away so I could have turned the other cheek” and I actually meant it. He chuckled and told me the child’s parents had given him severe consequences. As they should have!
It raises a good question, though. What do we do with Jesus’ teaching about turning the other cheek? Was I right to take it literally in that context? If so, then were we wrong to punish him? This passage raises several questions. It is one of the most famous in all of scripture and one of the most misused, especially the verse about not judging. Non-Christians, fallen away Christians, and hypocrites love to throw these teachings in our faces whenever we take sin seriously or try to defend the rule of law.
Most of you should have cringed a little when I said I was going to “turn the other cheek” to a child, a student who struck me. Most people are rightly appalled when a parent refuses to discipline their child. Even if we can’t explain why, most of us instinctively know that is not what Jesus means here. So, let’s talk about the why and let’s learn the right way to read this teaching.
Jesus, like most human beings, talks in a combination of literal and symbolic language, using both general principles and concrete examples. “I’m thirsty” is literal. “I’m dying of thirst” is usually symbolic, but still kind of true. “I could drink a gallon of water right now” is an example that might be literally true or might not, but makes the point regardless. A person might use all of these things in the same sentence and, usually, we get it. Yet, when Jesus mixes together general commands, logical arguments, symbolic language, and concrete examples, we can get all twisted up. Now, what Jesus says matters far more than what most people say, so getting it right has much higher stakes.
We know we have to take Jesus seriously and that he speaks the truth. But what is he saying? “Love your enemies.” Y’all, he means that. It’s not symbolic, it’s not hyperbole, it’s not conditional. It is a flat out command that he repeats and ties back to God’s own example: “he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” That’s the truth.
“Turn the other cheek… do not withhold your tunic… give to everyone who asks…” those are examples. They are true, but they are not necessarily universally literal. The point is that they are ways to love your enemies. Which do you think Jesus cares more about? That you literally check “turned my cheek” off a list? Or that you learn to love your enemy, even if you never get the chance to turn the other cheek? It’s the love, obviously.
In my story, for one thing, the children were not my enemies. They were my students. The other, more important thing is that letting a child under my authority go unpunished for that is usually not loving them. Before I go further, let’s make something clear. What is love? I hope that, before I leave this parish 50 years from now, every single parishioner will be able to repeat back to me word-for-word the right definition of love. What is love? To will the good of the other.
When Jesus says “love your enemies,” he means “you should will, you should want and work towards doing what is good for your enemies.” That’s a big deal! Until Jesus, almost everyone in the world would agree you should want bad stuff for your enemies. But God himself commands us: will their good. Want good for them.
That raises the next big question, if I should will the good of the other… then I need to know what is “good” for them. For a student, what’s good is for them to learn discipline, respect for authority, and that actions have consequences. A pushover parent or a pushover teacher doesn’t actually make kids happy in the long run. Harsh parenting is bad, but so is lax parenting. I should definitely not hit a child back, but neither should I pretend it’s all fine. In other words, “turn the other cheek” doesn’t work for your child or student because it doesn’t actually show them love because it isn’t good for them.
What about my enemies, though? What is good for my enemies? Well, God lets his enemies do all kinds of things. He let them kill him on the cross, so apparently it is love to literally turn the other cheek… There are times when letting someone hit you or steal from you is the right thing to do. Why? Precisely because it’s not something they expect. Someone acting that way may not know there are options other than violence and theft. By lovingly enduring their violence and theft, you are exposing them to a possibility they don’t know… and that is good for them, it opens them up to the possible realization that God is good even when human beings aren’t. David lets King Saul live despite Saul actively hunting him down to kill him. Saul temporarily realizes he has sinned against God and David. St. Stephen dies praying for his enemies and soon we see St. Paul – who helped kill him – convert as a result. Christian history is littered with such examples.
But there are also times when loving your enemy means holding them accountable. There are times when loving your family – who come first – means protecting them from your enemy, whom you also love. Some people misuse this teaching the same way the pharisees misused God’s law. They treat it like a literal checklist to avoid doing the hard inner work of conversion. Pharisees wash bowls and say prayers, but never actually love. Others might literally “turn the other cheek,” but go on secretly hating the person who struck them. This misses the point!
The point is love! And love does have literal, practical consequences, which is why Jesus gives practical examples. And we must be willing to literally do those things when the time is right! But don’t confuse the examples for the lesson! Love your enemy means to will what is good for them. Mercy is good for them, but so is justice and so is stopping them from hurting more people.
As for judging and condemning? Jesus gives that principle at the end, “the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” He doesn’t say “turn your brains off and pretend nothing is ever evil.” He’s making the point that you should respond to the sins of others the way you want your sins to be treated: with mercy and patience. Don’t forget he’s talking to his disciples! He’s talking to people who want to stop sinning. We may not want to be judged and condemned, but we do want to be converted! So yes, do not “judge” others harshly for their sins. But also, don’t think it’s good to never give someone the chance to repent! To point out faults, to offer mercy, to invite conversion is not judgment and condemnation, it is love! And we should love even our enemies enough to bear witness to the truth that their sin does more harm to them than to their victims.
Love your enemies. There’s no shortcut or checklist to get around the real substance of that challenge. Love them and act on that love. Why? Because we can either face our enemies with God or without him. But God is Love. So if you’d rather not face your enemies on your own, then bring God with you the only way you can: love your enemies.