“Turn the other
cheek" was not practiced by Jesus himself
Question:
Could Jesus have hated anyone when he spoke words of forgiveness and
non-resistance to wickedness? Did he not say, "Love your enemies" (Matthew
Answer:
These verses are taken as representative of the extraordinary forgiveness
taught and exercised by Jesus. However, the sublime dictum to "turn the other
cheek"
was not practiced by Jesus himself.
According to the Gospels, Jesus preached turning the other cheek, loving one's
neighbor and praying for them, and forgiving those who wrong you. When did
Jesus manifest such behavior in his personal relationships, during his
lifetime, for others to emulate? Was it:
his cursing of the
Pharisees (Matthew 23),
his threat of violent
retribution on cities that rejected his message (Matthew
his condemnation to death
of Jews who would not accept him (Luke
The fact of the matter is
that he
himself never turned the other cheek. Jesus never forgave anyone
who rejected his claims. He responded to his opponents, not
with passive resistance, but by answering criticism with criticism, reviling
and threatening his adversaries (for example, Matthew 23).
It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus never forgave anyone who wronged or criticized
him. At best, he only forgave those who wronged others. Whenever an opportunity
arose to personally forgive someone, he always declined. For
example,
"he [Jesus] began
to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles were done, because they did
not repent. 'Woe to you,
Chorazin! Woe to you
Instead of forgiving Judas
for betraying him he said: "But
woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for
that man if he had not been born" (Matthew 26:24).
In John 18:22-23, we find that Jesus, when beaten by an officer, instead of
offering quietly his other cheek argues with him: But having said these
things, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a slap, saying: "Is
that the way you answer the high priest?" Jesus answered him: "If I
have spoken wrongly, bear witness concerning the wrong; but if rightly, why do
you hit me?"
For his part, Paul, that great follower of Jesus, did not submit meekly to the
high priest Ananias' order that he be smitten on the mouth:
And the High Priest
Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. Then
Paul said to him: "God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. And do you sit to judge me according
to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?
(Acts 23:2-3)
Paul did not offer his
cheek in compliance with Jesus' command. Instead, he swore at Ananias in direct
contradiction of another of Jesus' alleged commandments: "Bless those who curse
you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke