It has been said that few passages of Scripture summarize Christian ethics more succinctly than today's passage. It could also be said that few passages are more misunderstood.

There are several recognizable phrases in this passage: "Turn the other cheek"; "Go the second mile"; "Love your enemies." People who have never set foot inside a church are familiar with these sayings. But the question is: What do they mean and how do they apply to our lives today—almost 2000 years after they were spoken?

Though Jesus is referring to laws and customs that were specific to his culture, his words do apply to where we live today in the 21st century, because the desire for revenge is as much an issue for us today as it was for those living in the first century. When someone does you wrong, when someone takes advantage of you or bullies you, you want to get even.

As we begin looking at this passage, I want to begin by taking a closer look at the statements Jesus made that are sometimes misinterpreted; this will help put these words in their proper perspective.

First of all, Jesus said …

(v. 39) "Do not resist an evil person."

Does this mean that we should become completely passive and let others walk all over us? That we should do nothing to protect our lives or the lives of our children? Or that we should never stand up for our rights? Of course not. When Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple he wasn't being passive. When Paul demanded his rights as a Roman citizen after being without trial in Acts 16, he wasn't being passive. And when Jesus and Paul encouraged believers to confront those who sin in order to help them to find forgiveness, they weren't encouraging us to be passive either.

In this context, the word resist means retaliate. He's talking about revenge, not self-preservation. Jesus isn't telling us to be weak and passive; he's telling us not to be vindictive.

Another statement that can be misapplied is …

(v. 42) Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Does this mean that a Christian banker should never refuse a loan application, no matter how bad a person's credit report looks? Does this mean you have to loan money to someone again and again, even if you know they won't make an effort to pay it back? Or that every time you're approached by a panhandler on the street that you have to give them your money? No, because this commandment doesn't relieve us of our obligation to manage our resources responsibly. It's our responsibility to practice generosity, but it's also our responsibility to practice discernment.

Jesus also said …

(v. 48) Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.

This sounds impossible, but it's not. Jesus would never command us to do something that we aren't capable of doing. He didn't command us to be all powerful, or to be all knowing—these things are beyond our grasp. But he told us to be perfect, as our heavenly father is perfect.

The Greek word for perfect is teleios. It means to reach an intended end or completion. In other places in the Bible, it is translated mature. In other words, a person is teleios if he or she fulfills the purpose for which they were created. In the context of this passage, Jesus is saying you can be perfect … you can fulfill your purpose in life … you can demonstrate your maturity, by loving your enemies. We are never more like God than when we love those who don't love us. Paul said …

But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

John said …

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Being perfect, in the context that Jesus mentions it here, isn't attained through sinless perfection, because that isn't possible. The kind of perfection Jesus is referring to here is being perfect in love—loving your enemies. Today we're going to talk about how to do that—how to love your enemies. Here are four things you can do to show love to your enemies. First of all …

1. Don't respond to insults.

Jesus said …

(v. 39) If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Jesus is talking about more than physical violence, because he specifies the "right cheek". The only way a right-handed person can hit you on the right cheek is with the back of their hand. According to Rabbinic Law, hitting a man with the back of your hand was twice as insulting as hitting a man with the palm of your hand. Jesus said that when that happens, don't return the insult, don't retaliate.

Jesus' point is not that we should let people physically abuse us, his point is that we should refrain from trying to get even when someone insults us. For virtually all of us, the latter happens much more often than the former. With the exception of a couple playground disagreements in elementary school, I have never been hit on the face by another person. But I have been insulted more times than I care to remember. And more times than I care to admit, I have gone out of my way to return the insult.

Once on Seinfeld, George Constanza was insulted by a co-worker during an office meeting. A few days later, he thought up the ideal comeback for the man's insult, and so he started making plans to ambush his co-worker in another meeting and spring the insult on him. Except, the co-worker resigned his job and started working for a company in Ohio. George flew to Ohio, orchestrated a meeting with the company's brass, and set the stage to get even with his former co-worker. Needless to say, his plan didn't work. When George seized the opportunity to deliver his insult, his former co-worker came back with an even snappier insult, and once again, everyone laughed at George.

It's funny when we see George Costanza do it, but how many times have you fumed and fretted over an insult—playing and replaying it in your mind, thinking about what you should have said … what you wish you had said.

It never does any good, does it? It never makes you feel better. It never resolves the problem. It never takes away the hurt. In fact, the longer you hold on to the idea of retaliation, the more the insult hurts.

A couple of years ago when Tiger Woods won the Master's Tournament, Fuzzy Zoeller responded with some mean, racist remarks—remarks he intended to be funny, but were only mean-spirited. Fuzzy received a great deal of well-deserved criticism for his comments, but Tiger Woods' response was, "We all make mistakes and it's time to move on." Tiger could have returned the insult—the media would have loved it—but he refused to retaliate. Instead, he said, "Let's move on."

When you're insulted, that's the best thing you do. Solomon said …

A prudent man overlooks an insult.(Proverbs 12:16)

The Apostle Peter said …

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)

When you're insulted, you can waste your energy thinking of ways to get even, or you can choose the alternative to revenge—you can be perfect instead. You can be like your heavenly father. You can love your enemies.

Secondly …

2. Do more than is required of you to make things right.

Jesus said …

(v. 40) If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

In those days a man typically wore an inner garment, a tunic, which was similar to a shirt, and an outer garment, a cloak, which was similar to a coat. A man would probably own more than one tunic, but only one cloak. Also, a man's cloak was used as a blanket when he slept. Therefore, in a legal dispute, a creditor could sue a man for his tunic, but not his cloak. This was an Old Testament law.

If you take your neighbor's coat as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? (Exodus 22:26-27)

The only way a man could take your tunic from you was if you had pledged your tunic as security for a debt, and then hadn't paid the debt.

So, let's make sure we read the words of Jesus correctly. He's saying, "If you have a debt that you haven't paid, and get sued as a result, do more than is legally required of you to make the debt right."

Ideally, a suit would never be necessary. A man would pledge his tunic as a security on a debt, and then pay the debt when it came due, and the lien on his tunic would be released. But Jesus says, "If you mess up that process and someone has to sue to get what they have coming to them, then you go out of your way to make it right—do more than is required of you."

In order to do this, you have to be willing to admit that you are wrong, and you have to be willing to make restitution.

This was the spirit Zacchaeus showed when he became a devoted follower of Christ. He said to Jesus …

"If I have cheated anybody out of anything I will pay back four times the amount." (Luke 19:8)

We need to follow Zacchaeus' example. When we offend someone … when we find ourselves to be in the wrong … we need to do more than is required to make things right.

This disarms your enemies. A man I know in the software business borrowed $90,000 from three individuals in 1986 to fund his new company. They expected to get their money back within a year, but the business didn't take off like they thought it would, and they lost their money. In 1992 the investors sued this man, and won a judgment against him. He didn't have the money to pay them back, so their lawsuit was futile—until 1994 when he sold his company. According to the terms of the judgment, he had to pay each investor about $40,000. But this man had made a lot of money when he sold his company, so each investor received a check for more than $80,000.

In your situation, think of those who may have something against you. It may not be about money; it may be about something you said, or something you did. Maybe you took credit for something at work that you didn't deserve to take credit for. Maybe you imposed on someone's time and took advantage of their kindness. Maybe you spread gossip about someone and tried to ruin their reputation. If you have wronged anyone, Jesus is challenging you to make full restitution, and then some. Do more than is required of you.

This is a humbling experience. It's much easier to love someone who has wronged you than it is to humble yourself before someone you have wronged—especially if you know that they don't like you! It's not easy, but it's holy. In doing so, you perfect yourself. You become like your heavenly father.

Another way to express love to your enemies is …

3. Treat mistreaters with kindness.

Jesus said,

(v. 41) If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Everyone is familiar with the phrase "Go the second mile." When Jesus spoke these words he was referring to a common custom in Roman occupied lands. Roman law gave a soldier a right to force a civilian to carry his pack for one mile. Needless to say, this caused great inconvenience to civilians. Imagine being late for a business meeting, and suddenly being stopped on the street and forced to drop everything in order to carry a soldier's pack for one mile. Jesus told his followers, "When that happens, instead of just walking one mile, walk two."

There's no greater way to show God's love than to be kind to someone who hasn't treated you with kindness.

If you have a job, I can guarantee that at sometime you will have an opportunity to put this principle into practice. Your boss may try to bully you, or sabotage your success, or take the credit for work you've done, and you may be tempted to try to get by doing the bare minimum. I have seen many employees who are so resentful of their employers that have gone to great lengths to calculate the very least they have to do in order to prevent getting fired—and that is all they do.

Your boss may be a bully, and the company you work for may be oppressive and insensitive, and at times it may seem that they exist only to oppress you. That's probably not the case, but it may seem that way. When it happens, go the extra mile. Go out of your way to treat them with kindness. If they demand an extra hour, try giving them two. But there's a trick to it. In order to get the full effect, you need to do it magnanimously. You need to do it cheerfully, enthusiastically.

Will your boss notice? Maybe, maybe not. When you treat a mistreater with kindness, it may not change them, but it will change you. It will make you perfect. It will make you like your heavenly father.

A fourth way we show love to our enemies is …

4. Don't show favorites.

Jesus said,

(v. 42) Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

It's interesting that Jesus included this verse along with the verses that talk about how we should treat our enemies. He did it because this is the context in which we need to hear it. Most of us are more than willing to give something to our friends, or to loan something to someone we like. But that's not enough. Jesus is saying, "Don't be generous only with your friends, but help everyone you can."

Mark McCormick, the author of What They Don't Teach You In Harvard Business School once said, "All things being equal, people buy from friends. All things being unequal, people still buy from friends. Therefore, make friends!"

That's the way it works in the business world most of the time, but Jesus is challenging his followers to go beyond that attitude—to be generous with the people we like as well as the people we don't like. This principle applies to much more than our money; it applies to how we treat people in every area of life.

You may find, some time, that you have the opportunity to help someone who isn't part of your clique. Help them anyway. You may have the chance to help someone who has been unfriendly to you in the past. Help them anyway. Don't with hold your generosity from those who need it. Help them when you can.

Remember, Jesus isn't commanding us to be irresponsible with our resources; he's commanding us not to be stingy, not to be hold back when it is within our power to help.

A pastor of a church once told me that their policy was to give as much help as they could afford to people who came to their church needing food or money. Then, they signed them up to be part of a home cell group, and encouraged them to become fully committed followers of Jesus. The pastor said, "There are some in our church who would prefer it if we would just give poor people money and send them on their way, but that wouldn't be the loving response. We try to help them become involved with our fellowship. It's a lot more work, but it's what God wants us to do."

Jesus is telling us to be generous even to those who may not fully appreciate our generosity. In doing so, we become perfect; we become like our heavenly father.

Conclusion

Jesus summarized this teaching by saying,

(v. 43-44) "You have that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

The phrase "sons of your father" is an idiom; it means "that you may be like your father in heaven.

We are never more like our father than when we love those who don't love us … when we refuse to retaliate, even if the other person is wrong … when we seek to make restitution for our own wrongs … when we respond to mistreatment with kindness … when we extend our generosity to all who need it … that's how we show his love. That's how we become perfect, like our heavenly father is perfect.

Steve May has been a pastor to pastors for more than 20 years, helping preachers and teachers to become more effective communicators of the gospel.