“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matt. 5:39)
Expanded Passage: Matthew 5:38-42
In his sermon “Loving Your Enemies,” Martin Luther King Jr. told this story of President Lincoln: During his campaign, Lincoln was berated, insulted, and degraded relentlessly by Edwin Stanton, a lawyer who hated Lincoln and opposed his presidency. In spite of this, Lincoln never retaliated, and even appointed Stanton to his cabinet after being elected. Lincoln showed a level of respect and even love that was upside-down to all who witnessed it.
In a society obsessed with honor and status, Jesus flipped the cultural narrative with this statement in verse 39. A slap across the cheek was an abominable act of shaming against another person, one punishable in court. Yet, Jesus calls his followers to lay aside their honor for the sake of love, no matter the extent of humiliation. Theologian Craig Keener suggests that indulging the offender to give another strike would communicate two things: a rejection of the value of human honor and a denial of the authority of his opinions regarding one’s own value. Turning the other cheek, therefore, places value and honor in the hands of the true Judge.
Jesus calls for radical self-denial as an act of holy love for God and neighbor. Ask yourself, “Is my concern for self-defense greater than my love for God?” If Jesus willingly laid aside his honor for the sake of love, we’ve no other choice but to do likewise.
Choose trust and humility; it is in God’s hands to vindicate us.
Noah Cromer is, first, God’s child; second, a husband and father. He gladly serves at Southern Wesleyan University in residence life and as an adjunct professor.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
