An extra mile
This detail, from a cast of Trajan’s column held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, commemorates Trajan’s victory in the Dacian Wars, at the outset of the second century. Under first-century Roman rule in Judah, a private citizen could be conscripted to carry the soldiers load. Roman law permitted them to request no more than one mile from any one individual, a Roman mile being a thousand paces.
(Matt 5:38-42 WEB)5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
5:39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
5:40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.
5:41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
5:42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.”
An eye for an eye
The same ‘eye for eye’ passage occurs twice in the legal codes of the Hebrew Bible. Its first occurrence ensured that the penalty an injured party could demand in court was proportionate to the crime, being no more than equivalent to the suffering caused (Exod 21:24, Lev 24:20). However, its second occurrence determined the appropriate penalty for someone who deliberately committed perjury to the detriment of another (Deut 19:21). Such false witnesses should be punished in accord with the level of suffering they had sought to cause.
Those who followed Jesus were suffering at the hands of false witnesses to the God who had placed them in positions of authority. Yet Jesus advocates that they should remain compassionate towards these individuals and do them good, rather than advocate their punishment.
Jesus contrasts the attitude, of conniving to see one’s adversary suffer, with the Godly attitude of love for enemies, an attitude that does not ask what can I get, but what can I give. Just as God blesses the wicked with a stay of judgement which is greater than their actions might seem to deserve, so Jesus encourages us to go the extra mile and find a way to bless those who don’t deserve it.
These three examples of radical true-witness provide a prelude to the three examples of hypocrisy, in fasting, prayer and giving, that Jesus is about to present.
...commentary continues with Matt 5:43-48