In Jesus’ day there was a very visible hierarchy system. Slaves and masters. Rich and poor. Kings and servants. Roman citizens and non-Roman citizens. Male and female. Jews and Gentiles. “Sinners” and the “observers of the law” (“holy Pharisees”). There’s a few, heck, I’m sure there are many more. How did Jesus treat all these people? Equally. Jesus wasn’t about relating to the status quo or being conformed to the cultures standard of inequality. Jesus treated each person he contacted with dignity and respect, perhaps it could be argued that he was “less patient” with the Pharisees. Recently I read about this Jesus who pursued to place the “lower rate” people on the hierarchy scale into their proper place – equality.If I was a Hebrew taking a stroll in Jerusalem in 30 AD and this burly guy dressed in Roman centurion garb approached me, and he’s a bit PO’d with me because of something or another, so he lays the smack on me. How would I react to that? Would I coward and run away? Would I attack him full force, fists swinging, “let’s rock” (and probably get crucified for doing that)? What exactly did Jesus teach? Jesus said, if this ever happens to you, be prepared to let him hit your other cheek too. Sounds wimpy doesn’t it? This doesn’t sound like a manly response. C’mon Jesus, you sound girly! (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Not only was I humiliated by the original smack, Jesus says the best response is to get smacked again. I have heard of several interpretations. I’ll mention two, and the one I grew up believing. First, I have read that this means Jesus is teaching that the best way to resist evil or injustice is NOT to resist it. If I retaliate with fists swinging, I will just add fuel to the fire. So therefore, Jesus is saying to us: do nothing. Evil will eventually destroy itself, and by enduring the evil the suffering will disappear sometime in the future. Let the evil doer be judged by Jesus, do not take action into my own hands, leave it to Jesus to deal with. This is one response, but is this really what Jesus is teaching? Is Jesus teaching me to be a pushover? What is the cultural relevance of what Jesus was teaching? Jesus was never passive. Here’s my second interpretation. You see, if that Roman centurion laid the original smack on me, it would have been backhanded. This hit was meant to humiliate and de-humanize “inferiors”. This is how masters smacked their slaves, husbands their wives. In the twisted hierarchal scale, he is basically saying that he is of greater human worth than me. If I simply turn my cheek to be smacked again, it leaves my attacker only one option. You see, the attacker can only use his right hand. (The left hand is used only for “unclean” purposes, if you know what I mean). By using his right hand, he would have to use an open palm smack or slap. Either way, if the attacker did lay the second smack it was the way equals fought. What Jesus was really teaching was not passive resistance, he was teaching his followers that all humans were equal, stand up for your rights, say to your attacker that you are equal to him. It is a non-violent approach that I believe Jesus teaches. In God’s Kingdom there is no twisted hierarchy scale. The odds of getting the double-smack likely would have been a rare event because the second smack would cancel the meaning of the degrading original smack. Next time someone mistreats me as an unequal, may I respond radically by communicating something creative that in reality we are ALL equal.