RTW 2024

But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.

Matthew 5:39

God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:7-9

• The word sermon is misleading. Jesus did not enter a pulpit or stage to deliver a “sermon.” The crowds had been following him to see his miracles, so, with his followers near, he began to teach them. Then Jesus sat down. Although one would stand to read scripture publicly, the most respected Jewish teachers usually sat to teach, with disciples sitting at their feet.
• Scholars still discuss whether Luke's “Sermon on the Plain” and Matthew's “Sermon on the Mount” were two different records of the same discourse, or records of two different but similar dialogues.
• These verses are introduced by a common Old Testament literary form called Beatitudes (ex: Psalm 1:1). The form also appears in some Greek literature, but is more common in Jewish sources.
• Many Jewish people believed that the kingdom would be ushered in by war and force, but Jesus said the kingdom belonged to the poor in spirit, the humble, and the peacemakers.
• The term “poor” could encompass either physical poverty or those in desperate need of God (poor in spirit).
• In Matthew 5:18, the Greek word iota (translated “smallest letter”) is the nearest Greek equivalent to the Hebrew yodh, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Greek word translated here as “least stroke of a pen” means “horn” which referred to the light embellishment or extension of certain letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
• The backhanded blow on the right cheek was the most grievous insult in the ancient Near East, punishable under law. Its purpose was not to injure but to insult. Jesus was not advocating an allowance of violence or harm, but teaching that his followers should not be consumed with fighting for their own honor, and perhaps that the perpetrator’s insults were not worth defending.

Know the context of a situation: Sometimes it calls for turning your cheek, sometimes it does not.