jesus= one smart fellow

I teach seventh grade sunday school at the Unitarian church downtown. We' re focusing on the historical Jesus right now. My bible & biblical history knowledge is mighty limited. I read the curicullum the day before it's taught & hope to keep one step ahead of the twelve year olds.

This Sunday, we did our third lesson on the sermon on the mount (it wasn't really one sermon - just a collection of his teachings amalgamated, scholars say.) We talked about "loving your enemies," which is such a hard concept - the examples of loving one who hates you are so few & far between in this world.

I my preparation for the lesson, I learned that in it's context, Jesus's sermon is all about the non-violent revolution:

"Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Mathew 5:39 - RSV)":
To hit someone on their right cheek, you have to use your left hand. In Jesus's Palestine, the left hand was used for unclean tasks. (Not everyone has toilet paper, my co-teacher explained.) Superiors hit their inferiors with their left hand, to say, "stop being uppity." The Roman occupiers of Palestine yielded absolute power over the Jews, the folks Jesus was talking to. The Romans could kill Jews for any slight provocation. To turn the other cheek isn't to let someone beat you up, it's to say 'at least hit me like an equal, acknowledge my humanity' in a circumstance when there are few other options.

"And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles (Mathew 5:41)." :
In occupied Palestine, a Roman soldier could command anyone to carry their pack for a mile, but the soldier would be punished if they had people walk more than that. To go the extra mile isn't to be extra nice to someone. It's all about getting the soldiers punished.

I feel a bit cheated that I didn't know all of this context before. . . so Jesus was a liberal . . .