May 2026: An Eye-Poker or Cheek-Turner - Which One Are You?

Published on 05/01/2026 by Dr-Shirley-Cheng.

How does Lord Jesus' teaching strike you?

Much of Christ's teaching in the sermon on the mount sounds straightforward. The principles sound easy to apply, but once we start applying them, we find ourselves making excuses or justifying our disobedience. We tend to do this because of our inherited sin nature. To overcome our sin nature, we need to rely on God. As you continue to study our Lord's teaching and live by it, always pray for your Father in heaven to give you the ability, the will and the boldness to do what He taught through His Son.

Clarifying Teaching Regarding Vows

"but I tell you, don't swear at all" (Matthew 5:34a, WEB)

Yahweh God had commanded His people, "You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God." (Leviticus 19:12)

The Jews erroneously interpreted this to mean that people are forbidden to only swear falsely, not lightly or foolishly, and that it only condemned false swearing by Yahweh's name, not by any other thing. For this reason, people developed the habit of swearing by things other than Yahweh's name, believing that such vows or oaths, if not sworn by Yahweh's name, would not be binding on them. For example, they swore by their head, their life, or the temple. Since they did not believe that such vows would be binding, they made them frequently in their everyday conversations, maligning the truth and profaning God's holiness.

To correct this abuse of vows, Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,' but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one." (Matthew 5:33-37)

Jesus implied that everything belongs to and is under the control of God since He created it all, so to swear by anything and then break the vow ultimately means breaking a vow that was sworn by Yahweh's name. For this reason, people should not take swearing lightly.

However, Jesus did not teach that we should avoid swearing properly when absolutely necessary, such as judicial oaths. Jesus himself testified under oath during his trial before the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:63-64). Yahweh Himself swore by His own name when He promised Abraham that He would greatly bless him, make his seed fruitful, and that the nations would be blessed through his seed (Genesis 22:16-18).

The crux of Christ's teaching is more about truthful speech in general, not merely about vow-making or being put under oath. This entire life is a courthouse, we are the witnesses and God is the Judge of our truthfulness. We should simply mean what we say without adding an oath to our words. Since God is a God of truth who cannot even lie (Titus 1:2) and if we call Him our Father, then we must be people of integrity. If we say, "Yes," we should mean "Yes." If we say, "No," we should mean "No." To add anything to it is from the evil one, the devil, who encourages double-talk. If we speak honest words, what need is there to swear? If we do not mean what we say and yet add an oath to it, that is hypocrisy and it profanes God.

This is not a new teaching. Most of what our Lord taught was earlier taught in the Scriptures, explicitly or implicitly. Regarding being people of our word, the psalmist of Psalm 15 wrote:

"Yahweh, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
He who doesn't slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts
slurs against his fellow man;In whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear Yahweh; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn't change" (Psalm 15:1-4)

The person who enjoys fellowship with God is the one who is truthful, avoids slandering or gossiping about people, and keeps their promises, even when keeping them proves to be difficult or inconvenient. So before we speak or make a promise, we must first weigh our words and then speak in truth if we desire a sacred relationship with our Father.

One of the biggest promises we can make in this lifetime is the wedding vow to our spouse. When a man and woman vow to stick with each other for better and for worse, that is an oath before the Creator, even if the vow is not explicitly uttered in the name of God. Marriage is a covenantal relationship; it is the only covenantal relationship that God personally established for two people. So to enter into marriage becomes a binding oath on the couple, regardless of one's beliefs or culture. Therefore, to break marriage vows is to profane God's name.

Clarifying Teaching Regarding Retribution

Regarding retribution, Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 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." (Matthew 5:38-39)

This is a commonly misunderstood clarifying teaching of Jesus. Many erroneously believe that Jesus was rewriting the laws of God. They claim that Jesus was condemning God's "an eye for an eye" principle, and was replacing it with his "turn the other cheek" principle.

But the truth is that Jesus was not at all contradicting Yahweh's laws or speaking against them or replacing them. This is how we should understand Jesus' clarifying teaching:

First, let us study Yahweh's principle on which He operates in His justice system: "You must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise." (Exodus 21:23-25)

This principle simply means that the punishment has to equal the sin in degree of severity. A lesser sin should have a lesser punishment, while a greater sin requires a greater punishment. For example, murder is one of the greatest sins, so it requires the greatest punishment: the death penalty. On the other hand, injuring a person is a lesser sin than murder, so the punishment should be less severe.

The "an eye for an eye" principle in God's justice system prevents injustice. Specifically, it:

a) Prevents people from receiving a greater punishment than necessary. For example, people who committed manslaughter (unintentional homicide) should not receive the death penalty.

b) Ensures that people will receive the appropriate punishment for their sins. For example, murderers should be executed according to God's Law for all of Noah's descendants (Genesis 9:6).

Yahweh God gave the "an eye for an eye" principle to His people so they would know how to judge each unique case. This way, He did not have to list every possible way a sin should be dealt with. If His people came across a situation that was not specifically named in the Torah, they would simply need to judge the severity of the sin and execute the appropriate punishment.

Yahweh's justice principle ("an eye for an eye") was made to govern the nation's judicial system. It was a principle that the judges should operate by while deciding the appropriate punishment for various sins. It was the judges who worked according to this principle in judicial matters, not anyone else.

However, the Jews by Jesus' day were abusing this principle. Instead of confining this law to their judicial system for the judges and magistrates, they were using it in their private lives. They were misusing this law to take personal revenge on those who had wronged them. For example, if someone slapped them on the cheek, they would actually use this law to justify their action for slapping the other person back.

Thus, in Matthew 5:39, Jesus was telling the people not to use this principle in their interpersonal lives. People should not seek revenge for insults and other wrongs done to them that do not amount to actual crimes being committed. For example, Jesus was not saying that we should not do anything if a person tried to murder us or our family. Rather, we should not seek revenge when we have been insulted or wronged in other less serious ways. If we have been wronged by others in a serious way, such as if an actual crime was committed against us, then certainly we should bring our case to the judges. But in our daily life, we should live in peace, and not strike back when someone mistreats us, or mocks us, or insults us. Instead of slapping someone back for slapping us, we should even prepare ourselves to be slapped on the other cheek. Thus, we should submit to the little wrongs done to us, while taking the greater wrongs to the court and not try to handle such big cases on our own. It's only the judges and magistrates who should operate by the "an eye for an eye" principle.

Instead of operating by "an eye for an eye," we ought to live by "turn the other cheek" in our everyday dealings. Jesus gave hypothetical examples of how we should live by this principle in our daily life: "If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:40-42)

Similarly, Jesus said in the sermon on the plain, "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don't withhold your coat also. Give to everyone who asks you, and don't ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them." (Luke 6:29-31)

Note that the examples that Jesus gave are about personal matters that concern one's individual honor and comfort rather than major sins committed against us. If someone insults us by taking away our belongings, or borrows things from us without returning them back, then we must let it go and not strike back or seek revenge. If someone asks us to do something that brings us some dishonor, we should not do so with a grudge but even do more than what is asked. In those days, Roman officials had civilians carry the luggage of soldiers for one mile; Jesus told his disciples that they should do so for two miles. He simply meant: Do more than what is asked of you, so you can conquer evil with good. Go the extra mile; that is the point.

If people less fortunate than us ask to borrow from us, we should lend according to our ability and not get worried about whether they would return our stuff or money. We are to put ourselves in their shoes, empathize with them, and lend to them, instead of saying to ourselves, "This guy has already borrowed $100 and has not returned a dime. No way would I lend more to him." We are to do for others what we wish others would do for us if we were in a similar situation. Let's consider what Jesus said:

"If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful." (Luke 6:34-36)

Jesus perfectly lived by the Torah and all that he taught. So studying his way of life in the Gospels will help us understand how to apply his teachings to our own lives. As we progress in our studies, we shall see that "turning the other cheek" does not mean that we should allow others to walk over us like doormats. Jesus never did, yet he constantly turned his other cheek. We saw how he made himself available to all the sick, healing them even till the sun had set. He sacrificed himself for the good of others. This is turning the other cheek. But he didn't let the people restrain him from going to other cities to bring the gospel to others. He wasn't a doormat. Being a doormat would prevent him from accomplishing his God-given mission.

Simply put, turning the other cheek is about being merciful and showing empathy. It is about swallowing our pride, enduring personal inconveniences with grace, and respecting others above ourselves, even if they may not deserve it, and yes, even if they may be our enemies. It's about realizing we ourselves are flawed human beings like our enemies and that we're essentially no better than them. Just as we need mercy from God, they also need mercy, from God and from us.

Assess your ways. How much do you reflect the truthfulness and mercy of God? If you find Christ's teaching pricking your conscience, that may be a good sign, as God created our conscience to guide us morally. Pray for wisdom, the willingness and the boldness to put our Lord's teaching into practice, and when you obey God as He answers you, you'll better live up to your title as a son or daughter of the holy God for His glory and your own good and the good of others!


~*~ Q & A with Dr. Shirley ~*~

Question: I overthink a lot. How and why should I trust God? Does He test our faith?

Answer: Overthinking can be a sign of anxiety, which is a symptom of not trusting in God fully or letting God take control. So to stop overthinking and to surrender everything to God go hand in hand.

To surrender everything to God when things are beyond our control, we must focus on who God is. God is not a human being, not even a super-human. He transcends everything and everyone.

We have every good reason to trust God and hand over all things to Him because He is transcendent and purely good. When we trust a human, even the best human in existence, we would be unable to rely on them fully, because for one, they die. So just this reason alone, a human cannot be relied on fully, because they die and once they die, they cannot offer us anything. And while they are still alive, a human lacks enough wisdom, ability, or power to help us in any and all situations. God, on the other hand, can do anything He wants. He even has countless angels at His disposal to help us if He so chooses. There's nothing or no one who can hinder Him from doing anything He wants.

One of the best reasons to trust in God is His reliable track record. Every time He made an unconditional promise, He always kept it. He has the integrity, faithfulness and power to keep everything He promises. No human has such a perfect record. Even if someone has the best intentions, something may keep them from fulfilling a promise, such as their illness or anything else that happened beyond their control. Nothing is out of God's control!

Romans 10 tells us that faith is developed by hearing the Word of God. What this means is that the best way to cultivate our faith in God is to regularly study His Word to us. The more we study it, the more we'll understand who God is and thus trust Him more and more. Only when we trust Him unconditionally will we be able to surrender our whole selves to Him. That all starts with faith, developed through a regular, diligent Bible study and application.

Yes, God does test our faith. He often uses difficult circumstances, our trials and hardships, to do so. In fact, our whole life right now is a period of testing and strengthening of our faith. In Genesis 22, we see how God tested Abraham's trust in Him. God asked him to sacrifice Isaac on a mountain. Abraham did as he was told. He brought his son to a mountain, bound him up and reached out a hand to take hold of a knife before God's angel told him to stop. Abraham had fully passed the test.

We also learned from this account that Abraham's faith in God was not blind faith. "Blind faith" means believing in something simply for the sake of believing; it is not backed up by any good reason.

Instead of blind faith, Abraham's faith in God was trust. God had already promised Abraham that He would have his descendants through Isaac, so how would God be able to fulfill His promise if Abraham killed Isaac? Well, Abraham believed that God would still be able to fulfill His promise, by resurrecting Isaac (Hebrews 11:17-19). Because he trusted who God is (the God who keeps His promises), Abraham didn't hesitate to obey God in the test. His obedience proved that he had genuine trust in God.

The apostle Peter noted that in our trials, our faith is being tested and refined, just like gold is refined by fire (1 Peter 1:6-7). So like Abraham, when we're being tested and refined, we must live on who God is--the all-powerful and all-trustworthy God who has a flawless track record. We do so by obeying Him in every way, knowing that He always has the best in mind, and praying to Him for everything, thanking Him for His blessings and pouring out our hearts to Him instead of holding our anxieties inside.


~*~ Dr. Shirley's News Flash ~*~

I've released an e-study guide for the book of Genesis titled, "Study of Genesis of the Holy Scriptures: The Beginning of Sin and Dawn of Redemption." It is suitable for both personal and group study. Grab a copy for yourself or a friend at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXY6M18Z

Proceeds will go to Unite in Love to support our brethren.

Unite in Love - Hope and Healing for Families:
https://gofundme.com/f/uniteinlove37

Do you have Bible questions and want answers? Contact Dr. Shirley and she'll be happy to answer your questions by the grace of God.

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