I got more problems with "But I tell you not to resist an evil person."
You have to understand the situation at the time to understand that verse. The Jews had been conquered by the Romans so Israel was essentially a state in the Roman Empire. The Zealots and several other Jewish paramilitary guerilla movements resisted this. Jesus told them that instead of reflexively and thoughtlessly striking at Romans - or a neighbor they were arguing with, or someone who owed them money - they should accept their situation and try to show godly love.
If the Jews had listened, they would not have rebelled for the final time circa AD 70. The empire's response destroyed Israel and scattered the Jewish people to the winds. Fulfilling a prophecy of Jesus, not a single stone of the Jerusalem temple was left upon another (the Wailing Wall is a retaining wall of the temple grounds, not part of the temple itself).
To summarize: if someone personally slights you, there are two choices. A, you try to accommodate him and make peace (others first). B, you take the territorial mindset and reject everything (me first). The traditional Jewish attitude is all into option B and that's why you see self-sabotaging, blind ethnic triumphalism.
Option B goes against ingrained human nature (selfishness) and is only possible through divine grace. When people talk about compassion, "humanity," and thoughtfulness, they are actually talking about the influence of God. We have seen what this principle looks like after attempting to excise God - leftism.
"If he asks for one cloak, give him two" is not a prescription to let people kill your son or let your country get invaded.
I got more problems with "But I tell you not to resist an evil person."
You have to understand the situation at the time to understand that verse. The Jews had been conquered by the Romans so Israel was essentially a state in the Roman Empire. The Zealots and several other Jewish paramilitary guerilla movements resisted this. Jesus told them that instead of reflexively and thoughtlessly striking at Romans - or a neighbor they were arguing with, or someone who owed them money - they should accept their situation and try to show godly love.
If the Jews had listened, they would not have rebelled for the final time circa AD 70. The empire's response destroyed Israel and scattered the Jewish people to the winds. Fulfilling a prophecy of Jesus, not a single stone of the Jerusalem temple was left upon another (the Wailing Wall is a retaining wall of the temple grounds, not part of the temple itself).
To summarize: if someone personally slights you, there are two choices. A, you try to accommodate him and make peace (others first). B, you take the territorial mindset and reject everything (me first). The traditional Jewish attitude is all into option B and that's why you see self-sabotaging, blind ethnic triumphalism.
Option B goes against ingrained human nature (selfishness) and is only possible through divine grace.
"If he asks for one cloak, give him two" is not a prescription to let people kill your son or let your country get invaded.
I got more problems with "But I tell you not to resist an evil person."
You have to understand the situation at the time to understand that verse. The Jews had been conquered by the Romans so Israel was essentially a state in the Roman Empire. The Zealots and several other Jewish paramilitary guerilla movements resisted this. Jesus told them that instead of reflexively and thoughtlessly striking at Romans - or a neighbor they were arguing with, or someone who owed them money - they should accept their situation and try to show godly love.
If the Jews had listened, they would not have rebelled for the final time circa AD 70. The empire's response destroyed Israel and scattered the Jewish people to the winds. Fulfilling a prophecy of Jesus, not a single stone of the Jerusalem temple was left upon another (the Wailing Wall is a retaining wall of the temple grounds, not part of the temple itself).
To summarize: if someone personally slights you, there are two choices. A, you try to accommodate him and make peace (others first). B, you take the territorial mindset and reject everything (me first). The traditional Jewish attitude is all into option B and that's why you see self-sabotaging, blind ethnic triumphalism.
"If he asks for one cloak, give him two" is not a prescription to let people rape your wife or let your country get invaded.