if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well;
The magistrate may lawfully exact this penalty; but the Old Testament never commanded private revenge as necessary. Jewish teachers corrupted it into a demand for retaliation by common men. Christ sweeps away that abuse entirely and calls His followers to something higher: forgiveness and patience even under fresh injury.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:38-42
The man here is not contending in a proper court but wrangling and quarreling in private to rob you by force. Better to be stripped naked than to entangle yourself in a litigious broil with such a querulous wretch. Surrender the outer garment and the inner one too rather than engage in that shameful dispute.
AI summary
I came not to sweep away the foundation of the Old Testament but to fulfill it, establish it, unfold it, embody it in living form. Fear not that I will subvert God's living oracles; rather, enshrine them in reverence, affection, and character.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:17-48