When, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave the commands, "Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also," and, "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain," he made a demand which humanity has felt it was well-nigh impossible to fulfill. His words are so unmistakably direct, so simple in statement, so unequivocal in meaning, that they must of necessity be obeyed if accepted.
The human consciousness from its standpoint of selfhood in matter cannot conceive of such self-relinquishment. It can only see, in such a course, indignity and weakness. At most it can only think of itself under such circumstances as yielding its own right of self-protection and choice to some one else. In other words, the carnal mind for centuries has insisted that to obey Jesus' instruction in this particular would simply mean to allow itself to be imposed upon in a most outrageous fashion. It therefore has relegated this specific teaching of Jesus largely to the realm of the impossible, and has gone on justifying its resentment for injuries inflicted and its resistance to what it has felt were the unreasonable demands of others.
The failure to understand the way in which Jesus preached and practiced these commands, has resulted in some of the worst forms of religious intolerance known among Christian sects and in many of the dissensions between individuals who have believed themselves to be both God-fearing and man-loving. It is largely accepted by Christians that Jesus himself demonstrated over and out of all evil, and that his teachings are for the purpose of showing others how he did this and how they may do the same. It is certainly clear that since Jesus triumphed over all that is evil through his understanding and proof of the all-power of good, his teachings must be relied upon as the perfect way to win like victories.
