Week 52 Day 4
Finding God in the Mysteries of every day
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Matthew 5:41Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
In case you ever wondered what Jesus was talking about when He made the statement above he was talking about an often practiced but somewhat obscure Roman law that required citizens of occupied colonies to carry the gear of a soldier or any other official at least one mile. That was the minimum requirement, most likely any refusal being met with punishment even death. My son clarified this for me somewhat when he talked about the fatigue engendered during his own military service when they were marched out in what he called “full battle rattle” going miles and miles carrying more than eighty pounds of gear.
What did Jesus mean when he made this statement? Was He leading up to some sort of fawning acceptance of the Roman occupation? Was He preparing the people for the “big let -down” following his “triumphal entry”?
Not at all. He was attempting to help people understand that the key to opening any kind of positive relationship was to go above and beyond thinking not about the minimum requirement of the law, but about the need of the individual soldier for some kind of relief and perhaps the opening of a doorway to conversation about the love of God and His righteousness.
Larry M Lawrence- Mysteries 