Ep. 175 - The Six Antitheses: When Jesus Raises the Stakes
Mass Readings for February 15, 2025
Jesus has just settled his followers on a Galilean hillside when he drops a spiritual bombshell: “You have heard it said... but I say to you.” This episode unpacks Jesus’s radical reimagining of righteousness, tracing how he transforms Old Testament laws—about anger, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and love—raising the bar far beyond the letter to the very heart. We’ll get up close with the Greek text, discover what a slap on the right cheek really meant, and find out why even a coat and a cloak aren’t just clothes in Jesus’s new world order. If you’ve ever wondered why Christian love means going the extra mile (literally!), you won’t want to miss this deep dive into the six antitheses that reshaped the moral universe.
Diving deep into our Gospel we'll spend our episode looking closer at:
The jaw-dropping significance of Jesus using an emphatic "I" in Greek, altering the tone and asserting divine authority as he gives the new law [26:23]
The miraculous story of the thornless roses in Assisi, grown after St. Francis rolled in the bushes to combat lust, showing how saints took the Sermon on the Mount to heart [33:23]
The shocking reality behind why Moses permitted divorce in ancient Israel—and how it originally served to prevent murder [34:43]
A behind-the-scenes look at "equivalent retribution," the notorious "eye for an eye" concept, and how Jesus subverts it to command radical generosity and non-retaliation [39:03]
Evidence from rabbinic literature on cheek-slapping, revealing that being backhanded on the right cheek was uniquely shameful—and why Jesus's command upends all expectations [41:49]
The surprising Jewish distinctions between a tunic and a cloak, and why lending or losing either held profound legal and survival implications [43:44]
How Roman law allowed soldiers to conscript civilians for forced labor—and the real-life humiliation Jews endured, transforming Jesus's call to "go the extra mile" into a radical act of discipleship [45:21]
And finally, Rabbi Jacob Neusner's provocative conclusion after reading Jesus's words—why he, as a Jew, would not have followed the new law, highlighting just how revolutionary Jesus's teaching was [48:58]
References
“For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” (Matthew 11:13)
“’Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, and I showed myself their Master, says the Lord. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”(Jeremiah 31:31-33)
“’A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.’” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
Deuteronomy 24: Mosaic allowance for divorce
“They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?’ He said to them, ‘For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.’”(Matthew 19:7-8)
Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21 - Describe equivalent retribution, i.e., “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”
“If he slapped another on the cheek, he must give him two hundred dinars. If he slapped him on the cheek with the back of his hand, which is more degrading than a slap with the palm, he must give him four hundred dinars.” (Mishnah Bava Kamma 8.6)
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:17-18)
“The Torah of Moses does not tell me that god is going to give instruction - torah - through someone besides Moses or the other prophets; or that there is going to be another Torah.” (Neusner 48)
“’Sir, how come you speak on your own say-so, and not out of the teachings of the torah given by God to Moses at Sinai? It looks as though you see yourself as Moses, or as more than Moses.’” (Neusner 48)
“If I were there that day [at the Sermon on the Mount], I would not have joined those disciples and followed the master on his way. I would have turned back to my own family and to my village, going on with my life.” (Neusner 52)
Bibliography
Davies, W. D., and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. International Critical Commentary. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004.
Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009.
Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.
Neusner, Jacob. A Rabbi Talks with Jesus. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007.
Discussion Questions
This episode discusses the “six antitheses” in the Sermon on the Mount. What does Jesus do differently compared to the Old Testament law, and why is this significant for Christians today?
In what ways does the idea of a “new law” in Christ fulfill Old Testament prophecies, according to Ezekiel and Jeremiah?
Jesus uses the phrase “I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” What are some examples from the episode of how Jesus “raises” or intensifies the law instead of discarding it?
Why does Katie emphasize both the outward action and the “interior mood of the heart” in Jesus’ teachings, especially on topics like anger and lust?
Discuss the historical and cultural context behind Moses allowing divorce. How does Jesus’ teaching subvert or correct this Old Testament allowance?
What is the principle of “equivalent retribution,” and how does Jesus challenge this idea in his statement: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”?
Reflect on the explanation of turning the other cheek. How does the rabbinic context illuminate the challenge Jesus is giving his listeners?
Why is it helpful to understand the difference between a coat and a cloak in Jesus’ teaching, and what does this detail add to the meaning of generosity or sacrifice?
One of the episode’s most provocative moments is the command to “love your enemies.” How does Katie explain this as the new mark of distinction for the “new Israel” in contrast to Old Testament kosher laws?
Jacob Neusner’s perspective as a scholar and rabbi adds depth to the conversation. Why does he ultimately say he would not have followed Jesus after hearing the Sermon on the Mount?