Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
It’s just a guess, but my hunch is that few of us have ever gotten a black eye from fisticuffs with another individual. Of course that doesn’t mean we haven’t received a figurative one. In fact, it’s quite likely that we’ve all been punched in such a way that our self-esteem has taken a beating. Those verbal jabs, those put-downs that hit their mark all leave a mark whether they are visible or not. Even instances that could hardly qualify as a punch, such as simply being overlooked, can do damage to one’s ego.
I know it’s not the same, but the Golden-cheeked Woodpecker appears to be perpetually cursed, or blessed, with a black eye. In fact, it’s a field mark that sets it apart from other woodpeckers in Mexico where it is endemic.
I suspect this is what Christ was talking about in His Sermon on the Mount when addressing those seated around Him. “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:39 NIV) Some have taken this to condone being a victim of abuse, but I think Christ’s words had a different intent.
Notice the word the NIV uses to describe the engagement, “slap”. This type of action is not intended so much to inflict damage as to convey insult. So Christ may have been saying, “As an identifying mark of one of My followers, don’t let insults so damage your self-image that you lose your true identity.”