The Roman Law - An Opportunity to Walk in the Example of our King

The whispers grew silent as the stranger came nearer. All who had shared in the gossip averted their eyes. They were afraid even to look at the man of whom they had just spoken. As he passed through everyone pretended to be hard at work, though most were too anxious to focus on their tasks. The Roman soldier was like a lion lurking near a herd of gazelles. They appeared to be calm - hoping to escape his notice- but each was poised to flee.

The red fabric and silver armour that made up his attire was covered in sweat and dust. One of his hands was hastily bound up and Benaiah guessed that the hidden wound must be fresh for it was bleeding through the bandage. He wondered what had happened to the rest of the man's battalion, for it wasn't often that one saw a Roman soldier traveling alone.    

"The brute has probably been raiding some of our countrymen." A passerby whispered in the youth's ear. The man spat on the ground in disgust before hurrying away.  

Benaiah's eyes moved to the glinting sword that hung at the soldier's side and he shuddered. The suspicion was probably right. His gaze rose to the Roman's face and their eyes suddenly met.

"You there, come and take my pack."

Benaiah wished that the man was talking to someone else but he knew that he was not. Benaiah hesitated, glancing down at his unfinished work.

"You must go, Ben," Miriam whispered in his ear, "this will have to wait." His sister took the tool out of his hand and urged him forward.

The law required him to carry the soldier's pack a mile and it didn't matter in the least if it was convenient for him to do so.

Benaiah took the bag without a word and pulled the straps over his shoulders. With all the Romans had already taken, still they managed to find ways to demand more! Ben shook his head. Father, mother, home, friends and even my time! But such was the lot of the vanquished and he dare not complain about it aloud. He sighed. Perhaps I am looking at it all wrong. He thought. The pack was heavy, but surely not so heavy as it would feel upon the shoulders of a man who had already carried it for miles. And besides, it was an opportunity to take a walk and that was something he was rarely able to find time for. Ben smiled and his step became just a bit quicker as he followed along behind the soldier.

He was thinking that they had to be getting near to the mile marker, when the Roman suddenly paused and leaned against the short, stone wall that ran alongside the road. He rubbed his hand briskly up and down the injured arm.

"Has it gone numb?" Ben asked. It was the first time that he had spoken to the man.

"Yes."

"May I rewrap the bandage for you? It looks as though they might have been tied a too tight."

The soldier looked Ben over from head to foot. Apparently, trying to decide whether or not the youth could pose a threat. After a long while he nodded. Ben took the pack off, leaned it against the wall, and began to carefully unwrap the wound. It was a deep cut that ran across the man's palm and a good way down his wrist; evidently it had taken the stroke of a sword. The bandage was stained both with blood and the dust of the road but there wasn't a clean one with which to replace it, so Ben wrapped it around the hand again.

"Can I use your knife?"

The soldier looked hesitant. But he slowly reached to unbuckle a short- bladed knife that hung from his belt. Ben took it with a nod and began to cut a wide strip of cloth from the bottom of his tunic. His companion looked puzzled even as the boy slipped the fabric under his arm. His perplexity vanished, however, as soon as the youth began to tie the two ends together behind his neck.

Ben handed back the knife, "I'm pretty sure that your wrist is broken. It will heal better later if you keep it supported now." He said. Then Ben picked up the pack and started walking again.

As he had predicted, it wasn't much longer before they reached the stone pillar that marked a mile. In this way was every mile marked, along every road in the Roman Empire, yet Ben seemed oblivious to the presence of the pillar - he just kept walking.

"The law says you only have to go with me for a mile." The Roman soldier called after him.

The boy smiled.

"I know."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm going to go with you for two." Beniah was still walking and he was taking the Roman's pack with him. Thus, the man hurried to catch up.

"I don't understand." The Roman said with a furrowed brow.

"It's simple." Ben replied, "Ceaser decreed that a Jew must carry the pack of a Roman soldier for a mile, if he is asked to do so...That requirement I have fulfilled. But my Lord, Jesus Christ, said that His followers should go on yet another mile, even though it is not asked of us."

The Roman was silent for several minutes.

"If you go on for another mile, you'll have two more to walk on the way back."

"I know." Ben said. He thought of the work he had left undone and of Mirriam waiting anxiously for him to return. But he knew Mirriam would understand.

When they came to the second marker Benaiah finally stopped and took off the pack. He wished now that he could go the whole way with the soldier but he knew that he must get back before dark and already he would have to hurry to do so.

"May God bless the rest of your journey." He said, with a smile and an outstretched hand.

"And yours as well, friend." The man replied. He smiled for the first time since Ben had met him in the marketplace. "I had been told of your Jesus, boy, but today I have seen what He is like."

The principle of going the second mile has come to be widely understood as 'going beyond what is required in order to show kindness' but in the original context it meant much more than this.

"Whoever compels you to go with him one mile..."

If we read this command without understanding the historical setting in which it was originally given we miss the fulness of what Jesus was calling His followers to do when He said, "...go with them two." (Matthew v. 41)

At that time, the Romans had conquered the Jewish people, along with most of the known world. They had mercilessly killed thousands of Jews, enslaved others, and dispersed the remainder through foreign lands. At the hand of the Romans the Jews had lost everything - land, community, family, homes, and possessions. They daily lived in fear of the tyranny of Roman soldiers, who were known to kidnap, rape, murder, and pillage without provocation. The Jews considered the Romans, especially the Roman soldiers, to be their greatest enemies.

On top of these trials, the Jewish people were subjected to the Roman law which was far from being in their favour. The laws added insult to injury, reminding the Jews that even those who remained free were no better than slaves to the Roman Empire. The particular law that Jesus mentioned in Matthew v stated that a Roman soldier could command a Jew to carry his pack, at any time, and the Jew must journey with him for a mile. You can easily imagine the inconvenience of being required to instantly set down your work and leave your responsibilities in order to carry someone else's stuff, or the humiliation of being ever at the beck and call of your enemy. But most of us don't realise the fullness of the sacrifice that this law required of the Jewish man or boy. Most lived in poverty, struggling just to keep their families fed and the taxes paid.

Failing to pay the Roman tax would result in either imprisonment or slavery for a man and often for his entire family. Thus, every hour of work counted and it was precious time that was lost when they were walking a mile with the soldier and another mile back. For this reason it was a small mercy that the law had put a limit upon the distance that they could be required to go. Then Jesus said, to a people who already begrudged having to walk a mile out of their way to serve an enemy soldier, "go with [him] two." The command was far more difficult than 'embracing the inconvenient' or 'exceeding expectations' as we have come to understand it to mean. Their Messiah was asking them to lay down their own needs and responsibilities, to set aside their hatred and grievances, and to demonstrate His love. A love that was even then leading Him to the cross to die for those who had made themselves His enemies.

The command did not stand alone. Going the second mile fit perfectly into the longer list of impossible commands that He was giving them:

"...whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also... Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away." (Matthew v. 39 - 40, 42)

Each command is a practical application of the same principle. In caring for the man's injured hand Benaiah started walking the second mile before they had even come to the marker of the first. He demonstrated the same love and the same selflessness in ripping his own tunic to make a sling as he did in bearing the man's pack further down the road. Neither was required of him. Likewise, the command to walk an extra mile with an enemy soldier applied the same principle as turning your other cheek to someone who had just slapped you, or giving your cloak to a person who had just sued you for your tunic. In all these actions the follower of Christ had the opportunity to show love to their enemy, to bless those who had cursed them, to do good to those who hated them, and to pray for those who spitefully used them and persecuted them.

Ben explained to the soldier that the Roman law applied to all Jews but Jesus's law was only for Christians. That was an important observation because only Christians have what is needed to fulfill this command. Try as you might, without the help of the Spirit of God, you will be unable to meet such a command or to demonstrate such perfect love. Thankfully, none of us are asked to lay ourselves aside or to love our enemies until we have first been changed by the love of God. Who has, Himself, walked that second mile for us. It was by the means of this very principle that He reconciled us to Himself so that we who were enemies might instead become His friends. This is the example that the Christian gets to follow as we walk the second mile, recalling all the way that it was first done for us.  

In Christ

quiana