Luther's Take on Matthew 5

11 Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.

38-42 'You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

On the level of vocation, we do not turn the cheek because we need to do our jobs. A policeman does not let the thief go; a mother does not fail to correct her child.

On the level of being a person in the world, we may seek to redress our grievances by looking to people in authority; people whose vocations are to uphold justice on this side of heaven.

On the level of being a Christian, if we are persecuted on the sole basis of being Christians, we are obliged to pick up the Cross for Christ and turn the cheek, give the cloak, walk the mile and give.

I thought Luther's take to be very insightful. It helps reconcile the harsh realities of living in this side of heaven with what Jesus taught. But I think its not so easy to tease out the three levels in practical. More often then not, we don't really know why are people so mean to us.