Max opened boxes in the warehouse of Hurley’s Market. He had a UPC gun, which, when it scanned the UPC code of any product, printed off a price tag that he stuck to the item. After he had enough boxes priced, he took a dolly and wheeled boxes out to the floor and placed the items on the corresponding shelves. It was a little past noon on Saturday. Max had been working since seven o’clock that morning and was scheduled to work until 9:00 p.m.

  He could barely keep his mind on his work, however, as he kept going over the events of the Bible study from Thursday night. He had told his mom and dad that he had enjoyed it, but he wasn’t sure if that was accurate. Max had participated in several Bible study programs at his school throughout the years and even sponsored several, but it was always a small crowd compared to the one at the college, usually only a handful of people, and it consisted mostly of people taking turns reading their favorite passages. It was nothing like the spirited debate he had witnessed, and been a part of, at Cedarbluff. That had become more of competition than a discussion and Max was not entirely sure how he felt about it. But one thing was certain: he couldn’t stop thinking about it. As surprised as he had been by Brad’s attitude about faith and deeds, it got worse with the next subject.

  ***

  “Let’s all calm down,” the professor ordered.

  And by “all,” it was clear he meant Brad, who had gotten out of his seat to challenge the girl sitting to Julie’s right whose topic was “Turn the Other Cheek.”

  “Sorry, Ron,” Brad said as he sat back down. His girlfriend grabbed his arm again and began whispering in his ear to console him.

  The professor shook his head. “Go ahead, Lisa.”

  The girl looked at the professor as if he had just asked her to poke a wild animal with a stick―again. In a timid voice, she said, “I just think Matthew 5:38-39 tells us not to seek revenge. Doesn’t that coincide with Romans 12:19 and Romans 12:21?”

  The guy sitting next to Brad’s Bible study date was the first to find it. As he read, she and Brad glared at him as if simply reading the passage pointed out by Lisa was an attack upon them. “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. And… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

  Before the professor could even recognize him, Brad began. “That’s the problem. There are too many powder-puff Christians in the world. Matthew 5:38-39 is not saying to let people walk all over you. It’s not, you know, saying that if you’re getting robbed at gunpoint you should lie down and tell them to shoot you. It’s not saying that if someone breaks into your home, you should let them rape your wife. It’s not saying we should never defend our country and let terrorist nations bomb us.” Brad shook his head as if wondering how he could be surrounded by so many Biblically uneducated people with zero reading comprehension.

  “Max?” the professor called out. “What do you say?”

  All eyes were on Max, fingers ready on their Bibles. Max began to wonder if the professor was matching him and Brad up on purpose.

  “I agree with Brad,” he said.

  There wasn’t a closed mouth in the room as they all stared in disbelief.

  “Really?” the professor asked. “You are agreeing with Brad?”

  “Yes,” Max began. “Jesus is not saying anything about being robbed, raped, or being bombed by terrorist countries here.”

  Everyone smiled as they realized that Max saying he was agreeing with Brad was simply sarcasm to point out that Brad was entirely off base.

  “So, what do you think Jesus is saying here?” asked the professor.

  “I think he’s saying that if someone hits you on the right cheek, turn him the other also.”

  The professor smiled and a few others chuckled around the room. “That’s what the words say,” Professor Stoner replied. “But what do you think they mean?”

  Max looked confused. “I think the words mean exactly what they say. Jesus was not telling a parable here. If you notice, it begins by saying we have heard ‘eye for an eye’ before. And we have. It’s mentioned three times in the Old Testament.”

  Finally, everyone thought, fingers at the ready.

  “Deuteronomy 19:19-21.”

  Kenneth got there first. “Then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

  “Leviticus 24:19-20.”

  Someone read, “If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured.”

  “Exodus 21:22-25,” Max continued.

  “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

  Max looked around the room. “You will notice that in all three places that the old law of eye-for-an-eye is mentioned, it is about two guys fighting. That’s why I think Jesus meant exactly what he said because it corresponds perfectly. I think he’s saying that instead of worrying about what justice an injured party might receive in a fight, try not to let the fight happen in the first place. If someone hits you on the cheek, they’re obviously trying to lure you into a fight, so don’t let them. Be the bigger person; be the stronger person; be the Christian.”

  Almost everyone in the room was nodding in unison. Professor Stoner looked over at Brad.

  “I’m done,” Brad said holding up both hands. “He twists everything and takes everything out of context. You should not let someone like this come to Bible study. Look at the influence he’s having―just like Satan has.”

  The professor began to speak, but Brad cut him off.

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  “The thing is,” Brad snapped, “you have to realize that Jesus was making no changes to the old law in Matthew 5:38-39. He wasn’t making any changes to any of the old laws.”

  “Wait,” Kenneth said. “Are you talking about all these places in Matthew 5 regarding the Sermon on the Mount where he mentions murder, adultery, divorce, oaths…?”

  As Kenneth looked down to read the verses to finish his sentence, the girl sitting to the professor’s right picked up where he left off. “Eye for an eye, and love the enemy.”

  Kenneth nodded to the girl in thanks. But he then looked at Brad as if he could not believe what he was hearing. “You’re saying Jesus was making no changes here at all?”

  “Ah, come on,” Rollo insisted. “The very wording reveals that he was making some kind of changes. Every one of those verses begins with ‘you’ve heard this, but I tell you this.’”

  Brad persisted. “You guys can’t even understand what you read. Jesus was clearly making no changes here but only affirming that the old laws were still valid.”

  “Max?” the professor jumped in. “What do you say?”

  Max looked at Rollo and Kenneth. “I agree with these guys; it’s obvious that Jesus was making some changes. The way I’ve always thought of it is this: throughout the New Testament, Jesus is raising the standard for being a Christian. He’s making it tougher, not easier. The old law was not to commit adultery, the new law is don’t even think about it. It was don’t murder and now it’s don’t even be angry. It was love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but now it’s love also your enemy. And, of course, eye for an eye is now turn the other cheek. This coincides with the entire message of the New Testament. Everything Jesus taught raised the bar like loving instead of hating, forgiving instead of retaliation, peace instead of war. He raised the standard, and it’s our responsibility to honor that and raise our standards as well.”

  Everyone was silent, especially Brad who seemed to not even be paying attention.

  “Brad?” the professor called out.

  Brad held up his right hand without looking at the professor or anyone else.

  “You have no rebuttal?” the professor asked again.

  Brad turned in his chair to face his girlfriend. “I do not cast my pearls before swine.”

  Max looked over at Rollo who was enjoying himself immensely. He was chuckling so hard that his belly was shaking all over. Max looked at Julie who had a huge smile and seemed to be beaming with pride. Max had never experienced these kinds of feelings before.

  ***

  “Hey.” The manager of the store, Mr. Mitner, patted Max on the back, which made him jump. “Whoa. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “Sorry,” said Max. “My mind was in another world.”

  Mr. Mitner laughed. “Well, I hate to be the one to bring you back to this one. How’s college going anyway?”

  “Really good. Thanks.”

  “I remember my first year in college,” Mr. Mitner said. “I was pretty excited and scared, too. I remember wondering how there could be so many beautiful women all in one place.”

  Max smiled. He knew the feeling. He was also surprised since this marked the only personal conversation he had ever had with Mr. Mitner.

  “Speaking of which,” Mr. Mitner continued, “there’s a young lady out front asking for you.”

  Max looked confused. He walked over to the middle of the backroom area so that he could look through the small windows in the double doors that swung both ways to enter and exit the warehouse. It was Julie. Max smiled. “Yeah, she’s a classmate from Cedarbluff.”

  “Well, I guess you better take your lunch now, then Mr. Maxwell,” the manager said. “In fact,” he added, “since you’re working a double-shift, you should take two hours for lunch.” This was followed by a quick wink as the store manager turned to walk away.

  Max clocked out and walked through the warehouse doors. Julie spotted him and stood motionless, letting him walk up to her.

  “Hey, Julie. What are you doing here?”

  “Just wanted to see where you worked. You told me you were working all day so I thought I would come by and check it out. Do you get a break anytime soon?”

  Good old Mr. Mitner, thought Max. “I just clocked out for a two-hour lunch.”

  “Great,” Julie smiled. “You can show me around town and take me to the best place to eat.”

  “Okay,” said Max, his eyes looking at an angle upward as if trying to determine where that place was. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he turned to go back toward the warehouse.

  “Where are you going?”

  Max turned back with a big smile. “I have to make a reservation.”

  Max navigated and donned the tour-guide hat as Julie chauffeured him through the small town of Parker, the most interesting area being downtown, which still consisted of the buildings first built over a hundred years ago. Max pointed out the old opera house, which was still used for school plays and other special occasions.

  As they rode around, Julie slowly changed the subject from the town. “What did you think of Bible study?”

  “To be honest, I’m not sure I enjoyed it at all.” Max searched her face for expression as he spoke. “I don’t really care for confrontation, and I didn’t mean to upset that guy.”

  “You can’t not upset Brad,” Julie reassured. “He’s like that every session. Most people just say nothing to avoid him, or it turns into a heated argument that the professor has to quell. That’s why I enjoyed your points. He was angry because you made sense, and he couldn’t think of what to say to combat your points. The fact that you remained calm made it worse.”

  Julie was smiling, but Max was not. “But that’s the point,” Max said humbly. “Bible study should not be about combat. It’s okay to differ, but to try so hard to prove others wrong is not for God’s glory, but for yours.”

  Julie smiled. She knew Max was right but decided to lighten the mood. “That’s it. I can’t talk with you about this. I’m not going to cast my pearls before swine.”

  They both laughed.

  “So, where are we eating?” she asked. “Are they ready for us because I’m starving?”

  Max directed Julie back through town and into a rural setting. He pointed to a driveway and had her pull in and park behind a plumbing truck.

  Julie was confused. It didn’t look like a restaurant. She looked at Max for confirmation, but he simply smiled and motioned for her to get out. They walked to the door and Max went inside with Julie in tow.

  “There you guys are,” Max’s mom shouted from the kitchen. “We’re ready so get washed up.”

  The smell of home cooking permeated the small house. Max walked into the kitchen and introduced Julie to his parents. It was hard to tell who was smiling more, Max, his parents, or Julie.

  After they went to the bathroom to wash their hands, they seated themselves at the table across from his parents. “Just dig in,” his mom said as she spread out her hands with her palms open as to show them where the food was.

  In front of them was a very nice spread considering the short notice. The main platter had grilled-cheese sandwiches and BLTs, all of which had been sliced from one corner to the other leaving triangle-shaped halves. Then there was salad, chips, and a plate of vegetables consisting of baby carrots, cucumbers, and little tomatoes.

  “This looks wonderful, Mrs. Maxwell,” Julie said.

  “Please, call me Hazel. I was just going to make BLTs,” his mom said, “but I didn’t know if you were a vegetarian. I read that a lot of college girls are.”

  Julie smiled. “Oh no, Hazel, don’t try to take my bacon away from me.”

  The reverend looked at Max with a big smile. It was obvious that he liked Julie. “Son, would you like to ask the blessing?”

  Max obliged.

  After the blessing, they all began to fill up their plates. “So,” Julie said, looking at Max’s parents, “how often does he bring a new girl home for this royal treatment?”

  His dad laughed. “Are you serious? We didn’t even know Max knew what a girl was.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Don’t think this is common,” his dad continued. “In fact, I can tell you how not common this is. I didn’t even know we still owned porcelain plates.”

  Everyone enjoyed lunch and afterward Julie drove Max back to the store. She got out and walked over to the passenger side. “I’ll see you at school next week,” she said as Max got out. “And I’ll see you Thursday night at Bible study? Right?”

  Max gritted his teeth. “I don’t think so.”

  “You have to come,” she pressed. “You named one of the topics, remember?”

  “Yeah,” Max muttered. “But still, I just don’t know if I can go through that again. I think it’s messing with my head. I had a dream last night about it.”

  Julie laughed. “What was the dream about?”

  Max grinned and waved his hand as if to say it was too strange to talk about, but Julie persisted. “It was dumb,” Max began. “I dreamed that Jesus came to the Bible study and wasn’t happy.”

  “That’s a sign,” Julie said, acting serious. “Don’t you think that’s a sign?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You do believe in signs, don’t you?” Julie asked.

  “Sure,” Max offered weakly.

  Julie tried another angle. “You do realize you get to see me there, don’t you?” She waited for Max to smile. “Well, there’s the best reason I can think of.”

  Max relented. “Okay, I’ll be there.”

  Julie smiled and kidded him on the cheek.

  Max blushed and spun his head around.

  Julie laughed. “What are you doing?”

  “Turning the other cheek.”