The Extra Mile Started With a Roman Soldier

Every job posting in America says the same thing. "Looking for a team player who's willing to go the extra mile." Every coach says it. Every company that's ever put a customer service award on the wall says it.

Here's what most of them don't know. They're quoting Jesus. And when Jesus said it, it wasn't about customer service. It was about a Roman soldier.

The first mile wasn't your idea

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 5. Jesus is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, and he's been turning everything upside down. "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you." Then he gets to this:

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matthew 5:41)

You've got to hear that the way the crowd heard it. The word translated "forces" is a Greek word, angareuō, that goes all the way back to Persian royal couriers. By Jesus' day it meant being pressed into service. A soldier or official could grab a civilian and make him carry a load. You didn't get asked. You got told.

Want to see that same word somewhere else? Flip over to Matthew 27:

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. (Matthew 27:32)

"Compelled" is the same word. Simon came into town that morning minding his own business, and the next thing he knew he was carrying a cross for somebody else. That's the kind of mile Jesus is talking about. It's not a favor you volunteer for. It's an imposition from somebody with power over you, maybe somebody you can't stand.

And Jesus says, when they let you put that load down, pick it back up and keep walking.

A little word history

The word mile comes from Latin. A Roman mile was a thousand paces, mille passus. So we got the word itself from the same empire whose soldiers were doing the compelling. Isn't that something?

The old King James told folks to go with him twain, which is just an old word for two. Over the years people started talking about "the second mile," and that turned into the "extra mile" we put on job postings. Same idea, different packaging.

But notice what got lost along the way. Today "going the extra mile" mostly means doing a little more than expected so you get noticed: an extra hour at work, a bonus, a good review. In Matthew 5 it's the opposite. It means serving somebody who doesn't deserve it, can't pay you back, and might even be your enemy. Three verses later Jesus says it plainly:

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44)

Believing it isn't the same as walking it

Now here's where I'll step on my own toes. A lot of us read the Sermon on the Mount and say, "Wow, that's a beautiful ideal." Then we never try it. We never take somebody in, never carry the load an extra step for anybody. It's great that you believe the right things. Jesus didn't say "believe in the second mile." He said go.

So who's the person in your life who forces you to walk the first mile? A demanding boss? A relative who only calls when they need something? A neighbor who's impossible? What would it look like this week to keep walking once your obligation runs out?

The One who walked farther than that

Here's the part that keeps this from being one more thing on your to-do list. Jesus never asks us to walk a road he hasn't walked first.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

We didn't deserve the first mile, let alone the second. And Jesus didn't stop at two. He carried our sin the whole way to Calvary. Simon of Cyrene carried the cross part of the way. Jesus carried what was on it.

When you know you've been loved like that, the extra mile stops feeling like a burden and starts feeling like following him. So lace up. There's somebody on your road this week who needs you to keep walking.