2012-07-30
Explanation
This comic plays on Jesus'''s famous teaching to "turn the other cheek" -- the instruction from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:39) that if someone strikes you on one cheek, you should turn and offer them the other. The main panel shows a group of biblical-era figures (likely Jesus'''s followers) realizing they have misunderstood this teaching. One says "Whoa... so... I guess we took that quote completely wrong," and another confirms "Bigtime." The caption below reads: "Little Known Truth: Jesus''' other cheek was covered in spikes."
The joke reinterprets "turn the other cheek" as not a lesson in pacifism and forgiveness, but rather a combat maneuver. If Jesus'''s other cheek was covered in spikes, then telling someone to strike that cheek would actually be a threat -- an invitation for your attacker to hurt themselves. The disciples''' realization that they "took that quote completely wrong" implies they had been practicing nonviolent resistance for years when they should have been weaponizing their faces.
The votey panel drives the joke home with Jesus himself saying "Don'''t make me turn the other cheek, bitch" -- delivering the phrase as a tough-guy threat rather than a humble spiritual teaching, with visible spikes protruding from his face. It transforms one of the most famous pacifist statements in history into an action-hero one-liner.