When Jesus said 'turn the other cheek' was he actually giving lessons on passive resistance? ?

Turning the other cheek does not mean that a Christian would not defend himself against violent assailants.

Jesus was not saying that we should never defend ourselves but, rather, that we should never strike offensively, that we should not allow ourselves to be provoked to take revenge.

While it is wise to retreat whenever possible in order to avoid a fight, it is proper to take steps to protect ourselves and to seek the help of the police if we are a victim of a crime.

Matthew chapter 5, verse 39. There Jesus says: Do not resist him that is wicked; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him.

Did he mean that if someone hits you with his fist on one side of your face, you should let him hit you on the other side?

No, Jesus did not mean that at all. A slap is not like a hit with the fist. It is more like a push or a shove. A person may slap us to pick a fight. He wants us to get angry.

And if we get angry and we push or shove back, what happens?

We will probably get into a fight. Jesus is not here referring to a blow intended to do injury but to an insulting slap with the back of the hand.

But Jesus did not want his followers to get into fights. So he said that if someone slaps us, we should not slap him back.

 We should not become angry and get into a fight. If we do, we show that we are no better than the one who started the fight.

If trouble starts, what do you think is the best thing to do? It is to walk away.

The other person may push or shove you a few more times. But that will probably be the end of it.

When you walk away, it does not mean that you are weak. It means that you are strong for what is right.

But what if you let yourself get into a fight and you win? What could happen then? The one you beat up could come back with some friends.

They might even hurt you with a big stick or a knife. So, can you see why Jesus did not want us to get into fights?

Here the answer: https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=E&docid=102010324&srcid=share

The Pope tore up that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He said "If someone annoys you - Punch them"!!!!!!!!   He also says children should be smacked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a bishop in Argentina he called for the invasion of the Falkland's that caused so many deaths and injuries mainly to the Argentinian people themselves!!!!!!!

Jesus was teaching his disciples and apostles how to "deescalate" the inevitable, future confrontations.

Jesus did not mean that if his followers are struck on one side of the face, they should stagger to their feet and offer the other side as a target. In Bible times, as is often true today, a slap was not intended to injure physically but was an insult intended to provoke a reaction, a confrontation.
Evidently, then, Jesus meant that if one person tried to goad another into a confrontation with a literal slap—or with stinging sarcasm—the person slapped should avoid retaliating. Instead, he should attempt to avoid what could become a vicious circle of rendering evil for evil.—Romans 12:17.
A follower of Jesus would turn the other cheek in the sense of not allowing others to force him, as it were, into a “showdown.”—Galatians 5:26

Yes.  To strike an inferior with your hand, you backhand them.  Turning the other cheek means you have to use the palm of your hands, as if to an equal.  I am not sure how "passive" this resistance is in fact!

“If someone strikes you on the RIGHT cheek, turn the other also.”

A right cheek hit means someone just backhanded you. Offering the left is a way of calling to attention that you are not below them... so if they are going to hit you, do so as equals.

It’s a nonviolent way of standing up to a bully. It’s not loving to allow anyone to abuse you... you must call them to account for their behaviour.