43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5: 43-48 ESV
Matthew 5: 43-48 The Highest Expression of Love
…17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. 18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19: 17-18
You have heard - Again, Jesus starts it out with what the people had been taught by the Scribes, and as usual the Scribes and Rabbis had done a little filtering. They said, "you shall love your neighbor", but God said, in Leviticus 19, "love your neighbor as yourself." It was the 'as yourself' part that they had a problem with, that standard was too high, for in being self centered it is impossible to believe that there is any better mode than self love. And to love someone at the same level as you, brings them up, and causes you, in many cases, to stoop down. It is at times aggravating, inconvenient, costly, and mostly it just isn't how we think. We think, how is this going to affect me? That's not my problem, sorry about your luck. Remember, Jesus comes with the most horrifying campaign of all time, "if anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and come follow Me." They didn't mind saying, "love your neighbor", but they wanted to define who that was as well, and like Job's friends, if their neighbor was too sick, too needy, not of any material benefit to them anymore, well then he probably deserves this as judgment for something terrible that he did, and whatever it is it probably moves him into the enemy column now. We see someone in need and we walk faster, but if we have a problem then everyone should stop what their doing, and listen to the great tragedy that is our life. We are noble in our strife, yet the suffering of others is probably deserved, and if I were to help them, well, I can't, my life is just not set up for that.
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10: 25-37
Hate your enemy - Now to those teaching in the Talmud they probably found precedent for this in God's judgment on sinful nations. The problem with that is that they also committed the sin's of those nations, and they did it in light of God's law. Now in verse 48 here we will see that God's bar is perfection, so no one meets that, and the very least sin, or what appears to be the least in my mind, is occasion for God to flood the whole earth again, to rid His universe of every flaw. That is His right. But who in this case has the most sincere cry, saying, "I cannot see, I did not know?" Israel has had the light of God's word, the temple, the sacrifices, and the ten commandments were not hard to remember.
…14And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.… Matthew 10: 14-16
…21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.… Matthew 11: 21-23
There is a godly hatred, one that despises the offense towards God, that hates the sin, but the Scribes wanted to justify personal hatred, enmity, and hold in contempt all the rest of the world, and even other Jews who they did not get along so well with. They wanted to feel justified in hating the Romans, not because of their pagan idolatry, their defiance towards the only true God, but because they were the occupying force in Israel. Jesus was more angry with those who claimed to know God, who self righteously claimed to keep His laws, yet were an embarrassment to the cause of true religion, who made a mockery of God's house. Jesus let their personal attacks on Him roll off, all the way to the cross, but when He saw what they were doing in the temple, He made a whip.
…14In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. 15So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”… John 2: 14-16
But I say to you, love your enemies - It just keeps getting worse for them, that isn't natural. Now, my wife and I discuss this often with our kids, and it has come up at work as well, and the question is, how is that you believe the way you believe, that you hold the political views you hold, the moral values that you hold, and yet you would hire this person or defend that one? You are a Christian, right Calvin, so why do you protect an atheist, a homosexual, a fornicator, an adulterer, a gossip, a hypocrite, someone who is a known drunk outside of here? Why would you hire a Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, a Roman Catholic etc. ? The answer is simple, because I am their neighbor, and no matter what sin they show outwardly, the Bible says of believers, "such were some of you, but you were washed, changed." I don't forget where I came from, and the amazing amount of light and teaching that was given to me by my mom and others from a very young age. I don't forget that I walked away from the things of God, tried to be an atheist. I was a liar, a drug addict, a drunk, a fornicator, but not only did God show me mercy, but He often showed me mercy through other people, and when I finally came to Him, I didn't come with anything of value, all I had was baggage, stuff I needed Him to take away from me. I came begging for mercy, so shall I not show it? One of the coolest things about being a Christian is that I want everyone to be able to eat, to be able to support their families, and so when I hire someone as a mechanic or controls tech, I don't have to worry about catch words, like diversity or inclusion, because I am looking for people with skills and experience who want to work on a team. The diversity and inclusion take care of themselves when you stick to the requirements of the job. If you tell me I have to hire this person because they are a woman, then as I have stated before, you are sexist. If you say I have to hire someone because they are black, well then you are racist. Those aren't requirements for the job, those are things to be set aside, not even part of the conversation; I need to know that you can do the job and want to do the job. I am more worried about hiring someone and later finding out that they have no integrity, or they call out all the time without good excuse, which burdens the rest of the team. I plead with them though, I let them know that they are walking dangerously close to the edge, and I do so because I don't want them to have to go home and tell their family that they no longer have a job. That is what I want for myself, to be warned, to be shown the reality of where I am heading, to be given a chance. So, tell me, who is your enemy and who is your neighbor? Jesus is saying they are the same. Remember, friendship with the world is enmity with God, so you can't lower God's bar to be acceptable in this world's system, which makes most of the world your enemy, but guess what, you were an enemy of God, and so He is telling you to do what He did for you, love your enemy.
Pray for those who persecute you - Words matter, and so Jesus defines both neighbor and enemy for them. Imagine living in occupied Israel, where you can be made to carry someone's pack a mile, and you pay taxes to a government based far away. Some of the people, probably thousands that listened to Jesus, wanted a Messiah who would rid them of Rome, and many of them were zealous about their independence, even being part of uprisings. It would be crushing to hear this, it's not the way they saw it going in their minds. Why would you pray for someone who persecutes you? I don't think it's wrong to confront them, in fact, you do them and others a favor by telling them the truth, but Jesus leaves no room for justified hatred between men. Notice, He doesn't, nor does the Bible, shy from the word enemy. He acknowledges what they are, and so He is not asking you to pretend that they are your friend with your best interest at heart, no, he uses the word enemy, and then tells you to love them, to pray for them.
So that you may be sons of your Father in heaven - The closest you will ever come to being like God is when you forgive your enemy, when you pray for him, when you share the gospel with him. Sure, he may be the bane of your existence right here and right now, inside time and space, but you won't even remember him in eternity. You want to be like God? He looked at human kind and saw only enemies, enemies of truth, of love, of kindness, of His sovereignty and His just nature. He looked at that, came down from heaven, identified Himself as one of us, then, though He Himself had no sin, which is beyond what you and I can say of ourselves, He identified Himself with sinners, with His enemies, and went to the cross for me. If you are seeing it some other way, where you're the good guy in your story, well that is not God's story, that's not the gospel.
…7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!… Romans 5: 7-9
Love those who love you - Well everyone does that, at least to the extent that they know or define love. This is tit for tat, you scratch my back I scratch yours. It is mutually beneficial to us, to my ego, and you make me feel good about myself with compliments and gifts, remembering my birthday and so on. I may say I love you because you cook good, you are talented, you are beautiful to look at, you are family and that's what family in my culture is supposed to do. I may say I love you, or try to take snapshots that appear to show such a relationship, because it makes me look good to other people. It paints the portrait or carves the image that I want people to see.
…34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.… Luke 6: 34-36
Do not even the tax collectors do the same - He puts them at the same level as the people they looked most down on. There was hardly anything lower than a tax collector in their mind; they were traitors to their people. Jesus called one to be His disciple, to leave behind riches, the honor of Rome, and He is now calling to the self righteous to deny themselves, to be beggars, desiring a righteousness that is not natural to them. It's alien stuff, and so the churches today have watered it down so much, added so much sugar to it to remove the bitterness. It burns in the stomach and in the ears, and we want to rebel against such a strike against our egos.
20How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps: 22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”…
…23When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. 24He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.” 25For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.… 1 Peter 2: 20-25
You therefore must be perfect - They left out the "as yourself", remember, but once we get to here we would all love to leave this verse out. Perfect? Well that just damned everyone, so why do His disciples even follow Him after this, what's the point? Nobody is perfect. Now how is it then that so many people think they can save themselves? They found some magic words to say, a repeat after me prayer, write my name in the church registry with the date for proof. I found some sacred ritual to perform, was baptized by a very well known preacher, I walked forward at a crusade, I have been a good person, I give money to the needy, I talk about Jesus, I write about Him, I adopted a dog from the shelter and lots of good things. I feel like I'm okay, and others acknowledge me as a brother or sister in the faith. Are you perfect though? The answer to their lack is the Perfection that is standing before them. It is all in Christ, He is the only Way.
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless. 2I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”… Genesis 17: 1-2
…39Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher. Luke 6: 39-40
12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.…
…15All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view. And if you think differently about some issue, God will reveal this to you as well. 16Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained. 17Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.…
Philippians 3: 12-17
…27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.… Colossians 1: 27-29
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