Love Your Enemies | Matthew 5:43-48
“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.” GK Chesterton.
Verse 43: “You have heard it said…”
• Jesus is referencing Leviticus 19:9-18
o Sometimes Jesus says, you have heard it said relates to a man-made tradition added to the law and there are times when it is related to the interpretation of an existing law.
o Love your neighbor + hate your enemy.
o This was bad theology considering how God often told Israel how to deal with foreigners (care for them).
o Israel was to love other Israelites (their neighbors) and hate their enemies (anyone who opposed/oppressed them).
o Israel’s concern/love for only themselves made them exclusive and useless because they were not caring for anyone else. God’s promise to Abraham was to bless him so all nations would be blessed = thus, Israel was blessed to be a blessing.
o Consider the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
[The Way of Jesus]
Verse 44a: Love your enemies
Point#1: Speak graciously.
• Jesus wants those who are his followers to be INVITING + ACCEPTING.
• It was Israel’s rejection of the Christ that caused God to go to the Gentile nation.
• Is the church inviting and accepting…what is the church for? What is the church against?
• We should respond to ALL people from the perspective of God’s love towards them. (Image of God)
Verse 44b - 45: Pray for those who persecute you!
Point#2 - Respond kindly!
• Jesus said that we (his followers) would have enemies because of him (Jesus). Why? Because of sin! Men love darkness more than the light!
• Prayer realigns our hearts…when I pray for someone I am against; my mind/heart towards them begins to shift. I am more compassionate and understanding of them. Yes, they still wronged me but my heart towards them is changing and displays the heart of Christ, not mine.
“He gives sunlight to both evil and good.”
• God does not show favoritism; he gives rain and sunlight to both those who do evil and those who do right. He provides for everyone. The reality is this: if God only provided/protected those who had faith, then he would not be all-loving as he would be forcing us to believe in him for protection/provision. In providing for everyone, he is giving freedom of choice.
• It isn’t about those who do what is right, it is about those who don’t do right. That’s WHY Jesus came! (1 Timothy 1:15)
Verse 46-47: If you love those who love you and those who are kind to you…
Point#3 - Live Different
• We tend to love others who are love us/like us us and who we benefit from and those whom we get along with or have a good rapport with.
• Often, our churches end up like this. Jesus said make disciples but often what we do is reproduce ourselves! Example, I am an INTROVERT.
Verse 48: Be Perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect…
• The term perfect is not about being sinless, although that will always be the aim. The Greek term used here is, teleos, which meant finished or completed in maturity. (Full maturity). This means that the Christian faith is a journey! It is taking steps of faith!
• The Avengers vs. George Bailey = Most of us are more like Bailey and he didn’t’ change the world; he impacted his community though. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Luke 6:27-36
[The Way of Jesus]
Verse 27-28: Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who hurt you.
Point#1: The heart of God is kind!
• Kindness leads to repentance.
• Curse: “Go to hell” vs. Cussing.
• The Greek term for curse is eulogy which means to bless, speak well of, praise, extol. This is what we do at funerals. We remember positive moments throughout a person’s life and share those moments.
Verse 29-30: If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt as well. Don’t try to take things back when they are stolen.
Point#2 The heart of God is Generous!
Verses 31 – 35
• Give without hesitation and without expecting anything back.
Verse 36: Be compassionate…
Point #3 – The Heart of God is compassionate.
• The sum/the purpose of it all is to be compassionate towards others.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
[The Remix]
For God so loved his enemies (Rom. 5:10) that he gave himself; he became a lowly servant and died a sinner’s death (Phil 2:7-8) and we, who were alienated from God by our own actions (Col 1:21) have been brought close to God through Christ (Eph. 2:13).
