Selfless Love
Read Text: Matthew 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor…”(Matt 5:43).
Heard from whom? Their teachers. Where did their teachers get it from?
Leviticus 19:18 NIV says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
It seems in our chosen text that something has been omitted. This wasn’t because “as yourself” was an unknown part of the text. For instance, a teacher of the Law mentioned this as a commandment when discussing some things with Jesus in Mark 12:33. John MacArthur, Jr. states: “The words of Scripture were fully known but only partially taught and practiced” (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-7, p.340). Being that the Pharisees loved nobody as much as themselves, the “as yourself” was conveniently omitted from the teaching.
"You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy" (Matt 5:43).
The Pharisees had not only omitted a part of the Law, but they had conveniently added a teaching of their own. They may “love” their “neighbor” (that neighbor being someone they considered worthy of attaining neighborly status, and their love being more the definition of lust since they were selfish in nature) but they are going to hate their enemy. And they surely felt this was justified as we do at times. Hating men, made in God’s image is NEVER justified. We’ve already talked about that; this was ‘murder of the heart.’
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:44).
I’m sure this was a revolutionary teaching for those listening. Who in their right mind would love their enemy? It was one thing to love your neighbor, and even another thing to love your neighbor as much as you loved yourself, but it was a whole different ball game to love your enemy, especially after you’d been taught by religious leaders that it was acceptable to hate them!!! I mean, hate comes naturally anyway!
Listen to these verses from God’s Law on one’s treatment of their enemy
Exodus 23:4-5 NIV says, “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.”
First of all, let’s talk about this concept of ‘love.’ There are four different Greek words for love:
1) storge – family love; love between parent and child
2) eros – physical love; love between a man and woman; passion; sexual love
3) philia – brotherly love; relationship between closest, nearest, & truest friends
4) agape – unconquerable benevolence, invincible goodwill. This kind of love seeks nothing but another person’s highest good.
The writer of this Gospel didn’t use the first three Greek words for love here. This love Christ was talking about for an enemy wasn’t like the love between a parent and child, nor was it an erotic romantic love, and nor was it like the love of close friends or brothers. The love he was referring to is the fourth one, agape. This love doesn’t require the warm fuzzies or the “I like you” to be in effect. This love far surpasses the others. It’s not dependent on being loved back either. It is a selfless love. One of the best examples of this kind of love is found in the story commonly referred to as the Good Samaritan. Luke 10:33 says that a Samaritan “took pity”(NIV) or “felt compassion” (NASB) for a Jewish man that was wounded on the road to Jericho.
Jews hated Samaritans and vice versa. The Samaritan had no obligation with his people to help the Jewish man, and two Jewish religious leaders had already passed him up anyway! Yet, he put true love into action. He looked past his race, past the inconvenience, past the trouble of getting involved, and reached out to a man in need. He even put his life in danger, knowing that thieves could be awaiting another traveler (himself maybe) on this road. The story of the Good Samaritan definitely is an example of loving someone’s natural enemy.
Illustration:
In the days of the American Revolutionary War there lived at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, a Baptist pastor by the name of Peter Miller, who enjoyed the friendship of General George Washington. There also dwelt in that town one Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all in his power to abuse and oppose this pastor. One day Michael Wittman was involved in a case of treason, and was arrested and sentenced to death. The old preacher started out on foot and walked the whole seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for Wittman’s life. He was admitted into Washington’s presence and at once begged for the life of the traitor. Washington said, "no, Peter, I cannot grant you the life of your friend." The preacher exclaimed, "my friend, he is the bitterest enemy I have." Washington cried, "What? You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman from the very shadow of death back to his own home in Ephrata; no longer as an enemy, but as a friend.
- "The Grace of Giving," by Stephen Olford
If you are still grumbling within your own heart about your enemy and saying, “I’m not gonna love them,” then please remember what God did for you. Romans 5:8 NIV says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
You were not someone that God thought was attractive and had it all together, and you were therefore were worthy of love. No, you “were God’s enemies” (Romans 5:10 NIV), not worthy of anything but death. Yet, we thank God that He loves even His enemies!
"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:44).
We know from John’s Gospel that “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also”(John 15:20 NIV). Persecution against the Christian is going to happen in some form or another.
How does Christ teach us to respond to these persecutors? He says for us to pray for them.
This is difficult. How could we pray for someone who is cruel to us? A good example of this is the apostle Stephen. In Acts 7:60 NIV, he prayed to God for his executioners, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” His heart was not one of revenge, but rather of redemption. He didn’t love them for what they were or what they were doing, but rather for who they were. They were lost people following a lost cause, deceived and blinded by the ‘god of this world.’ When we see those who oppose us as sinners in need of the Savior (just as we once were), it changes our perspective and our prayer wheels begin turning.
Consider Jesus. He was judged falsely and beaten and hung on a cross and left to die by a mocking world. Yet he prayed this prayer: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”(Luke 23:34 NIV). Christ expects you and I to pray for our persecutors just the same.
"That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt 5:45).
How is loving and praying for your enemy going to make you a ‘son of God’? William Barclay writes, “Hebrew often uses son of… with an abstract noun, where we would use an adjective. For instance a son of peace is a peaceful man; a son of consolation is a consoling man. So then, a son of God is a godlike man” (The Gospel of Matthew Vol. 1, p.177). The fact is, you and I show our ‘true colors’ by loving and praying for our archenemies.
"That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matt 5:45).
Have you ever noticed how God allows blessings to fall even on those that deny His very existence? Granted, there are blessings and cursings that follow people that are dependent on what spiritual road they travel. However, there are blessings that are more universal. The existence of these universal blessings (and God’s willingness to allow even the wicked to enjoy them), should be evidence to us that if our God is indiscriminate in His benevolence toward man, so we should also. My love should not be reserved for a select few, but should be outreaching to all men (regardless of color, age, sex, socioeconomic status, religion, etc.).
"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?" (Matt 5:46-47).
Ouch! The Pharisees were a proud crew. To be reduced to the level of those they hated was the ultimate of insults. But Jesus wanted them to realize this. He wanted them to see that, though they possessed the Law and claimed to do all the particulars of the law, they weren’t any different than the pagans around them, because they lacked true love. They only loved themselves and people that followed their definition of a ‘neighbor!’
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48).
“Impossible!” you might say. The truth is, that is right. In fact, all of Christ’s teachings in this sermon lead one to an overpowering sense of spiritual bankruptcy. Because when we realize that we can’t do it, we turn to Him for power. Only the surrendered heart can be like God, because only God can make you like Himself. You have no ability on your own, to ever be like Jesus. But when you allow Him to invade your heart and to change you into His mold, then you begin the process of becoming perfect as He is.
Conclusion
In conclusion I just want to ask you: do you possess this selfless love we read about in the Sermon on the Mount?
Obviously most of us in here would fall short of God’s expectations. Knowing that, it is important that we allow the Holy Spirit to take a message like this to convict our heart, so His changes can take place within us. You and I need to learn to love our neighbor (meaning anyone in need) to the degree that we love ourselves (most folks love themselves, especially at meal time). And we need to learn to not adhere to the worldview of ‘hating our enemy.’ That’s not from God. And if you think about it, many times your enemy is the way they are, simply because they need God. If they are someone in need, they are your neighbor.
Do you want this selfless love?
