Tuesday
You have heard that it was said “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 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. 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? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48, NIV)
If yesterday’s teaching about non-retaliation is difficult to understand and put into practice in our lives, the command to “love your enemies” and “pray for those who persecute you” can seem beyond our reach. Unlike the contrast that Jesus used in yesterday’s text, a contrast between Mosaic law and the principle of non-retaliation in our personal lives, today’s verses offer another type of contrast.
Jesus begins with a statement that summarizes the conventional religious wisdom of his day: “You have heard that is was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’” (v. 43). This, of course, is a perversion of Mosaic law, a perversion that omits the words “as yourself,” excludes enemies from the category of “neighbors,” and adds the command to hate them instead. In stark contrast to this perverted religious teaching, Jesus commands his followers to an active love that knows no bounds. It is a love that reflects the love that God the Creator has for the world. It is a love that creates conditions of shalom.
To his listening audience, “loving your enemy” might have brought to mind images of abusive Roman soldiers who treated the Jews as despised slaves, or arbitrary tax collectors who charged people whatever they could get away with. The Jews were a conquered people with an occupying foreign military presence in their land. They were also one of the most heavily taxed people in history. Yet Jesus says, “love your enemies,” a teaching he himself practices when, hanging in pain from the cross, he says of his executioners, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Prayer
Lord God, you loved us despite our sin and our disobedience. Teach us to love others, even our enemies, as you have loved us. Help us to see how an active love can create conditions of harmony and peace. Amen.