The Good Life: Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:43-48

Seeing People with the “spiritual eye”

In 1956, five missionaries were killed by Huarani tribesmen. They were violently attacked and speared to death while trying to bring an unreached tribe the gospel. The tribe was known for being one of the most violent tribes in the area. One of the missionaries was Jim Elliot. He had a wife, Elisabeth, and a young daughter at his death. All five families were close and lived in community with each other. Five women became five widows at the hands of evil. Children were left fatherless at the hands of the wicked.

Once the bodies of the five men were covered, the women made plans to go home and be with their families in the United States. However, Elisabeth Elliot decided to take her daughter and live among the very people who murdered her husband. She built a home in the community, ate their food, attended their celebrations, and mourned with them at their funerals. She did life with these people.

She was joined by the sister of one of the men who died. These two women spent a lot of time learning the language so they could translate the Bible. The Huarani had never heard of God’s love for them, nor had they ever experienced it as they did through these two women. Their Christian faith and commitment to God’s kingdom brought God’s message of unconditional love and forgiveness found in Jesus Christ for those who will accept his gift.

We may see Elisabeth Elliot's decision as risky and unwarranted, especially since she had a child. We may see the people who hurt her as evil and unworthy of grace, and we may have even wanted to call on God's judgment to punish the tribe. Elisabeth Elliot, however, saw these people through a different set of eyes.

Speaking of being offended by someone, like the Hauroni people who killed her husband, Elisabeth Elliot said,

“When I looked at the person who had offended me through the “spiritual eye,” I saw in him one of God’s instruments to teach me, instead of one of the devil’s to torment me. I saw something more. I saw a person God loves, and whom He wants to love through me.” Elisabeth Elliot

Having the right spiritual eyes helped Elisabeth Elliot see her enemies as a person God loves, and whom He wants to love through her. The eyes of her heart were opened to see the opportunity to joyfully advance the kingdom of God by making much of Jesus through loving your enemies with the same unconditional love the Father expresses toward his own enemies.

That is the main idea of the message this morning.

Christian, love your enemies with the same unconditional love the Father expresses toward his enemies.

Jesus begins his teaching on loving your enemies in Matthew 5:43

Matthew 5:43 ESV

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

He is quoting Leviticus 19:18

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Jesus quotes this verse again in Matthew 22:34-40, explaining the two greatest commandments: love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving your neighbor partially fulfilled the law of the prophets, the Royal Law.

But Jesus includes a popular teaching of his day that believed the opposite of loving one’s neighbor was to hate one’s enemy. Hating your enemy is not directly mentioned in the Bible, but it is implied, if not approved, in some contexts.

God told Israel to devote complete destruction to the Canaanites without mercy (Deut 7:2). David said in Psalm 139:21-22

Psalm 139:21–22 ESV

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

It is not wrong to hate sin and wickedness. No one loves the violence the wicked bring to our community or the deceit the evil uses to satisfy their selfish motives. In the above context, those who are committed to wickedness and evil will find themselves under God’s eternal judgment. When God judges the wicked, we will agree with him, and his enemies will be loathed and will suffer his wrath. However, it is not for us to judge or decide right now. "Vengeance is mine," says the Lord. For now, Jesus says, while you are living in a Genesis three world, instead of hating your enemies, see them through the right spiritual eyes as someone God wants to love through you.

The word "love" has been lost in our culture. For many, to love someone is to have a deep affection for them, or to find them pleasurable, an enjoyment in their life. Merriam-Webster would define love as a quality or feeling of strong or constant affection for and dedication to another and/or an attraction based on sexual desire: the strong affection and tenderness felt by lovers.

You quickly notice that the world’s love is self-oriented. Love is deeply connected to one’s feelings and desires. Worldly love looks at itself. It is absorbed in itself as the object of love. "As long as you keep me interested in you, as long as you remain desirable to me, as long as my affections can stay aroused, then I can love you."

I remember having a conversation with a fraternity brother a few days before he was getting married. I was a new believer with new eyes on love and marriage. I asked him if he was committed to loving his wife for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, in the good times and bad, until death do you part. He said, "for the most part. She just can’t 'let herself go.' What do you mean? You know, I like her body. She has to stay in shape. That is important to me."

I simply responded, "What about her? If you have children, her body has to change. Sometimes it doesn't go back to what it was. What if she gets breast cancer? Her body will be changed forever." He didn’t have much to say in response.

I am willing to chalk that up to youthful stupidity. I’m sure his perspective on marriage has changed as he has grown into a man. However, his notion of love has not changed much at all, even since Jesus’ day. The bottom line is that the world’s love comes with conditions.

The world’s sees love through the lens of conditions (Matthew 5:46-47)

Look how Jesus offers the ground for loving your enemies. In doing so he reveals how the world’s love is conditional.

Matthew 5:46 ESV

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Matthew 5:47 ESV

47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Tax collectors in Jesus' day were some of the most despised individuals, as they took advantage of people by forcing tax payers to pay more in taxes, allowing them to pocket the excess for their own gain. They were self-centered government officials who used people. But even these despised individuals would return kindness for kindness, even if it was solely motivated by self-interest.

Furthermore, Jesus says it's easy to greet your brothers who greet you; they are easy to love. Even the worldly pagan Gentiles, who have no idea of God’s love, understand to return kindness for kindness.

What I see as the commonality between the tax collector and the Gentiles is a kind of love that operates on a social contract. As long as I can get something from you, such as kindness, I am willing to extend my love to you. I will love the Tax Collector if he shows me some love in return. I will offer kindness to my brother as long as my brother extends kindness to me. Once the contract breaks, once you become my enemy, I am done with you. I am not obligated to love you. Do you see the kind of eyes the world views you? Worldly love is a form of cost-benefit analysis.

For Jesus’ audience, this teaching struck at the heart of Jewish culture, which cared only for the Jew and despised the rest. God’s kingdom love is far deeper and more expansive than simply one nation. You must learn to see your enemy through the Father’s love.

See your enemy through the Father’s love (Matthew 5:45-46)

The word Jesus uses for love is a common word. It is the form of the word agape. Doriani notes that the Greek noun agapē and the verb agapaō are sometimes used to describe human affections and desires (see Matt. 5:46; Col. 3:19; 2 Tim. 4:10; 2 Sam. 13:1 lxx). When Paul says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1), he is addressing attitudes, not deeds. So then, love of enemies includes inward attitudes, not just outward deeds. God’s love for his enemies is personal. He genuinely cares about the wicked person. The bible says God gets no delight in the perishing of the wicked.

The Father’s love is also unconditional We know this by how he loves his enemies through his common grace.

Matthew 5:45–46 (ESV)

45 ….For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust…

The Father ensures that the sun rises on both the evil and the good and that rain falls on the just and the unjust. These are not two classes of people, but rather two ways people are characterized in the Bible.

Since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, there have been two kinds of people in the world: the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; the righteous and the unrighteous; the people of God and the people of Satan; the evil and the good; the just and the unjust.

Through God’s sovereign loving-kindness and goodness, He provides everything His fallen image bearers need for life on earth, whether they love Him or despise Him (Hebrews 1:2-3). Both the sun and the rain are necessary for crops and animals to grow for food, clothes, shelter, and medicine. God freely gives this to everyone because He loves all His image bearers (Matthew 6:26-30). Furthermore, God not only provides for his enemies, but he also blesses them with health and prosperity. He heals their children when they are sick just as he heals the righteous. God provides an abundance of good things for his enemies. In numerous ways, God lavishes his grace on enemies who will never say thank you or even acknowledge his good gifts. This is God’s common grace for mankind.

Dr. Greg Allison defines God’s common grace as

50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology Chapter 25: Common Grace

Common grace is the universal favor that God grants to all people, both believers and unbelievers.

He goes on to say, “It is God’s universal, gracious blessings that are not directly related to salvation.”

It's important to recognize that we all receive God’s love through his common grace. The things we have, like food, clothing, shelter, health, and family, are all expressions of his love. Even the imperfect government we live under is an expression of God’s love through common grace. Everyone, including non-believers, benefits from these gifts because of God’s unconditional love for all of us.

It's important to note that God's common grace is different from his saving grace. Common grace reflects God's love for all of his creation through acts of kindness and compassion, regardless of whether someone is saved or cooperating with God in salvation. On the other hand, saving grace is God’s specific favor granted to believers for their salvation. It's clear that both believers and non-believers do not deserve God’s love, mercy, compassion, and kindness. God’s unconditional love for the elect—those he is saving—is specific to those people, whereas his unconditional love for his creation is given to everyone. That's why it's common grace, not saving grace.

This means that God can love the world unconditionally and express his love for both his chosen people and non-believers with kindness and compassion. However, for his chosen ones, those whom he has adopted as his children, he expresses an unconditional, never-stopping, never-giving-up love that is particular to them. And its through His never-stopping, never-giving up love for us we can love our enemies. We are transformed instruments of grace God uses to love evil and wicked people.

How do you unconditionally love your enemy?

Luke records this teachings in Luke 6:27-28

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

for those who who do evil to you, who persecute you, curse you, and abuse you, Jesus offers three ways you can love them.

Love your enemy by doing good to them.

Imitate God’s goodness to your enemy. That is, show kindness, mercy, and compassion to your enemies. Solomon said,

Proverbs 25:21 ESV

21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

Proverbs 25:22 ESV

22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

Such kindness, says Solomon, is to heap burning coals on your enemy's head, which in turn may win his heart. Benjamin Franklin, who was not a believer, understood this principle when he said,

Do good to your friend to keep him, to your enemy to gain him.

Benjamin Franklin

Doing good is not limited just to the act of kindness. Remember, God’s love is personal. God cares as much about your heart attitude behind the action as much as the action itself. The Father loves his enemies with a real concern and cares for their well-being. His care is continuous and habitual, and so should your care be for your enemies. You must take a genuine interest in the good you can give them. This is loving them with the right eyes of your heart.

Love your enemy by blessing them.

To bless your enemies is to ask God’s favor upon their life. You want God to work on their behalf for His glory and their good.

I was struck by an example of this by a quote from Martin Niemoller who spent several years in Hitler’s prison. He came out of prison saying,

“It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. he’s not even the enemy of His own enemies.” Martin Niemoller

Niemoller realized that God loved his enemies enough to provide for them on Earth and offer them eternal salvation through his Son. As a result, he prayed for God to bless his Nazi enemies, asking for their well-being and protection for their families, rather than seeking their destruction. He likely prayed for their salvation and deliverance from Nazism as well.

Love your enemy by praying for them.

In line with the last thing, Jesus says pray for your enemies. God heart he prayers of the righteous. he will answer the prayers of the righteous. Consider for a moment that the wicked do not pray, or of they do, they are not heard. God has ordained that the prayers of his people will work sovereignly with his will, and therefore hold a special power in brining enemies to the cross of Christ. Furthermore, Warren Wiersbe notes that,

When we pray for our enemies, we find it easier to love them. It takes the “poison” out of our attitudes.

Warren Wiersbe

Can you imagine what the church would be like in our culture if we loved our enemies the way our Father in heaven loves them?

Three Implications for loving your enemy

Loving your enemy demonstrates you are child of God (Matthew 5:44-45)

Jesus says by loving your enemy, you acts like sons of the Father.

Matthew 5:44–45 (ESV)

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…

Jesus does not say you become sons of the Father. Instead, he says you demonstrate that you belong to the Father, that is, you imitate him.

Last week, Abigail and I were driving down Jackson Street from Elias’s swim meet. On the side of the road, we saw Caleb Graff and his little boy Jonathan doing yard work. Caleb’s little guy was mimicking his father. Where Caleb walked, Jonathan walked. How Caleb worked is how Jonathan worked. Sons imitate their fathers.

Just as sons joyfully imitate their father in their words, actions, mannerisms, and even their physical appearance, so we Christians as children of God joyfully imitate our Father’s love when we love our enemies. And because our Father so loved his enemies that he sent his son to die for them so they can have their sins forgiven and become sons of God, we joyfully imitate his love toward them. John Calvin so wisely says to us,

If we wish to adhere to the true law of love, our eyes must chiefly be directed not to man, the prospect of whom would impress us with hatred more frequently than with love, but to God who commands that our love to him be diffused among all mankind. This must always be a fundamental maxim with us, that whatever the character of a man may be, still we ought to love him because we love God.

John Calvin (French Reformer)

Loving your enemy will be rewarded

Jesus says there is no reward for those who love like the tax collector and gentile. For those who love like the Father, there is a reward. What is your reward?

Matthew speaks of rewards several times in his gospel. He said in Matthew 5:11-12

Matthew 5:11–12 ESV

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

God sees your persecution and will reward you with his kingdom in heaven where there is no persecution.

He says in Matthew 6:20

Matthew 6:20 ESV

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

The treasures on earth will either be taken away or destroyed. Treasures in heaven are eternal and forever as God’s kingdom os eternal and forever.

He says in Matthew 19:21

Matthew 19:21 ESV

21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

The rich young ruler had his heart set on storing up treasures on earth. Jesus tells him to prioritize his life to inherit the kingdom of God, which is is eternal reward.

In our text, Jesus essentially says, “The “great” reward for selfless love, generosity, and mercy is the full realization of becoming “children of the Most High.” Your eternal life, the kingdom of God as your inheritance is your reward.

But, I also have to think that God will give you his favor on earth as well. When Jesus teaches us to practice righteousness and pray in Matthew 6:1-8, I would assume part of your reward is not only eternal but His gracious amen to your prayers. So, if you are praying for your enemies salvation and you are asking God to grant favor to your enemies, and to give you opportunity to do them good, part of the reward is God’s yes and amen. He answers your prayers and your church, community, and home experience His peace and unity.

Loving your enemy with the right eyes will love them with a single minded heart united loyal love

Matthew 5:48 is the main idea of chapter five. Jesus says,

Matthew 5:48 ESV

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The idea of perfect is be complete, or be mature. Another way to see it is Jesus is saying be whole as your father in heaven is whole. Jesus calls your anger to be whole like your Father’s anger is whole. He calls your purity to be whole like your Father’s purity is whole. He wants your word as truth to be whole like your Father’s is whole. Jesus wants your wrath and retribution to be whole like your Father’s is whole. And he wants your love for your neighbor and your enemy to be whole like His is whole. In other words he wants you to live in the kingdom now with a single minded, heart united, loyal love for Jesus. That is what it means to be whole. You cannot have divided loves.

For the Western church culture of today, it hits us square in the heart as well. Have you noticed how easy it is for us to love those who agree with our conservative morals and constitutional values? Have you noticed how much the church has vocally despised those who oppose our conservative morals and constitutional values? We are so strongly aligned with the Republican party that those who oppose the church cannot tell the difference between a Christian and a conservative. There are differences.

There are conservative Jews (like Ben Shapiro). There are conservative Muslims (in Deerfield, MI). There are conservative gay atheists/agnostics (like Douglas Murry). There is no such thing as a Christian Jew, a Christian Muslim, or a Christian gay atheist/agnostic. And yet the visceral hate that comes from many believers in the church toward our "enemies" is indistinguishable from other conservative voices. Is it possible the Western church has embraced a worldly, conditional love?

There is an this old adage that sadly express too many in the church today. It says,

Believe as I believe, no more, no less;

That I am right, and no one else, confess;

Feel as I feel, think only as I think;

Eat what I eat, and drink but what I drink;

Look as I look, do always as I do;

Then, and only then, will I fellowship with you.

Jesus expects his church to be distinguishable from the world, especially in the way we love. The way we love our neighbor and our enemies with a single minded heart united loyal love to Jesus will distinguish us from all other worldly love the same way the cross distinguishes God’s love.

There is no other religion in the world that demonstrates the love of God like the cross. While we were his enemies, sinners, God demonstrated his love for by sending his beloved Son to die for us on a cross. Jesus loves us enough to receive the full wrath of God in our place so we can have his righteousness and be at peace with God. That is how much God loved his enemies, and that love distinguishes him from all other false gods.

Loving our enemies with the same unconditional love our father loves them, will separate us from the world. Political parties will not court us. Presidents will not serve us. The culture will not understand us. But God will use us to joyfully advance his kingdom among liberals, conservatives, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, and even those who abuse and persecute us.

There are no kings or prime ministers nor political parties that are worth our loyal loving obedience as Jesus our King is worth. Be complete in Him. Love your enemies with the same wholeness he loves you. Seeing your enemy through the eyes of His love, will cause you to do radical things like move into a community of people who killed your husband. But it will also allow you to se the glory of God. That entire tribe came to Jesus. They are now sending missionaries to other unreached tribes to bring them the love of God. Can you imagine what God could do in Litchfield if we see our enemies through the same lens?