Matthew 5:43-48
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Would stand for the reading of God’s word? Today we read the sixth and final antithesis in Matthew 5:43-48
“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, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Pray with me pray and slide
Have you ever tried to picture the disciples of Jesus and imagine the dynamics of that group? Most of them were nobodies. Lots of fishermen, who apparently had a thick accent that others would make fun of. Most of them were young adults, but some speculate that John was twelve or thirteen. You had john, and his brother James, who were called the Suns of Thunder - and I don’t think this was supposed to be a positive thing. They were brash and bold and boisterous. At one point, they got their Mom to ask Jesus to give them authority in the kingdom. . . . I’m sure they were a delight to be around. There was Peter - who often spoke for the group, but was impulsive and rash. He often said just stupid stuff - but wanted to defend JEsus to the death, before later denying him three times.
Let’s not forget, that beyond the twelve, there was quite a following of Disciples. You had the 72, from luke 10. There was a cloud of committed followers of Jesus beyond just the twelve. And in there ranks were women! That was so countercultural (and still is in so many places and churches). Some were connected to King Herod. Luke 8 talks about Joanna, who was the wife of King Herod’s household manager. And she was financially supporting Jesus and his ministry!
You had men, women. Rich and poor. Powerful, and liberated-from-demonization. This was a crazy group of people. And yet - because of Christ, they were together.
One of the more striking features they were made up of factions - you had one, Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were a faction within Israel at the time that wanted to overthrow the occupying romans through violence and assassinations. In many ways they were extremists! And across the fire from this Simon guy, is Matthew the Tax-Collector. Tax collectors were despised, because they were allied WITH the romans to extort the jewish people! And they both were following Jesus as part of the twelve. Imagine the tension of some of those conversations.
Since the foundation - Jesus has brought together people who once thought themselves as enemies to be brothers and sisters in the kingdom. All believers are kids of grace. A new creation.
This type of new creation, where tribal and factional distinctions fall away, is supernatural, challenging, and it is how Christ wants us to live.
But it is confounding to those on the outside - or at least it should be. Why would a tax collector break bread with a zealot? Why would a former prostitute sit down with a rabbi? What makes these people who by the standards of the world, are enemies or opposed, be willing to love, laugh, share and die for one another?
This radical love, has it’s foundation in the love of the Triune God, and ought to be evident amongst those who are in Christ.
We now enter into passage in which most believers don’t want to take seriously, and so struggle to understand. So many people through the centuries have gotten to this section, then thrown up their hands, giving up, or sinking down into legalism. This passage we talk about love, and more specifically, love of our enemies.
Let’s look at Matthew 5:43 the final antithesis that Jesus presents in this series of six. Again - all describing the kind of righteousness that is of the Kingdom of God, that is beyond that of the pharisees. Here’s what he said:
“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
JEsus, quoting the phrase of the day: “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
Love your neighbor is a quote from the old testament, from Leviticus 19:18. IT was understood by a lot of contemporaries of JEsus to apply only to other Jews. as in: Love those who look like you, act like you, and believe like you.
The next part of the quote Jesus shares is not from the Old Testament - hate your enemy. This almost certainly was the understood ethos of the day - as it is in our day.
Before we continue - we need to define a couple terms: love, and enemy. We will then define neighbor at the end.
First, Love.
Greek has many words for love, and the one used here is Agape. But there is also phileo, and eros. Now sometimes pastors and writers make way to much out of the differences between - and they are at times synonyms, but they do seem to carry difference.
Generally speaking:
Eros, is a romantic love, where we get the term erotic from. This is generally between a husband and wife.
Phileo, is a brotherly love, think of Philadelphia - the city of brotherly love. This is between friends and family.
Agape is holy love - the love of God. love just for the sake of love.
Again I say generally, because language is tricky, and they aren’t iron clad rules - but general ideas of those terms.
Leviticus is saying that we are supposed to have affection and love, the kind of love that exists from god, for those who are our neighbors. Love them the way God loves them.
I found Scot McKnights definition of agape love particularly helpful
“Love is a rugged commitment to be with someone as someone who is for that persons good and to love them unto God’s formative purposes.”
Love isn’t just tolerance. Love isn’t always even “nice.” But it is always kind. God’s love for us sometimes is firm, but it’s for our good and his Glory and he’s with us through it all. So - I think we can extrapolate from that - love is to be based in truth, can contain correction and firm boundaries, but means we are for and often with the other.
Love is powerful.
Let’s move on to enemies.
What is an enemy? In it’s immediate context, most Jews would have called Rome the enemy. They are the hostile ones. doing us harm. Antagonizing us.
Though some would undoubtedly pick on other factions. The Sadducees didn’t love the Pharisees. They both thought the Essenes were crazy.
In our own context, we have some national enemies, factions we are wired to dislike or hate as americans. We definitely have political enemies. But closer to home, I haven’t met many people who make it through life without having some people who really dislike them and actively work against them.
Oftentimes we make enemies out of people and they have no idea about it! Perhaps you see a facebook post with some opinion that you strongly disagree with. Our brains try to make sense of this - and we just make them into an enemy. We struggle with nuance.
Well in Jesus day, the understanding was, love those who are like you and for you - but hate those who are against us.
Jesus’s antithesis is so profound. verse 44 is the often quoted short version, but verse 45 explains the why. Look at these:
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Love your enemies - agape your enemies - and pray for those who are doing you harm.
Jesus links love for our enemies and prayer. One of the ways we love our enemies is praying for them. And as we pray for them, we trust them to God, and often they transform in our eyes from an enemy into a human being. However, it’s not just about our view - prayer is love.
I appreciate Scot McKnight when he writes this:
“…praying for those who persecute is not a cute formula designed to get us over the hump of bad feelings of resentment but the concrete behavior of going to God in the hope of reconciliation, love, justice, peace, and a kingdom story.”
The next lines are interesting: next slide why do we do this? SO THAT there’s our why - we love our enemies and pray for those SO THAT we may be children of our father in heaven. This should immediately remind us of the beatitudes that were just prior in the sermon. Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
God makes peace. When we defeat enemies by making them neighbors and friends we make peace, and we are like our father. God’s kingdom is known by shalom - and when we love and pray for our enemies - we offer shalom to those would be enemies, and invite them in to be sisters and brothers.
Notice, then the reset of verse 45
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
“He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
God, through his common grace gives love and blessing to all people. Even those who hate him, despise him, don’t believe in him, persecute his people - God still dispenses his common grace and love.
So when we love our enemies, we are just like our father in heaven. This is the kind of righteousness that is of heaven.
Jesus then carries on, playing out some stereotypes on enemies, and neighbors, verses 46 - 47
For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?
It’s easy to love those who love you. It’s easy to love those who look and act and have the same values as you. Jesus is so honest here, and it’s really a simple truth - There’s nothing especially profound there.
And in fact, he says, even those the jews despise - those evil tax collectors - love each other. The Pharisees thought they were better than the tax collectors - JEsus is saying: “But your love is the same kind! Convenient tribal love.”
The Love of God, is different - it’s lavish. He just pours his goodness and common grace on the whole world. Even on those who despise him. That is the righteousness of the kingdom of God. Lavish love even on those who don’t want it, don’t deserve it, and despise us.
And the summary verse, of this antithesis and this whole section, really is verse 48:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The greek word behind perfect is Teleios, and it’s translation generally means: “completion, perfect, mature, adult, full.”
The idea here is fullness. Just like God fully loves the whole world, we are to be like him in loving each and every one.
Jesus is saying that the kind of righteousness that is of the kingdom of God - is full and complete like Gods - it’s one that pours out love on both friend and foe. Jesus is telling his followers to be perfect in love. To love everyone.
Perhaps you can recall this with me: when Jesus was being questioned in Matthew 22, and expert in the law wanted to test him about what command is the most important in the law of moses. Jesus response is profound, Matthew 22:37-40
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
Fulfillment of the entire law boils down, hangs on these two things: Love the lord your God with ALL your heart soul and mind. Not just the letter of the law - but the whole heart. AND love your neighbor as yourself.
The pharisees were trying to wiggle around this everyway they could. Letters of divorce to justify themselves. Fantasies of other woman but no real adultery. Anger and hatred but no murder - but Jesus is saying no - YOUR WHOLE HEART for God and neighbor.
And that therefore begs the question: What is a neighbor? Who is my neighbor?
Is it just the people who are next to me? Is it just the people who believe like me? Is it just the people who look like me? These are the ways that societies have historically defined neighbors.
Jesus had a much broader view. Turn with me to Luke 10, verses 25 and following. It’s a perfect example of this neighbor love and enemy love.
Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Isn’t this the fundamental question? What’s the purpose of life, and what happens when I die? How can I live forever?
Jesus answers a question with a question:
“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”
And the man responds well, in fact, his answer is like Christ’s!
He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”
Hey thats the right answer! He answered with the two most important commands. Notice what Jesus says:
“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”
Okay awesome, you know the right answer, now do it.
You’ve aced your theology class, you can recite your creed, you can pray you prayer - now do it and you will live.
Now let’s be honest - the answer is simple, but it isn’t easy. look at verse 29:
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Wanting to justify himself! That’s the attitude of the pharisees, they wanted to justify themselves - and in doing so they missed the justification offered by grace through faith in christ!
The man was trying to rules lawyer his way around, what is a neighbor. Then Jesus tells a familar story, the story of the good samaraitian. Let me read it for us - Luke 10:30-35
Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’
“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”
This is a great story - and one we read in sunday school and reaanct on flannel graphs if you remember those. But it’s so cutting. Think about the people walking by the man - a Priest. This is like a pastor! Can’t be bothered - doesn’t have time to help this fellow human - so avoids and walks by.
Then a levite - Think of a bishop, or a high ranking, but also took care of some government proceedings - so like maybe a cop or mayor walks by.
But then comes a Samaritan. Yall - the jews hated the samaritans. The Samaritans lived inbetween the southern judea of Israel and the Northern Galileean region. And they were a hated. They had different views from the Jews, and it seems like they stemmed from repopulated foreign people after the Assyrian Exile. Meaning many jews considered them dirty half - bloods. They were tainted. Now the Samaritans hated the jews, but they were ethnic and religious enemies to the jews.
This “enemy” sees the wounded man, and goes above and beyond in helping. Jesus asks - who wast he good neighbor - and notice, the expert in the law can’t even bring himself to say the samariatn. As if it’s a dirty word, he merely says : “ the one who showed mercy to him.”
Who would it be for you? Who is the kind of person you don’t want to love - they are the samaritan in this story. And we are called to radically love the enemy. Who is near you? who is by you - love them. They are your neighbor.
Go and do the same. Is Jesus command.
This radical love of the enemy is the love of God demonstrated to us with Christ on the cross.
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!
This is the kind of love we are to have for everyone else. Enemy love. Loving those who hate us. Loving those who look different, act different, vote different, who parent different, who believe different. We are called to love.
Again - love doesn’t mean give approval to all they say and do - ofcourse not. Love is to be compassionate, honest, rugged, desire and action for and with another person unto God’s purposes.
And Christ in Matthew 5:48 links our love of enemies with fullness and perfection in the Father.
The expert of the LAw in Luke 10 knew all the answers! but he had not love. especially for the other, for the enemy.
And therefore, Rich Villodas writes this incredible summary that just cuts to the core of the matter -
“The best measure of spiritual maturity is not how much you know about God but how much you imitate his love toward enemies.” - Rich Villodas
I mean, how can we not then, before our so what read about love from 1 Corinthians 13
If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known. Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.
And so we need to pursue love.
you can know all the knoweldge of God - but without love - your just a clanging cymbol. I’ve met a few of the cymbols - they went to bible school! They post on a lot of facebook posts.
I’ve been that gong before. Speaking and flaunting my knowledge without love. Lord have mercy on us.
Let’s step back from this week, but also the last 6 and ask our question:
So What?
The practice here of how do we begin to love our enemy is rather simple - Pray for them. In your bulletin I have included a prayer that may help you when you don’t know what to pray. I hope that it helps you.
But remember - love is not about blatant tolerance - we can speak the truth. In fact, love is often demonstrated by honesty and saying the hard thing. This is the kind of love that Jesus demonstrates when he went to the temple and flipped tables, or called pharisees a brood of vipers. Yes - that was indeed love, as harsh as it was.
But he was God, he was sinless, and we need to be careful. It’s quite popular right now to say truth as it’s edgy and cool and gets shared on facebook. But we need truth and love. I shared this wuote before, but Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this and it’s brilliant:
“Truth just for oneself, truth spoken in enmity and hate is not truth but a lie, for truth brings us into God’s presence, and God is love. Truth is either charity of love, or it is nothing.”
Meaning this - are our hearts FOR our adversaries?
That is the start. Love and affection from God for everyone we see.
The way we ought to begin is identifying our enemies - and then praying for them.
exercise on seeing our enemy in our minds? then praying for them?
And if this feels hard - if this feels intense - Let’s be honest. It is! slide???
A quote I saw from Tony Reinke summarizes it so well:
“Christianity isn’t merely about thinking differently. It’s about desiring differently. It requires a heart transplant.”
As we look over the last six weeks, in which Christ has been giving us examples of the righteousness of the Kingdom - we need to ask the question - is this the type of stuff my heart is for?
Does our heart burn with anger or for reconciliation?
Does our heart linger on lustful fantasy or pursue purity?
Do we look to justify ourselves on the technicalities of the law, or do we actually want to live pleasing to God and others?
Do we try and sound trustworthy by swearing and promises - or are we honest people?
Our we known for being rebellious and resistant people - or those who are non-resistent, willing to suffer and give even to those who would do us harm?
And do we love all people - even those who hate us?
We don’t do these things to earn salvation - but these are the kinds of things that reveal a heart that is transformed by the Gospel.
So what?
Remember that the answer is Jesus. If you don’t have this heart - ask Jesus for love and grace. Follow him. Turn to him.
While we were still sinners he died for us.
We had nothing to offer him - but he came, lived a perfect life, died our death, and rose again - then gives to all who call on his name salvation and his holy spirit, who will equip us to live holy lives.
So what?
Let’s cut to the heart of the matter - The kingdom of God is at hand, and as Jesus would say repent and believe the good news.
Communion and invitation for prayer
