The Filling of the Law #5: Love Your Enemies

QUOTE FROM 11/1/2019 - The Torah, what we call the Law, is the story and standard of God’s covenant with Israel. The heart of the Covenant, the heart of the Law, is reconciled relationships. Shalom. Peace with God and peace with man.

With all the brokenness around us and in us, our inclination is to get Legalistic. Atomistic. Instead of looking for wholeness, we think in terms of checklists and technicalities.

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day had built a system they thought they could keep. By building up extra teachings and laws around God’s Law, they thought they could protect themselves from breaking it.

But the result missed the point completely. When you divorce God’s Law from God Himself, you just end up with more brokenness.

HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW 10/27 - First of all, Jesus embodies the very promises of Scripture. He fulfills the Law and the Prophets by doing God’s commands, too. And He fulfills the Law and the Prophets in His own teaching.

Today, as we look at , sections, 2 ways Jesus Christ fulfills the Law in His teaching, but both wrapped up in the same question:

Q. How do we live out our status as children of God?

Divide in 2, beg. w/ vv38-42

I. Kingdom People must not insist on our own way (38-42)

<<READ 38-42>>

NOTE structure - Tradition, Principle that Fulfills the Law, Application

Tradition

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was well-known in the ancient world, and predates the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. We don’t know who invented the saying, but the earliest example we know of comes from the Code of Hammurabi, around 300 years before the Exodus.

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was well-known in the ancient world, and shows up in ancient Greek and Babylonian documents.

This is one of a handful of times in the Bible where God takes the words of an unsaved person and puts them in a new context. When Hammurabi’s scribe wrote the Code, it was placed in a thoroughly pagan context, alongside some laws we would agree with, and others we wouldn’t, but it’s clear that it’s not the Word of the Living God.

We don’t know who invented the saying, but the earliest example we know of comes from the Code of Hammurabi, around 300 years before the Exodus.

Paul quotes two Greek poets in the New Testament, both of whom are writing about the false god Zeus. Paul takes the true principles in these works, puts them in a new context, and uses them to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and deny the existence of false gods.

In the same way, the Old Testament Law stripped “an eye for an eye” from its Babylonian context and preserved the principle in order to teach God’s truth.

There’s an important lesson there. You and I, made in God’s image but still feeling the effects of the Fall, at our best, our words are a mixture of truth and error. Sometimes the errors are small, and sometimes they’re big. But God is still able to use the truth that we do know, or speak. The theological principle at work here is called “Common Grace.” Common Grace is God’s favor to all of us, so that even people who are as far from Him as you can imagine can’t stop being His image bearers, still receive good things from Him.

Psalm 145:9 ESV

9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Romans 1:19–20 ESV

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Unbelievers will use all the blessings God has built into the universe including principles of wisdom that give rise to laws like this one, but without the gift of the Holy Spirit opening our eyes, we’ll suppress the clear and final conclusion that every area of knowledge points to Him.

And that means they still speak the truth sometimes, they still know real truths.

So, the Babylonians saw the general wisdom of punishments that fit the crime, but they did not acknowledge the God who gave them that wisdom. So God placed that same wisdom here, in the Law, in the context of His grace and truth, so we can see that He is responsible even for unbelievers’ wisdom.

Common Grace is a garden of blessings, each of which bears the fingerprints of the gardener, but our natural desire is to enjoy the blossoms and deny the gardener’s existence.

So God gives common grace to everyone, including the Babylonians of Hammurabi’s time, and instead of seeing the wisdom of “an eye for an eye,” and giving thanks to the LORD who made them, no acknowledgment. So God gently takes the rose and places it here, in the Law, in the context of His grace and truth, so we can see that He is responsible even for unbelievers’ wisdom.

So God took the blossom of the Code of Hammurabi, which was the result of His own Creative work in His image bearers, attempting to come up with just laws without Him, and He transplanted the rose

HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW:

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” 3x in the Law - In , , and .

Each time, the context is a criminal proceeding, where judges must determine how to proceed. In every case, the idea of personal vengeance is completely ruled out.

In every case, the idea of personal vengeance is completely ruled out.

Deuteronomy 19:16–21 ESV

16 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Its purpose is to prevent judges from favoritism on the one hand, and extreme retribution on the other. As

deut 19.

The purpose of the law is to prevent judges from favoritism in applying the Law. A couple chapters earlier in Deuteronomy, Israel’s judges are told,

Deuteronomy 16:19–20 ESV

19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

The Old Testament Law warns against ruling in favor of popular opinion, showing partiality to the poor or the rich, or perverting justice against foreigners. The standard for judges is impartiality. “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” means everyone is to get the same justice, and only justice.

By the way, this set the Biblical application of the principle completely apart from the way Hammurabi’s Code used it. For Hammurabi, if a rich man punched out the teeth of a man of similar status, he’d get his teeth knocked out, but if he punched a poor man, he’d just get a fine. God’s Word condemns that kind of injustice.

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is also meant to prevent the feedback loop of revenge.

How many times have you seen someone offend in a small way, and the other person gets filled with righteous indignation and escalates the conflict? This happens in every home with kids - Angelic little Bobby knocks dear, sweet Larry’s favorite transformer on the floor. In swift justice, Larry kicks Bobby in the shin, and Bobby launches a flurry of righteous retribution, and before you know it, Mom is standing in the bedroom doorway shouting, “WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?” to which both boys say in unison, “He started it!”

And lest we think this is a problem only for little boys, we see the same type of escalation in the workplace, among grown family members, on the street. One bad turn begets another, worse one, and so the command was meant to stop that.

So where did the tradition go wrong?

Taking the principle out of its Biblical context, the tradition turned the law from a command preventing injustice into a command justifying or even requiring revenge. They used God’s Word to enshrine selfishness.

The Principle

Against this, Jesus gives a new principle and then applies it in verses 39-42.

Instead of insisting on retaliation or revenge, Jesus says, do not resist the one who is evil.

The Application

And Jesus then uses four example applications to help us understand what He means.

First, he says, if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him. To slap someone’s right cheek means to strike them backhanded - it’s not just painful, it’s insulting. The personal revenge twisting of "An eye for an eye” would say, “Hit him back.” The one who turns the other cheek prefers further insult to taking personal vengeance.

Now, if we stop right there, we’re going to misunderstand what Jesus means. His four applications in verses 39-42 help us out a lot. First, he says, if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him. To slap someone’s right cheek means to strike them backhanded - it’s not just painful, it’s insulting. The personal revenge twisting of "An eye for an eye” would say, “Hit him back.”

Look at the second application in verse 40. He says,

mat 5.

Matthew 5:40 ESV

40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

The tunic is the undershirt, and the cloak is the outer garment. made it illegal to take the cloak in payment of a debt because it would leave a person without protection against the elements, and in the case of the poor, their cloak was all they had to sleep with. The selfish tradition would say, no matter what you owed or how legitimate the lawsuit was, begrudge every penny you have to give up, and don’t let go till the judge says “pay.”

The selfish tradition would say, no matter what you owed or how legitimate the lawsuit was, begrudge every penny you have to give up, and don’t let go till the judge says “pay.”

Jesus says to go beyond what is required for the sake of peace.

The third application is in verse 41. The Roman armies made a habit of forcing people to carry their burdens for them. We see an example of it in , when Jesus is carrying his cross towards the place where he would be crucified. When Jesus is too exhausted to continue, they grab a passerby named Simon of Cyrene and force him to carry the cross the rest of the way. The Jews absolutely hated when the Romans did this.

but Jesus says if they force you to carry their kit for a mile, volunteer a second mile.

The final examples, in verse 42, give the positive counterpart to verse 39.

“Do not resist the one who is evil,” in 39, and “give to the one who begs from you” in 42, means that

Kingdom People should not look at their lives, their things, or their rights and declare, “MINE!” with personal sovereignty. Like Jesus, we must not insist on our own way. ((1st point))

But Kingdom People don’t look at their lives, their things, or their rights and declare, “MINE!” with personal sovereignty. Like Jesus, we must not insist on our own way.

Jonathan Pennington says it this way: “As lust is to adultery and anger to murder, Jesus speaks to the heart of the matter - do not be a vengeful, vigilante, self-justified distributor of justice. There is a righteousness greater and more beautiful than self-justice - let God be the judge and righteousness maker, the one who puts the world to right.”

But before we move on to verses 43-48, notice what Jesus does not say in these verses. Some have looked at these verses and said, “So Christians can’t be soldiers or law enforcement, and they can’t defend themselves or others.”

But look at the context -

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

He says the one who is slapped must turn the other cheek - instead of slapping back. Now there are several errors to be avoided in verse 39. Over the centuries, pacifists have plucked this verse right out of context and declared that we must be opposed to all violence whatsoever. Some have looked at this verse and said, “So Christians can’t be soldiers or law enforcement, and they can’t defend themselves or others.” But it’s actually impossible to come to that conclusion without ripping the verse from its context. Notice that Jesus does not say “If someone plucks out your right eye, stand there and let him take the other one.” The slap is painful, but not crippling.

Not one letter of the Law passes away until all is complete, and God’s inerrant Word includes provisions for justice, law enforcement, even the death penalty.

But it’s actually impossible to come to that conclusion without ripping the verse from its context. Notice that Jesus does not say “If someone plucks out your right eye, stand there and let him take the other one.” The slap is painful, but not crippling.

And Jesus picked His examples carefully. He does not say “If someone plucks out your right eye, stand there and let him take the other one.” The slap is painful, but not crippling.

Notice that Jesus does not say “If someone plucks out your right eye, stand there and let him take the other one.” The slap is painful, but not crippling.

He also doesn’t say “If someone slaps your momma, stand there and let them slap the other cheek.” On the contrary, Scripture calls for the protection of others.

Isaiah 1:17 ESV

17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

And remember that the context includes Jesus saying “I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.” Not one letter of the Law passes away until all is complete.

Jesus also doesn’t say “If someone commits a crime against you, take no action.” These are calls against personal retaliation, not criminal justice.

Jesus also doesn’t say “If someone commits a crime against you, take no action.”

Paul takes up Jesus’s teaching in beginning in verse 14 -

"If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” is an application of the principle, “Do not resist the one who is evil.” Paul takes up Jesus’s teaching in beginning in verse 14 -

Romans 12:14–21 ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The Kingdom of God brings new priorities overshadow concern for own territory, lives, or even personal rights.

We can sum up our calling like this: Like King Jesus, Kingdom People must not insist on our own way. The Kingdom comes first - the Gospel comes first. When the Gospel takes priority, we realize that the things we cling to, the things we shout “MINE” about, actually belong to God. He is sovereign over my life and my death. He is sovereign over my comfort, my mind, my time. He is the King, and I’m His Kingdom son, a co-heir with Christ. So, in every case, instead of responding to one who does evil by taking vengeance as my right, my calling is to respond differently. To respond like my King.

What do I do when the urge for retaliation rises in my heart?

The tradition took “an eye for an eye,” a judicial and criminal law, and misunderstood and misapplied it - a slap for a slap, an insult for an insult. If somebody gets you fired, get them fired, and so on. The pacifist takes Jesus’s words and strips them from the very previous verse.

In verse 42, Jesus says

Jesus says, “No.

II. Kingdom People must love even those who least deserve it (43-48)

<<READ 43-48>>

When we get to verses 43-48, we come to the very heart of this text of Scripture.

The Tradition

Jesus gives us yet another tradition where the Pharisees and scribes had taken God’s Word and turned it on its head, emptied it of its meaning, and this one is sort of the summary.

You might remember that when the Pharisees or scribes came to ask Jesus which of the commandments in the Law were the most important, Jesus declared that

mat

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Old Testament Law is the story and standard of God’s covenant with Israel. God rescued Israel from Egypt because He loved Israel, and they were to love Him in return. As says, “We love because He first loved us.” And as a result, they were to love one another the way He loved them. Every commandment in the Law came back to this.

Paul says,

Romans 13:10 ESV

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

But here, Jesus says <<READ 43>>. The tradition that emptied the Law said that there are only certain people that count as neighbors, and therefore you should only love them.

The situation in Israel made it easy to hate their enemies. For generations, the Jewish people had been run over by evildoers. Among the Pharisees, it was commonly believed that the people were obligated to hate non-Jews and that it was completely acceptable to cheat them. Note that verse 43 doesn’t just say “You can hate your enemy.” It says “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”

The Principle: Love Your Enemies

Leviticus 19:33–34 ESV

33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

This is the most devastating challenge we’ve come across so far in the Sermon on the Mount.

But to love one’s enemies

This is the most devastating challenge we’ve come across so far in the Sermon on the Mount. Love your enemies. Why would Jesus command such a thing?

In the first-century context, Jesus is telling them to love the ones who have exploited them, enslaved them, oppressed them, and squeezed taxes out of them to fund the Legions that kept them under Roman rule.

Not just the Romans in general, but the particular Roman who killed your son. The particular Roman who burned your farm. The Roman who struck your cheek, who forced you to carry his pack for a mile.

But Jesus doesn’t leave it in the general, group sense. The Law-destroying tradition said “hate your enemy,” singular, but Jesus says “love your enemies,” plural, as in each enemy, all enemies. Not just the Romans in general, but the particular Roman who killed your son. The particular Roman who burned your farm. The Roman who struck your cheek, who forced you to carry his pack for a mile.

And the particular fellow Jew who betrayed his people to become a tax collector for Rome. And the particular brother Jew who defrauded you. The particular fellow Jew who sued you for your shirt.

The tradition emptied the Law, but Jesus fills it back up. “Love your neighbor as yourself” means “Love your neighbor, and love your enemy.”

The Application

Jesus immediately

He doesn’t leave us in the dark about how and why, either. Jesus immediately applies his own teaching. What is the most loving thing you can do for an enemy? You can ask the Sovereign King of the universe to rain blessing on them. You can pray for them.

Jesus immediately

Wang Yi

As Xi Jinping has expanded China’s persecution of Christians, one pastor’s story has riveted me. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested & now has been sentenced to 9 years in prison under false charges. This is all part of a huge, orchestrated attempt to crush all religions that claim allegiance to anything above the State and the Chinese Communist Party. And so, if there’s ever been an enemy, like Rome in the first century, for Chinese Christians, it’s their own government.

Here’s a more recent situation. As Xi Jinping has expanded China’s persecution of Christians, one pastor’s story has riveted me. Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church was arrested & now has been sentenced to 9 years in prison under false charges. This is all part of a huge, orchestrated attempt to crush all religions that claim allegiance to anything above the State and the Chinese Communist Party. And so, if there’s ever been an enemy, like Rome in the first century, for Chinese Christians, it’s their own government.

But Early Rain Covenant Church released a letter on December 30th, including the following:

Pastor Wang Yi's arrest, imprisonment, and trial are persecutions he has suffered for the sake of the Christian faith, and they testify to the sufferings of Christ for the glory of God (). He is a gift and joy whom God has given to this church (, ).

Pastor Wang Yi did not commit any crime. The authorities' charges of "inciting to subvert state power" and "illegal business operations" are part of the unjust persecutions against the Chinese house church. Regardless of the sentence the authorities pronounce against him, Pastor Wang Yi is the senior pastor of this church and a faithful messenger of the kingdom of heaven whom we stand with and follow and whom the Lord Jesus Christ has chosen and approved.

In Christ, we issue the following exhortation and protest against Pastor Wang Yi's severe sentence. Do you government officials not know that this is a sin against God? Do you not know that this is an abuse of your authority ()? Even so, we do not hate you. On the contrary, our merciful and righteous God wants us to love you and to pray for you. We desire that those public officials and law enforcement officers who are involved in this case would quickly repent and believe in the Lord, that you would know the atonement and forgiveness of sins which the Lord Jesus extends to all through his suffering on the cross, and that you would obtain eternal life and hope.

But if you read Mao’s own words, in the book that enshrines his thinking, called the Little Red Book, just 3 years before the Great Leap Forward, he said this:

The authors of this letter know the danger that they face, and yet they declare the truth. Because they know that Kingdom People must love even those who least deserve it.

“We must have faith in the masses and we must have faith in the Party. These are two cardinal principles. If we doubt these principles, we shall accomplish nothing.”

The state and the Communist Party takes the place of God in Communist thinking, and the decisions of the party’s leaders are then declared the will of the masses, and then the deaths of millions are justified as

Verses 45-48 give us the reason why we must love even those who least deserve it.

Jesus compares the Father with the very people his hearers were most likely to hate: Tax collectors and Gentiles. And then we find ourselves on the horns of a dilemma: Are we more like the One we claim is our Father, or are we more like the folks we despise?

Remember that Roman who spat in your face? Remember that tax collector who had his thugs shake you down to line his squishy bank account with your seed corn? Do you hate them or love them? If you only love the ones that love you, and hate the ones that hate you, then you’re just like them. There’s nothing special, nothing supernatural about loving people who love you back.

But He says your Father is good to the evil and the good both. And when you love like Him, you show that you’re His child.

To demonstrates something special, something supernatural in their letter. And you and I are called to do the same - to love even those who least deserve it.

Early Rain Covenant Church demonstrates something special, something supernatural in their letter. And you and I are called to do the same - to love even those who least deserve it.

Because that’s what your Father in heaven does.

And Jesus ends our text and this section of the Sermon on the Mount with an astonishing statement:

Matthew 5:48 ESV

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

Thereofre

Jesus’s words in verse 48 would have reminded every scribe and Pharisee of verses like

Look back over with me as we close.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

mat 5.

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

mat 5.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus’s words in verse 48 would have reminded every scribe and Pharisee of verses like

Matthew 5:39 ESV

39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Mat 5.

Matthew 5:44 ESV

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

At every step, the traditions emptied the Law. They emptied it of its context, its meaning, and its promise. The Law calls you and me to be holy.

Leviticus 19:2 ESV

2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

The Law calls us to be blameless. Spotless. Like the LORD. To exhibit shalom with every breath.

To be complete. Whole. To exhibit shalom with every breath.

But nobody does. And so the Pharisees and scribes added to the Law until they thought they could keep it. Love your neighbor is too hard, so let’s say “and hate your enemy.” I think we can keep that one.

The traditions of the scribes and the Pharisees had emptied the Law of its context, its meaning, and its promise. But Jesus said back in

Matthew 5:20 ESV

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

looked at the Law and decided that it couldn’t possibly be like that. The Law can’t be too hard to keep, and so they added to it until they thought they could keep it. Love your neighbor is too hard, so let’s say “and hate your enemy.” I think we can keep that one.

The Pharisees and scribes looked at the Law and decided that it couldn’t possibly be like that. The Law can’t be too hard to keep, and so they added to it until they thought they could keep it. Love your neighbor is too hard, so let’s say “and hate your enemy.” I think we can keep that one.

And we do the same thing. We look at Jesus’s words and say, “Love your enemy is too hard,” so we craft exceptions. Surely Jesus didn’t include so-and-so in there!

But Jesus demonstrated exactly what He meant.

1 Peter 1:13–25 ESV

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

1 Peter 2:21–25 ESV

21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21–24 ESV

1 pt 2.

Soldiers reviled, beat, scourged, mocked him.

The same soldiers led him to the hill, and nailed him to the cross, and then they sat down to gamble for his garments. And in that moment, Jesus uttered the first words from the cross. While they cast lots in the shadow of the cross, he said,

Luke 23:34 ESV

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

He prayed for them.

This is what it means to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the kind of supernatural love that can only come from being a child of God.

It is too hard for us, but that’s what we’re called to do anyway. Instead of claiming the right to retaliation, Kingdom People must not insist on their own way. They must love even those who least deserve it.

Jesus dismantles any hope we have of being acceptable to God on the basis of our own efforts. It was always God’s design that the Law would demonstrate God’s holiness and our sinfulness, so we would throw ourselves upon His mercy and love, because it’s not the self-righteous who will be called blessed; it’s those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness that only comes by faith in Jesus Christ who will be satisfied.

But the righteousness that Jesus promises to us is perfect, because it is His own righteousness on our behalf. As we just read in , Paul says in

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus died in the place of sinners so that sinners like you and me who repent and believe the Gospel might be declared perfect, complete, righteous before God. Blessed.

And just as Peter says,

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Believer, you stand forgiven in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, He has freed you from slavery to sin, and His Holy Spirit is now at work in you, enabling you to do what was impossible before: You can love God and your neighbor. You can love even those who least deserve it.

The first Christian martyr was a man named Stephen. In , he gets recognized for his godliness and called to serve as a deacon, and in the very next paragraph, as a result of his proclamation of the Gospel and the signs & wonders the LORD was doing through Him, some men who hated the Gospel set up false witnesses to lie about him, and as a result, by the end of , the jealous and enraged leaders cast him out of the city and murdered him. And the last thing that Stephen did before he died is recorded in

Acts 7:60 ESV

60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen loved his enemies and prayed for those who persecuted him.

And so can you. So can we. And we must.

The perfect righteousness by which you stand forgiven is the perfect righteousness that Jesus is now fulfilling in you by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Filling of the Law -

Principle: Love your enemies

The underlying principle in 38-42, too

The most devastating challenge, and the most upside-down one.

Application: Pray for those who persecute you

Reason: To demonstrate your sonship

Conclusion: You must be perfect, like your Father

Does that mean you ignore the evil? No. Just as Jesus continually called even his enemies to the Truth, even as Stephen called his murderers to trust in Jesus, even as Paul called his persecutors to the LORD, you and I are called to speak the truth in love. The truth is that our neighbors who hurt or hate us need Jesus more than we need revenge.

Why? You have a calling that is higher than your earthly rights. Kingdom People, like their Father in heaven, must prioritize the Kingdom over getting what they “deserve” or giving others what they “deserve” (per )

But the members of the Chinese government who hate the LORD and persecute the Church face a day of Judgment that will be

Matthew 6:31–34 ESV

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So let’s get serious about loving your enemy for a moment.

Your heavenly Father sends the light of the sun on the good and the evil both, and so should you. If Jesus prayed for those who persecuted Him, what is keeping you from loving and praying for the ones you despise? Who least deserves your love? Pray for that one.

LETTER FROM LATTER RAIN

Maybe you’re having trouble thinking of someone that you despise. But maybe that’s because you struggle even to love and pray for people you don’t consider enemies. Your Father sends rain on the wicked and the just, and Jesus died to save sinners, even the worst of sinners.

Maybe it’s not enemies that you struggle with. Maybe it’s much closer to home. Who do you bicker with? Pray for them. Who do you find yourself resenting? Pray for them.

On Monday morning, who is hardest to love?

Jesus says, “Love your enemies,” but maybe you look at verse 42 and realize that you struggle even to love those who have been reduced to begging. Jesus says to give to them. He doesn’t tell you to give whatever they ask, but He does say to give to them. Like your Father, who so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

the guy who got you fired?

Christian, you’re a son, a daughter of your heavenly Father. Your inheritance in His Kingdom is worth more than that job.