Love Your Enemies

Probably the part of the Sermon on the Mount that is hardest to swallow, where Jesus has just taken it too far, can’t even begin to imagine doing what Jesus lays out here

feels unreasonable, makes us weak - we’re just doormat people would walk all over. Unjust and unfair.

Want to find some way around Jesus’ teaching here. Honestly, our tendency is to just gloss over it. Some have argued that Sermon on Mount is idealized teaching, that we’re not supposed to be able to attain to this level of morality. That Jesus’ purpose here is to reveal how sinful we are to humble us, and to teach us to rely on grace

But there’s nothing about what Jesus actually says that even begins to suggest that. Straightforward reading of it indicates that Jesus very much wants us to live and love this way.

So, let’s start with where Jesus has been starting - with the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law

You have heard it said, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

this is reference to what is known as lex talionis, law of retaliation. Basic idea is that if you cause this level of harm to someone, then just thing is that level of harm should happen to you as well.

if you hit someone, damage their eye, they lose their eyesight - then you should lose yours

And this basic principle undergirds a lot of what we see in Old Testament, laws God gave his people. So, for instance, if your bull gores another man’s bull, you’d split meat of dead one, sell live one and split profits. But if your bull was known to gore (it had goring problem, it was a gorer), then you’d have to replace his bull. Bull for bull.

And this seems fair - to level you harm another, same should be done to you.

Law of retaliation actually served to limit vengeance, because our tendency is not just to get someone back, but to get them back even more. To cause greater harm to one who wrongs you. Lex talionis set limits to that.

And in the second section, Jesus reminds them of the common Jewish teaching of the time, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

If you go to the book of Leviticus, you’ll see God’s command to love your neighbor. What you will not find is the command to Hate your enemy. That part, not so much. So, where did it come from?

If you go to actual law as it’s written in Leviticus, it speaks about loving your neighbor, not holding a grudge against “sons of your own people.” So Israelites took that to mean their neighbors were only their fellow Israelites. Neighbor certainly didn’t include those other people, some of whom were enemies. They’d fought regularly with them.

So Jews came to the conclusion that not only did they not have to love their enemies, but that it was actually good to hate them. They were enemies of God’s people, of God himself. Of course they should be hated! It was a way to be zealous for God.

And all this righteousness seems reasonable to us. If someone harms us, of course they should experience same level of harm. And, of course, love your neighbor. And maybe not “hate your enemy”, but I’m not obligated to do anything nice for them. As long as I do them “no harm” (and they don’t harm me), it’s all good.

This fits in with our basic mindset. Dallas Willard describes it this way: “within the human order, the presumption is that you return harm for harm (“resist evil”), that you do only what legal force requires you to, and that you give only to those who have some prior claim on you (those who are “family” or have done you a favor, etc.).

And that really is way we generally operate: If someone I know - friend or family member asks for money, I do feel an obligation to help them out. But a stranger asking for money, much easier to say no to. And if someone said something rude to me, insults me in some way (we don’t really slap anymore), do you think I want to leave myself open for more?! Or if neighbor took me to court, I don’t think I’d be offering more than what he asked for.

Because we have basic sense that there are limits on whom we love and under what conditions.

Jesus’ Teaching - Love for Enemies

But love that Jesus is pointing us toward here is shattering those limitations. In Jesus’ day to strike someone on cheek was insult of highest order, especially in culture that took honor and shame very seriously. Jesus is really raising the bar here - turn our cheeks so someone can slap us second time?! If someone begs or wants to borrow from us, we should give it to them, just like that?!

Questions Jesus asks demonstrate how Jesus wants greater love from us - if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t the tax collectors do that?

Listen, it’s no big deal to love those who love you. To be friendly to your people. Pretty much everyone does that. That’s low standard love. On grading scale, “C” at best. Get participation trophy for that one.

I want love for you that’s so much bigger and bolder and better than that.

And that’s exactly the issue. He wants us to love in very different ways - love that’s not weighed down by limits we normally set on it, a love that is full, free and generous. Love of Kingdom Heart. Love like his.

He gives example of the Father who makes his sun rise on the both the evil and the good. And when God sends rain, it doesn’t just rain on crops of just, he sends it on unjust as well. God does not limit his love to only good people. His love is too big for that.

This is love of Jesus himself.

Every person that came to Jesus to be healed, he healed. These people had no claim on Jesus - they weren’t family members or friends. Many of them had come from long distance - vast majority weren’t neighbors. Many of them would have been seen as enemies of Jews. They hadn’t helped him in any way, weren’t paying for his services. They might have been terrible people. They simply asked. And Jesus, out of the fullness of his love, healed them. Freed them from demons. Gave them their sight. Enabled them to walk again.

When Jesus feeds the 5,000, it is an act of generous love. No one asked him for food. He saw crowds, knew they’d been with him all day, and had compassion on them. He was simply treating them with loving kindness.

In Genesis 4, there’s brief story about Lamech, a descendant of Cain (Cain and Abel), Lamech is boasting to his wives: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.

It’s bad enough that he sees Cain’s actions as revenge, he murdered his brother. But then Lamech is actually bragging about how much more his revenge is (young man hit him so I killed him).

There’s another place in Bible where we see these same exact numbers, in Matthew 18. Peter comes up to Jesus and asks him how many times he should forgive someone who does something against him. And Peter thinks he’s being very generous when he suggests 7 times. Jesus says, no, you should forgive him 77 times.

Bible is amazing. In this tiny little detail, Lamech bragging about revenge - Jesus turns it upside down! Lamech wanted revenge that’s 77-fold, and Jesus offers mercy that’s 77-fold. Our human tendency wants to take us in direction of revenge, gotta get back. Evil for evil. But not Jesus. Jesus takes us in direction of mercy. Of love without limits.

Dallas Willard makes point of saying that it wasn’t hard for Jesus to pray what he did on cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Because Jesus had Kingdom Heart. Heartfelt love for all. He dwelled in love. So of course he forgave them. Why he forgives us - not just seven times, not even just seventy-seven times, but every time we come to him.

Here’s why it’s so important that we join Jesus in this level of love. Gospel isn’t just about our personal salvation, whether we’ll spend eternity with Jesus or not. It certainly is that, but it’s so much more than that. The Gospel is story of history itself. What do I mean by that?

Gospel in its essence is good being returned for evil, of love for enemy. We were God’s enemy, we’ve all turned away from him. It was our sin, our evil, that nailed him to cross.

But Jesus did not return evil for evil. He did not resist. He relented to our evil. He, in turn, gave us his good. Grace, free gift of life. Gospel is God’s good returned for our evil. One day, that good will overcome all evil. Jesus will return and restore his Kingdom. Sin and death will be conquered forever.

It may not seem like it in this moment (we really are in crazy time, aren’t we?!), but everything in history is moving towards that great reality, good overcoming evil. I don’t know if you’ve heard the phrase, “the right side of history” (idea that certain ideas will win out, you want to be on right side of those issues) - but this is right side of history, God overcoming evil by refusing to return evil for evil.

To be follower of Jesus, to have Kingdom Heart, is to share in that. To have that same perfect love, returning good for evil.

So, what does it look like to join Jesus in this kind of love? Becoming People of Perfect Love.

Perfect example of perfect love is Parable of Good Samaritan. This is story Jesus tells of man, Samaritan, who rescues a Jew who had been robbed and beaten and left for dead alongside the roadside.

Reason Jesus tells that parable in Luke 10 is so fitting for this teaching here because it’s teacher of law who is trying to justify himself, he’s trying to figure out exactly who he is responsible to love under command, love your neighbor. So, he asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Flip side of that question is, who isn’t my neighbor? In other words, who don’t I have to love. I just want to know rules of who I have to love and who I don’t have to love. Because I’m not going to love those I don’t have to.

That’s heart that underlies that question. When it’s simply a rule to follow. And it is not Kingdom Heart in slightest. Dallas Willard says that people who must have a law for all their actions lead such pinched and impoverished lives and develop very little in the way of genuine depth in godly character.

In parable, that was perspective of Priest and Levite - they cross over to other side of road to avoid injured man. But not Samaritan. He simply loves. He loves his neighbor - who in this case happens to be Jew, an enemy.

He has no connection to injured man. Man is incapable of even asking for help.

Samaritan simply sees need and responds - generously, fully, sacrificially. He binds his wounds, puts the injured man on his donkey, pays for his care at local inn and promises to take care of anything else. Efforts to love this man cost him - time, money, energy. But this is love that includes a readiness to sacrifice what we might simply want - or even need.

At end of story, Jesus asks teacher of law which of three does he think was a neighbor to man who fell into the hands of the robbers. Teacher, of course, responds, the one who had mercy on him. And then Jesus tells him, “Go and do likewise.”

Which is exactly what Jesus wants us to do. To hear and his words and put them into practice. Will we love in way that Jesus is teaching us to love others? Before we look at his words little more carefully, a couple of reminders:

First of all, these are personal examples, things that happen on individual level, Jesus isn’t teaching toward societal level.

It’s helpful to remember that what Jesus is offering here are illustrations of what heartfelt love for others looks like - these are not another set of rules. So that every time someone asks me to do something or asks for money, I have to give it to them. We must allow wisdom to guide our desire to act in generous love to all.

As Willard says, the question isn’t “Did I do the specific things in Jesus’ illustrations?” but “Am I being the kind of person Jesus’ illustrations are illustrations of?”

Goal is to become a person who, because we dwell in love of Jesus, simply do these things - because this is who we are, we have kingdom hearts

Why it’s essential to begin where Jesus begins in his teaching on Sermon on Mount - with anger & contempt, with lust (desire to desire), with our words. As we get a handle on these - to point where our lives are not run by them, we’ll move more fully into love of Jesus.

Illustrations of heartfelt love

So illustration of being slapped on cheek is that we will remain willingly vulnerable to others, as long as its appropriate to do so. We will resist returning evil for evil, and instead seek to return good for evil. There may be grounds for some measure of resistance, but never an excuse for personal retaliation - that would never be part of kingdom living.

Same thing with illustration of someone suing you and taking your tunic, willingness to offer your cloak as well. The idea is that we would be so good hearted toward others that if there was still need on their part, we would be willing to freely give them more, as we reasonably can (they may not need it, or someone else might have greater need). But idea is that we have hearts wanting to help, even those who are using law to come after us!

Going extra mile comes from Roman law that soldier could compel you to aid him in his work, carry a burden for him for one mile. Here, Jesus wants us to have hearts that don’t just help because we’re compelled (I’m only going to do what I’m obligated to do), but heart that’s willing to do more.

Finally, to give to those who ask. Idea is that our hearts would be willing to be generous to others simply because they ask - even if they have no claim on us whatsoever. Which is exactly how God gives. He wants our hearts to be like his. Now, if I owe money elsewhere, or there is no need, I may well discern that it’s best not to give - give as appropriate. But heart is toward generosity.

Am I being the kind of person Jesus’ illustrations are illustrations of?

Transformed by the love of Jesus

Let me just close by saying how hard it is to imagine this kind of love - call of Jesus to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect!?! Perfect love, no problem.

And before we let it slip by because it just seems impossible, let me offer two quick thoughts

What we need above all else is to dwell in love of Jesus. To be with him, to know his love, just like Jesus knew love of Father. More we know, experience, trust love of Jesus, more we “catch” his love - more we simply love. Then it doesn’t become difficult at all. It comes out who we are, those who have been transformed by love of Jesus. It’s only way this happens - we can’t love by following set of rules, it has to come out of being permeated by Jesus and his love for us (why it’s so essential we spend time with him daily).

Second, what amazing thought it is that this is what Jesus wants for us! In end, isn’t this exactly kind of people we’d want to be? We don’t get riled up or resentful when others mistreat us. So freed from holding onto our possessions, our time, our reputation, our honor. Freed from having to figure out whether someone is worthy of our attention or efforts. We just give, freely and fully. I love being around folks who just love easily.