Matthew 5:43-48

Previously

We are in the Sermon on the Mount

In This Sermon, Jesus is Teaching His Listeners How to Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees

Without Greater Righteousness, We Can’t Be Citizens of Jesus’ Everlasting Kingdom

Jesus Starts By Giving 6 Specific Examples of How to Have Greater Righteousness Than These Jewish Leaders

Each Example Begins With “You’ve Heard That it Was Said…But I Say”

1.) Don’t Murder = Don’t Remain Angry

2.) Don’t Commit Adultery = Don’t Look With Lustful Intentions at Another Person

3.) Give a Certificate of Divorce = Don’t Get Divorced at All (With 1 Exception)

4.) Fulfill Your Vows = Don’t Make Vows (Christian’s Shouldn’t Have to)

5.) An Eye for an Eye = Do Not Retaliate When Wronged, But Instead, Go Above and Beyond to Serve, Reconcile, and Love Others

With Each of These Examples, the Scribes and Pharisees Had Twisted the Law to Mean Something that it was Never Intended to Mean

Now We are Going to Look at the Final Example

Matthew 5:43-48

This Passage is Going to Build Upon Our Last Passage (5:38-42)

It was Primarily About Non-Retaliation Toward Those Who Do Us Wrong

This Passage is Going to Show Us That We Shouldn’t Just Not Retaliate, But We Should Love

Matthew 5:43 (NASB)

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

The First Part of This Verse is a Quote From the Leviticus 19:18

Leviticus 19:18 (NASB)

‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.’

You’ll Notice That This Passage Says Nothing About Hating Your Enemy

There is No Place in the Old or New Testaments Where God’s People are Told to Hate Anyone

We’ll Find Places Where God’s People Did Hate Others

But They Were Never Commanded, Nor Expected to

So What is Jesus Referring to When He Says, “And Hate Your Enemy”?

Most Likely to the Way the Scribes and Pharisees Were Interpretting the Law

If You’ll Take Another Look at Leviticus 19:18, it Refers to the “Sons of Your People”

It Would Be Easy to Infer That Loving One’s “Neighbor” Would Mean Loving Someone of Your Own People

If I’m Only Commanded to Love My Own People, Then it Must Be Okay for Me to Hate Those Who Aren’t of My People

There are Several Passages in the OT That Could Possibly Give a Jewish Person This Idea

Deuteronomy 23:6 is Referring to Jewish Relations With the Ammonites and Moabites

God Tells the Israelites:

Deuteronomy 23:6 (NASB)

“You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.”

Deuteronomy 7:1–2 (NASB)

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you,

and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.”

Psalm 139:21–22 (NASB)

Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.

It’s Easy to See How Passages Like These Could Result in a Jewish Person Hating Those Who He Views as His Enemies

But There are a Lot of Other OT Texts That Seem to Speak Against Hating One’s Enemies

Leviticus 19:33–34 (NASB)

‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.’

Who is “the Stranger”?

A Person Who Doesn’t Belong to the People of Israel (A Gentile) Who Lives (at Least Temporarily) Amongst the People of Israel

A Person Who Would Normally Be Considered an Enemy

They Were to Love These Strangers as Themselves, Just as They Were to Love Their Neighbors

This OT Passage Essentially Sets Up the Idea of Who God’s People Were to Consider as a Neighbor

Anyone Who is Nearby

So the Scribes and Pharisees Were Interpretting the Law to Say, “Love Your Neighbor and Hate Your Enemy”

Now Let’s See Jesus’ Response to This Interpretation

Matthew 5:44 (NASB)

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

The Heart/Spirit/Intention of the Law Was Not to Love Your Neighbor and Hate Your Enemy…

It Was to Love Even Your Enemy Because He is Your Neighbor

Jesus Teaches This Very Thing in His Parable of the Good Samaritan

A Man Whom the Jews Would Have Considered an Enemy was the One Who was Called a Neighbor and was Justified By God

“But Jesus, How Am I Supposed to Love My Enemy?”

“How Am I Supposed to Love Someone Who is Always Mean to Me, Insults Me, Belittles Me, Slanders Me, Uses Me, and Abuses Me?”

The Answer Depends On What You Believe Love to Be

Love in the English Language is a Pretty Useless Word

We Can Love Our Spouse, Our Dog, Our Parents, Our Favorite Food, Our Favorite Sport, etc. in All Different Ways

We Use Love in a Very General Way in English

But in Greek, There are Several Different Words for Love

And the Word Used Here is agapao

agapao is Not a Feeling, it is an Action

It is a Determination to Do What is Best for Someone

Does Jesus Expect Me to Have Warm Fuzzy Feelings For My Enemies?

No…But He Expects Me to Have a Determination to Do What is Best for Them

This was the Heart/Spirit/Intention of the OT

Exodus 23:4–5 (NASB)

“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.”

Proverbs 24:17 (NASB)

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles

Proverbs 25:21 (NASB)

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink

Love for Our Enemies Has Always Been Expected From God’s People

And One Active Way I Can Do That is By Praying for My Enemies

This Doesn’t Mean, “God, I Pray You Strike Them Down With Your Great Wrath!”

It Means that I Pray to God on Their Behalf For Their Good/Well-Being

Chrysostom (349-407 A.D.) Saw the Responsibility of Praying For Our Enemies as “the Very Highest Summit of Self-Control”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - ‘This is the supreme command. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God.’

To Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees, We Must Be People Who Love and Pray for Our Enemies

We Not Only Hear This Teaching From Jesus, But We See Examples of it Being Practiced

Job Had Some Pretty Terrible Friends at a Terrible Time in His Life

But God Blessed Him When He Prayed For Them

Job 42:10 (NASB)

The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold.

David Prayed For His Enemies

Psalm 35:11–14 (NASB)

Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know. They repay me evil for good, To the bereavement of my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, And my prayer kept returning to my bosom. I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.

Stephen Prayed For Those Who Were Murdering Him

Acts 7:60 (NASB)

Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

After This Event, One of His Persecutors Would Go On to Become the Greatest Evangelist For Christ the World Has Ever Known

And, Of Course, Jesus Himself Practiced What He Preached in His Words…

“Father, Forgive Them; For They Do Not Know What They Are Doing.”

The True Test of Genuine Christianity is How We Treat Those We Are Naturally Inclined to Hate

If the Torture of Crucifixion Couldn’t Stop Our King From Praying For His Enemies…

What Reason Do We Have For Not Doing So?

Matthew 5:45 (NASB)

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If We Love and Pray For Our Enemies, We Resemble Our Heavenly Father

He Loves and Blesses Those Who Love Him, Obey Him, Serve Him, and Glorify Him

And He Also Loves and Blesses Those Who Hate Him, Disobey Him, and Blaspheme Him

He Causes “His Sun” (I Love That!) to Rise and His Rain to Fall On All People

I Think It’s Important For Us to Recognize That if God Decided That He’s Had Enough of Us and Just Quit…

The Sun Would Not Rise Tomorrow, the Rain Would Not Fall, All Things That Sustain Our Life On Earth Would No Longer Exist

Some People Believe God No Longer Works in the World

He Never Stopped!

Glorify Him Everyday Because Every Single Day is a Blessing He Has Chosen to Provide

If the Most Holy God Can Still Love His Enemies, Showing No Partiality…

Then So Can I

And if I Love and Pray For My Enemies, I Will Resemble (Look Just Like) My Father

Matthew 5:46–47 (NASB)

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Followers of Christ are Meant to Stand Out and Be Different From the World

If We Only Love Those Who Love Us (Those Who are Easy to Love)…

We’ve Not Acted Any Different Than the World

Tax Collectors Were Hated By the Jews For 2 Primary Reasons

1.) They Were Considered Traitors Because They Were Collecting Taxes From Their Own People For Their Conquerors (Rome)

2.) Many of Them Were Extortioners (Took More Than What Was Owed and Lined Their Own Pockets)

There Was Hardly Anyone More Wicked Than a Tax Collector in the Eyes of a Jew

Jesus Said, Loving Someone Who Loves You is No Different Than a Tax Collector

Even They Do That

There is No Reward From God For That

The Jewish Greeting Toward Another Jew Was “Shalom” (“Peace”)

It Became a Common Greeting Over Time, But it Originally Was a Prayer For That Person’s Welfare

We Do the Same Thing With “Good-Bye”

It Originated From “God Be With You”

If We Only Greet, Show Kindness and Concern, and Pray For Those of Our Own Club, Tribe, Community, or Family…

That Doesn’t Make Us Any Different Than the Idol Worshipping Gentiles

Jesus is Showing His Listeners That We are to Go Above and Beyond What is Normal

If We Don’t Love and Pray For Our Enemies, We are No Better Than a Tax Collector or Heathen

I Like the Way Alfred Plummer Summed it Up:

‘To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine.’

Matthew 5:48 (NASB)

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

“Therefore” = Keeping These 6 Examples of How to Rightly Interpret the Law and Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees in Your Mind…

By Keeping Them, You Will Be Perfect/Complete/Mature Just Like Your Heavenly Father

Jesus Isn’t Expecting Perfection, But He is Expecting Maturity

By Seeking the Heart/Spirit/Intention of the Law and Not Just the Letter, You Will Discover and Imitate the Character of God Himself

You Will Transformed

How Can I Live a Transformed Life, Know the Heart of the Law/Know God’s Character, Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees, and Be Welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven?

Don’t Remain Angry With Others, But Reconcile Broken Relationships

Don’t Look at Others For the Purpose of Lusting After Them

Don’t Get Divorce Your Spouse

Be An Honest Person

Don’t Retaliate Against Those Who Seek to Do You Wrong

Love Them and Pray For Them Instead

And Don’t Just Follow These Specific Commands

But Follow Their Principles That Will Bleed Over Into All Avenues of Life

When We Follow These Principles, We Will Be Perfect, Complete, and Mature, Just Like Our Father

Romans 5:10 NAS

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.