Coty Pinckney comments on Luke 6:27-36, where Jesus tells us to love our enemies:
Love your enemies. Jesus isn’t talking about conjuring up warm, fuzzy feelings for those who hate your guts. Instead, see how He elaborates on this command: “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” We are to be so changed on the inside that we take actions that benefit those who hurt and hate us.
In case we miss the point, verses 29 and 30 give some specific examples of how this command looks when we live it out:
- Someone hits or slaps you on the cheek. (The idea is probably an affront to your honor and respect rather than a physical attack.) How do you react? You let him do it again. You don’t lash back. You don’t plot how to get even. You don’t try to save face. You let him do it again.
- Someone is stealing from you – you let him take what you think you need, and don’t demand it back.
- Someone begs from you – and you give willingly.
Verse 31 gives us a general rule about how we are to love others, especially our enemies:
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Note that this verse adds an important qualification to the specific examples in verses 29 and 30. The idea is not: “Whatever other people want to do, let them do it.” The point is: “Act out of love for the other person. Don’t look to your own interests. Do what is best for the other.”
So it is not a violation of verse 30 to demand that a child gives back what he stole, or to refuse to give whiskey to an alcoholic who begs you for drink.
The idea instead is: Don’t guard yourself. Don’t worry about yourself. Be willing to lose – for Jesus sake, to show Jesus’ love.
Why should we live this way? How can we possibly live like this way?
Verses 32-38 tell us. Verses 32-34 state the point negatively. We are not only to love the people who love us. There is no benefit, no grace in that. That’s common in the world. Similarly, there is no benefit in doing good to those who do good to us. That’s common in the world. People are always paying back those who have helped them, or doing something nice for someone in the hope that in the future they will get something in return. Again, there is not benefit in lending money to someone who you think will then lend you money in the future when you need a loan. That’s just rational self-interest. That, too, is common in the world.
Jesus implies in verses 32-34 that there is a benefit from truly loving our enemies. He explains that benefit in verses 35-36:
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
There is a huge benefit in loving your enemies. We receive a huge benefit when we don’t live like the world. Our reward is great: We are sons of the Most High! We are like God! We too are kind to the ungrateful and evil. When we live that way, when we truly love our enemies, we are showing what He is like. We are glorifying God. We are fulfilling the purpose of our creation.
Note: Jesus here motivates our obedience in loving our enemies by holding up the promise of a reward. He is not saying, “This is the right thing to do. So just do it!” Instead, He is saying: “Living in this way looks to be risky. It looks like you will lose all. I know that. But listen to me: That is not the case! This is the greatest investment you can make! So lose your self-importance. Be willing to lose your possessions, your comfort, your status. Gain what is infinitely more precious: Take on God’s character. Become like Him. You will be a Son of the Most High. You will have much greater reward in heaven.”
As Jesus says elsewhere:
“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30
Verse 37 then applies the command, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” to the area of personal offenses.
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Remember the context here. Jesus is not discussing how to set up a government’s judicial system; He is not talking about national policy. Nor is He discouraging us from calling sin sin.
Instead, He is talking about our thoughts about other people. You must remember: God is the righteous Judge. You are worthy of condemnation. If you are a Son of the Most High, you are forgiven. So what will you do when your spouse angers you? What will you do when your friend is inconsiderate? What will you do when a driver cuts you off in traffic?
Jesus says: Judge not. Condemn not. Forgive. Love. Your reward will be great.
I see verse 38 as a summary statement of the entire section:
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
You don’t lose by giving up a selfish concern for your own welfare. Trust God. You don’t need to watch out for number one. He is in control.
- You may give away all you have and live in poverty – but your reward will be great.
- You may give away all you have and He will give you more now than ever dreamed – so you can give even more away.
- You may give your time, your leisure, your rest away to serve others. Jesus promises that what you get back will be much more. You will receive it back in a different currency, but you will not lose in the trade.
Do you believe Jesus when He says this? Will you quit making sure you are ok – and simply love God, love others, and follow Him?
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