March 19, 2023
Matthew 5:43-48
“Love Your Enemies”
Service Overview: The way of Jesus is in sometimes loving the unlovable, and praying the best for those we take issue with.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- In these verses… the paradoxical values of the kingdom of heaven reach their climax in what is virtually an oxymoron, “Love your enemies”; an enemy is by definition not loved. Perhaps even more than turning the other cheek, this command has attracted the incredulity, and often the scorn, of many interpreters, as a utopian policy which makes no sense in a world characterized by conflict and self-interest. (R. T France, Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew, 247)
- 5:43 Both Jewish and Greek sages sometimes admonished against hating one’s enemies, although the more common sentiment in practice—then as today—was to make sure you did your enemy more harm than he did to you. (Craig S. Keener, IVP New Testament Commentaries, Matthew, 123)
- Tax gatherers were considered among the most apostate Jews; Gentiles were considered (usually rightly) immoral, idolatrous, often anti-Jewish pagans. Jews agreed that one should not be like the pagans (so also the Old Testament: Lev 18:3; Deut 18:9; Jer 10:2). (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 74)
- Thou shalt love thy neighbour; And hate thy enemy – God spoke the former part; the scribes added the latter. Lev. xix, 18. (John Wesley, Notes on the Bible, 99)
- [Tax collectors] were despised, not only because the tax-farming scheme encouraged corruption on a massive scale, but also because strict Jews would perceive them as both traitorous (raising taxes for the enslaving power) and potentially unclean. (D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, 159)
- Tax-gatherers were renegade Jews who had sold out to the Roman oppressors and made lucrative livings by extorting excessive taxes from their fellow citizens. “Sinners” were those such as criminals and prostitutes who were publicly known for their immorality. They were the “swindlers, unjust, adulterers,” and such that the Pharisee thanked God for not being like (Luke 18:11). One of the things about Jesus that disgusted Jewish leaders the most was His open willingness to associate with, eat with, and even forgive such obviously unrighteous people (Matt. 9:11). (John MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 1-28, 393)
What kind of love is Jesus challenging his hearers to?
- The kind that exceeds the status quo.
(vv. 46-47 | Prov. 25:21; Luke 10:27; John 15:13; Rom. 12:20; 13:10; Gal. 5:14; Phil. 2:3)
In loving his friends, a man may in a certain sense be loving only himself – a kind of expanded selfishness. (John Broadus, Matthew, 123)
Jesus replaced a law with an attitude: be willing to suffer loss yourself rather than cause another to suffer. Of course, He applied this to personal insults, not to groups or nations. The person who retaliates only makes himself and the offender feel worse; and the result is a settled war and not peace. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 21)
- The kind that hopes the best for those who hurt us the most.
(v. 44 | Lev. 19:18; Ps. 109:2-5; Prov. 16:7; 24:17; Luke 23:34; Rom. 12:14; James 2:8)
The love that God commands of His people is love so great that it even embraces enemies. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 1-28, 397)
[God] bestows His blessings without discrimination. The followers of Jesus are children of God, and they should manifest the family likeness by doing good to all, even to those who deserve the opposite. (F.F. Bruce, The Hard Sayings of Jesus, 75)
All of us would be wiser if we would resolve never to put people down, except on our prayer lists. (D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation, 29)
Jesus’ words are graphic pictures that force us to probe our hearts; they do not cancel the Old Testament belief in divine vindication (Mt 23:33, 38; Rev 6:10- 11), but summon us to leave our vindication with God and seek others’ best interests in love. (Keener, 124)
- The kind reflective of the Father’s character.
(v. 45 | Luke 23:34; John 15:13; 1 Corinthians 16:14; 1 John 3:1; 4:7, 8, 16, 19)
The standard is not fixed to accommodate weak human nature. Rather, it is grounded in the character of God. (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Volume 1: Matthew, 39)
The point of the passage is not to state the means of becoming sons but the necessity of pursuing a certain kind of sonship patterned after the Father’s character. (Carson, 159)
Our responsibility to love our enemies is grounded in the fact that God providentially loves the just and the unjust. (D.A. Carson, Love and the Commandment of God, Love in the Hard Places, 15)
- The kind that seeks to expand our circles.
(vv. 46-47 | Mat. 28:18-20; Luke 14:12-14; Romans 15:7; Galatians 3:28; 5:14)
“Love” and “welcome” refer not only to feelings and words, but to an accepting attitude which determines the way we treat other people. (France, 249)
Conclusion… What is the way of Jesus in light of this?
A. To love the unlovable.
(Prov. 10:12; Luke 6:27-36; 23:34; Rom. 12:14; Col. 3:14; James 2:8; 1 Peter 4:8)
The best way to destroy an enemy is to turn him into a friend. (F.F. Bruce, Hard Sayings of Jesus, 73)
God expects us to live on a much higher plane than the lost people of the world who return good for good and evil for evil. As Christians, we must return good for evil as an investment of love. (Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 21)
B. To embrace the unembraced.
(Mat. 25:40; Mark 9:41; Luke 14:12-14; Rom. 12:13; Gal. 5:14; Titus 1:8; Heb. 13:2; 13:16)
Even those who have no religion can love those who love them. They can do good and show kindness when affection or interest moves them. But a Christian ought to be influenced by higher principles than these. (J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 30)
Unfailing courtesy, kindness, tenderness and consideration for others are some of the greatest ornaments to the character of a child of God. The world can understand these things if it cannot understand doctrine. There is no religion in rudeness, roughness, bluntness, and incivility. (Ryle, 31)
C. To grow by God’s grace.
(Ecc. 7:20; Mat. 5:48; Eph. 2:8-10; Phil. 1:6; 3:12-15; 1 Thes. 3:13; 5:23; 1 John 2:5)
Self-justification and good appearances are not what Jesus came to do for us and in us; that is not saving people from their sins. He came to give us a righteousness that works its way all the way down to the heart and then ushers forth in love, purity, and holiness. These are the new attitudes that Jesus is producing in His people by His Spirit. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 110)
Your ability to really love your enemies… to do good even to the ungrateful or wicked absolutely requires the intervention of the Godhead. It required that Christ suffer and die because of your natural enmity to God. It requires the Holy Spirit’s power to give you a wholly new life. It requires the Father’s patient hand to prune and grow you in a way of life that is otherwise impossible – even inconceivable. It requires nothing less than radical repentance, living faith, and renewal of your whole heart that you might begin to learn how to really love. Such faith working through love is the product of a good news worth living and dying for. (David Powlison, Seeing With New Eyes, 235)
Gospel Application…
Jesus came to love and turn enemies into friends.
(John 3:16; 15:13; Romans 5:8-10; 8:37-39; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:4-5; 1 John 4:7-8, 19)
God’s love embraces the entire world (John 3:16), and He loved each of us even while we were still sinners and His enemies (Rom. 5:8-10). Those who refuse to trust in God are His enemies; but He is not theirs. In the same way, we are not to be enemies of those who may be enemies to us. From their perspective, we are their enemies; but from our perspective, they should be our neighbors. (John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7, 346)
Where is love more glorified than where she dwells in the midst of her enemies. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 148)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- Why is it difficult to imagine loving an enemy? What does loving an enemy even look like? Who is even considered an enemy?
- How might prayer help when it comes to loving our enemies? Who is someone you need to be praying for?
- How can you live out Jesus’ challenge to embrace those outside your normal sphere of comfort?
- When Jesus says, “be perfect”, what is he getting at? How can someone even be perfect?
Quotes to note…
A readiness to resent injuries, a quickness in taking offense, a quarrelsome and contentious disposition, a keenness in asserting our rights—all are contrary to the mind of Christ. (J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, 30)
It is impossible to truly pray for someone and hate them at the same time. (Kent Hughes, Luke Volume 1, 226)
Our Lord God must be a pious man to be able to love rascals. I can’t do it, and yet I am a rascal myself. (Martin Luther, The Early Years, Christian History, n. 34)
It is impossible to pray for someone without loving him, and impossible to go on praying for him without discovering that our love for him grows and matures. (John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 119)
In general, we don’t perceive people as enemies because of who they are, but because of who we are. (Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom, 147)
When was the last time you sacrificed for someone else’s sake? Unless I’m mistaken, isn’t that the whole point of the gospel? If this isn’t commonplace in your life and you can’t think of anyone outside your family you’d sacrifice for, you need to seriously examine your life. This is what separates Christians from the rest of the world. We suffer because we love people, even our enemies. (Francis Chan, Letters to the Church, 143)
A person should respond not on the basis of how one is treated but on the basis of how one wants to be treated. Maybe nothing happens to enemies. They may hate one all the more, but incredible things happen within the one who lives this ethic out. Hate has nowhere to go except inside. Love frees up energy. (David Garland, Luke – Exegetical Commentary, 289)
“Pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.” This is the supreme demand. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God. Jesus does not promise that when we bless our enemies and do good to them they will not despitefully use and persecute us. They certainly will. But not even that can hurt or overcome us, so long as we pray for them. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty, their guilt and perdition upon ourselves, and pleading to God for them. We are doing vicariously for them what they cannot do for themselves. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 149-50)
So emptied of ill will and selfish interest should disciples be that they respond to abuse without retaliation (38-42). (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Volume 1: Matthew, 39)
even a person who has never heard of Christ or the teachings of the New Testament would suspect there is divine power behind a life that loves and cares even to the point of loving enemies—simply because such a life is so utterly uncharacteristic of human nature. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 1-28, 402)