Great Love

Matthew 5:43-48

September 1, 2002

 

The first group of disciples proved to be an interesting test case for the power of the gospel. A tax collector, a Zealot, and a group of clannish fishermen laid the foundation for the centuries to follow in Christian practice. Tax collectors were naturally hated, and reciprocated by despising others. Zealots could see their way alone, and no one else - having been taught that hatred of their enemies was a virtue. Fishermen were their own breed - sticking together, and being naturally suspicious of those outside their trade. They loved those within their own sphere of life but that was nothing special. Jesus sank an irremovable arrow into their hearts when he commanded them to love all men. He went so far as to describe their love for one another as the distinguishing characteristic of Christians: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

 

That truth has never been rescinded. The distinguishing mark of Christian love has left its mark upon the world in myriad places. It was evident in Rachael Saint and Elizabeth Elliot as just a short time after their brother and husband respectively had been brutally killed by the Auca Indians, they moved among these people to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. How do you love someone that has robbed you of your spouse, and left your infant daughter fatherless? You do not do this by natural means. Grace alone can so overcome the natural tendencies of hatred and revenge that the believer can love those he or she thought impossible to love.

 

But that is kingdom citizenship. As we have noticed in working our way through the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, there is nothing stated or commanded by Jesus Christ that comes easy to the natural mind. The eight character qualities of kingdom citizens followed by the two metaphors of salt and light describing their impact upon the world about them can only be fulfilled by grace. And the six reiterations of the law that Jesus gives - showing that kingdom citizens can never be satisfied with the letter of the law or the clever reinterpretations of the law - demonstrates that grace must supply what the natural disposition of the flesh just does not have. As John Stott has expressed it, "It is not enough for Christians to resemble non-Christians; our calling is to outstrip them in virtue" [Christian Counter-Culture, 121]. And that takes place only through the regenerating work of God's Spirit, and the constant supply of grace through Jesus Christ.

 

The pinnacle of our Lord's reiteration of the law is found in the command to love and pray for our enemies. In twenty centuries of Christianity, nothing has exceeded the impact of Christians loving the unlovable. Just as Christ loved those that nailed him to the cross, praying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing," even so He calls upon his followers to do the same. As kingdom citizens, we are to demonstrate love to all men just as Jesus Christ loves us. Why are we to be so radically different from the world by loving all men?

 

I. Confusion about loving others

 

Following the same pattern that he has done for the other five comments on the law, our Lord first states the prevailing view concerning the law, and then explains what the heart of it meant. Confusion reigned in the minds of the common man over how he was to live in relationship to God. Religious people had brought on the confusion. They sought to so reinterpret the Scripture so that their flesh and desires would be guarded from what they perceived as divine intrusion. So Jesus Christ explains this problem, and then calls upon his followers to take the high road as disciples of the cross of Christ.

 

1. Re-interpretation

 

Why all the confusion on divine commands? It came about due to rabbinic reinterpretation. "You have heard that it was said," as we have noted shows how the common person understood the divine command. "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy." The first half of the command was a direct quotation from Leviticus 19:18 but with parts left out. The original states, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  But the rabbis added a second half: "you shall...hate your enemy." Search the Old Testament and you will not find this command. It is just not there. Instead it was either inserted by the rabbis or construed by them due to passages inferring divine judgment. We know that there are those commands that the Lord gave Joshua and others to destroy certain peoples. There is also what has been called "imprecatory psalms" in which the psalmist calls upon the Lord to bring justice for his people and to protect the glory of his holy name among the nations by judging particular enemies of the Lord. In each of these cases there are clear reasons for divine judicial action. None are examples of personal animosity in which a person tries to take revenge in a "spiritual fashion" upon his personal enemy.

 

But the typical rabbi did not want to be bound by such a narrow road of loving others. So he reinterpreted the Scripture to fit his motives. His "neighbor" was only his Israelite brother, and certainly not a Gentile. He deducted that since the Gentiles did not believe in the Lord that he was therefore to hate them as his enemies. He felt quite spiritual in doing so due to his reinterpretation of Scripture. He was fully convinced in his mind that his hatred was just as pleasing to God as that of loving his family.

 

This is why Jesus was asked the question by a rabbi that wished to justify himself, "And who is my neighbor?" His question came after he had affirmed the two great commandments to Christ, but not wanting to feel guilty for his abhorrence of others, he asks for clarification on Christ's definition of a neighbor. This is where Jesus tells one of the most penetrating stories - the Good Samaritan - to answer the question of who is my neighbor. It was not the priest or the Levite that treated their fellow Jew in a neighborly fashion. Instead it was a despised Samaritan that showed mercy to the man that had been beaten by robbers and left for dead. The act of mercy to one that could do nothing for him was the fulfillment of loving one's neighbor as himself (Luke 10:25-37).

 

The danger of reinterpreting Scripture does not belong only to the ancient rabbis. It can be multiplied in many areas of our lives by cleverly and shrewdly ignoring portions of God's Word, neglecting hearing the teaching of Scripture, denying the clear meaning of biblical texts, or emphasizing certain portions to the neglect of the whole counsel of God. At the root is an inevitable problem of sin masked by skillful reinterpretation so as to justify one's neglect of simple obedience to the revelation of God in His Word.

 

2. The low road

 

Jesus gives examples to show that if someone loves only those that are lovable they are doing no more than the very ones considered unlovable. Notice verses 46-47. "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" The Roman government would farm out their taxations to representatives that would in turn farm out the job to underlings that would likely hire yet more under them to do the dastardly deed. If we think that tax collectors have a bad reputation in our day, it is nothing in comparison to that of the ancient world. Corruption abounded as every layer of tax collector sought to get his "slice of the pie" by extorting more than was his fair wages. Tax collectors became wealthy by demanding more than was legitimately owed to further their greed. They had to stick together as a band of corrupt brothers since the entire public hated them with a passion. But they loved their own. So Jesus makes the point. If tax collectors love their own and you do the same, then you are on the same level as the most despised lot of humanity. We might use the same example and substitute gangs or a band of thieves or a terrorist organization. They love their own but no others. That's the low road that Christians have no reason to take.

 

The second example is similar. "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" Greetings were a big part of that culture just as we find today in the Eastern world and even in many parts of old Europe. Warm comments, kisses on the cheek, embraces, and bows all are used to offer greetings to "your brothers." The Jews were big on doing this with one another. But Jesus' point is clear. So are the Gentiles. So what if you greet your brothers warmly? The Gentles do the very same thing and they make no pretension of knowing God. How can you think of yourself as spiritual and loving if you greet only those that are like you and those that are fond of you? The low road traveler greets only those that can do something for you.

 

Have there been confusions on your part in who you are to love? Have you sliced away at the interpretation of God's Word to allow for unmerciful, unkind, unloving actions toward others that you find repulsive or that you bear a grudge against or even with those that you think have offended you? Then you are taking the low road. Christians have no place there if we are to resemble our Lord.

 

II. Command to love others

 

The heart of our Lord's teaching calls for a love toward others that flows out of our relationship to Jesus Christ. It is loving by grace rather than sheer natural ability those that are difficult to love, even impossible to love. We find our Lord demonstrating this remarkably at the cross. As the Roman soldiers were driving the spikes into the hands and feet of our Lord, as they were dropping him into the ground as he was suspended on the cross, and as they were mocking him, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). The language implies that he was continually doing this (imperfect tense), perhaps with each thud of the hammer upon the spikes. The godly Stephen did the very same thing as the mob stoned him to death outside Jerusalem, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" (Acts 7:60). Loving those that are causing great pain, grief, and sorrow in your life evidences good measure of God's grace abounding. The natural response calls for cursing and revenge. But the high road of kingdom citizenship calls for loving your enemies and praying for those that wrong you. Consider what Jesus has commanded all his followers.

 

1. Love your enemies

 

His words struck firmly, "But I say to you, love your enemies." Christ's way is not the ordinary path of vengeance and animosity. He spoke with authority. "Love your enemies." But is that not a contradiction in terms? How can "love" and "enemies" be put together in the same sentence? The nature of enemies is that we are to hate them, or at minimum find them to be so repulsive that we do not desire any good for them. We naturally want harm and loss to befall our enemies.

 

All of us remember the scenes in the streets of Palestine on the day our nation was attacked by terrorists. Horns were blaring, people were cheering, Palestinian flags were waved, US flags were burned, toasts were made, and all the while people in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were struggling to escape the seal of death. We were considered the enemies. So they rejoiced greatly at our loss and sorrow. We condemned such a spirit - and rightly so. But do we have that same mentality toward our enemies?

 

Obviously we face an interesting dilemma during this period of our nation. Can we both love our enemies and support our soldiers seeking to root out terrorism and bringing the perpetrators of 9/11 to justice? I believe the Scripture teaches that we must do both. As we considered in our study of 5:38, Jesus did not deny that justice must take place in a fair and equitable fashion. It must for civility to reign in any nation. Yet the attitude of our hearts, even toward those that hate us to the death, must be one of pity and compassion for their souls. Justice and the protection of our nation's citizens are the responsibility for our civic leaders. We have a God-given duty to support them. Yet we must not take the low road of hatred and destruction toward those that hate us. We must pray for them. We must consider how we might show mercy toward them in the face of their tyrannical behavior while at the same time asking the Lord to bring about justice that demonstrates conformity to the divine law. We must ask the Lord to show us ways that we might point them to the only Savior of sinners.

 

Though the larger picture might bring up the "war on terrorism" it is probably the smaller situations that bother us even more. It is the fellow student that treats you with disdain or the worker that you know is trying to get you fired from your job or the neighbor that threatens you that distresses you in the daily demands of life. It is that obnoxious relative that causes division in your family or that person that gossips about you or that employee that tries to undermine you that you consider an enemy. Christ tells you to love them. And you can do this only by seeking to have the same mind that Jesus Christ had toward those that wronged him. Look to Christ for grace to love even as he loved. Look for ways that you might be able to show the love of Christ to those that have wronged you. John Stott explains it clearly.

 

The point he is making is that true love is not sentiment so much as service - practical, humble, sacrificial service. As Dostoyevsky put it somewhere, 'Love in action is much more terrible than love in dreams.' Our enemy is seeking our harm; we must seek his good. For this is how God has treated us. It is 'while we were enemies' that Christ died for us to reconcile us to God. If he gave himself for his enemies, we must give ourselves for ours [118].

 

2. Pray for your persecutors

 

Perhaps the best way to love our enemies is to pray for them. Jesus commands, "Pray for those who persecute you." Notice that he does not tell us to pray "about them," as though we create our own imprecatory prayers, asking God to make their wife a widow and their children orphans! Rather it is a command to pray for them. Pray that their eyes might be opened. Pray that they might see the folly of their sin. Pray that they might realize that the Lord is Creator and Judge. Pray that they might understand that they are under divine judgment. Pray that they might find mercy before the Lord. Pray that they might hear and understand the gospel, and be saved.

 

What happens when you pray those kinds of prayers consistently? Your whole attitude changes. Instead of wanting their harm or even their death, you long with the mercy of Christ to see them transformed by the power of the gospel of Christ.

 

But all of this seems to be so impossible or at least improbable. Loving my enemies and praying for those persecuting me or wronging me, appears to be the last thing that I'm capable of doing. And I heartily agree! On your own, without the regenerating work of God's Spirit, without the saving life of Jesus Christ enabling you, without the supply of God's sustaining grace, it is indeed impossible to love our enemies. But kingdom citizens have a compulsion to love others not found in our natural constitution.

 

III. Compulsion to love others

 

Christ has given us great motivation for loving others. He has not handed such love to us on the proverbial 'silver platter' so that there is no effort on our part. Instead he has provided what is necessary to exercise graces needed to love others.

 

1. Issue of sonship

 

Notice the first clause in verse 45 that follows the command to love your enemies and pray for those persecuting you: "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." It is certainly not that loving others causes you to be a Christian. In that case you would have a reason to boast before God for your own self-disciplined effort in making yourself a child of God. But Scripture reminds us that no one has cause to boast before God (I Cor 1:26-31). Instead the Christian is called upon to love his enemies as evidence of sonship. If he is a child of God, then he will desire to act like he is part of God's family and not that of the world. As one writer put it, "To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine" [Plummer quoted by Don Carson, Expositor's Bible Commentary, 159].

 

Darlene Deibler and her husband, Russell, were missionaries in New Guinea when the Japanese invaded their island in the early stages of WWII. They were captured, and then placed in separate prison camps. Darlene never saw Russell again, as he died shortly before the Allied troops delivered New Guinea. But during the process of her imprisonment, Darlene Deibler faced deprivation, beatings, illness, and sorrow on a daily basis. She watched many of the women and children in the prison die from abuse, and others killed as an example. The test of her faith came most of all in relationship to Mr. Yamaji who was in charge of the prison. She found herself hating this man that caused so much heartache for her and her fellow prisoners. But the Lord worked deeply in her life, that her relationship to Christ must take priority even in the face of such hostility. She was part of God's family and must show love even to the unlovable for the sake of Christ. So she agonized in prayer concerning her own attitude, and began praying for Mr. Yamaji. It was a struggle but over a period of time the Lord gave her a love for this despicable man. She sought out ways that she could minister to him and show mercy to him. When liberation came, Mr. Yamaji showed remarkable respect toward her as though he was a different man. Years later she got the report that affirmed that he was indeed a different man. For he had seen the love of Christ displayed in Darlene Deibler even toward one that others hated. The Lord was pleased to crush his pride and bring Mr. Yamaji to the knowledge of Jesus Christ [Evidence Not Seen, Darlene Deibler Rose]. Her example helps us se what Christ meant in loving our enemies as a child of the Father.

 

2. Issue of divine example

 

The next clause of verse 45 helps us to face a reality that we may presume. "For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." It is not "our" sun but "His sun" that the Lord causes to rise each day. We would not argue that there are many God-haters in the world. Multitudes have rejected God's law and have ridiculed the biblical revelation of God. They have cursed Him and spurned Him in every way. Yet God brings up His sun every day and sends forth His rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike. Do the unrighteous deserve it? For that matter, do the righteous! Of course not; yet the Lord is merciful even to those that hate Him.

 

As "sons of your Father" Jesus explains that the Father has set the example of mercy and acts of kindness toward his enemies, and we are to do likewise. If the Father has willfully chosen to make "His sun to rise" and the rain of his creation to fall upon rebels, then we are to willfully choose to show forth acts of kindness to our enemies. Sometimes we testify to the unbelieving that the air they breath and the world they enjoy is a gift from God, an evidence of the common grace that He shows to all men. He set the example of such generosity and mercy, and we are to follow in resemblance to him by service and kindness even toward those that we do not like. But we love them even as the Father shows common grace to them.

 

3. Issue of solitary standard

 

The culmination of all that he has said about the kind of character involved in loving our enemies and praying for our persecutors is found in verse 48: "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The "therefore" brings it to a conclusion. Some think that this verse wraps up all of the instructions that Christ gives concerning the law, and that is surely true. But in a special way it focuses upon this command to love, for the command itself is the most difficult of all - and the most God-like of all that Christ has set forth for kingdom citizens. Language scholars point out that the grammar suggests both "you will be perfect" and "you must be perfect" as the intention of Christ. It is both a command and a promise [L. Morris, The Gospel of Matthew, 133]. As a promise we have great confidence that the Lord will perfect us on that day that we stand complete before Him (I John 3:1-3). But how do we deal with the command? Some have taken this to imply that we can reach moral perfection in this life, but the preceding Beatitudes mitigate against this as does a host of Scriptures (e.g. I John).

 

All the commands ultimately point to the perfections of God. He is perfect in a final sense in that nothing can be added to the depths of his perfections. But we are to pursue perfection in a progressive sense. We look to Christ as our standard. We see that the Lord has "raised the bar" of the Christian's behavior to be nothing short of reflecting the life of Jesus Christ. Everything that we do should have that homing device built within that we are pursuing the perfection that Christ promises when we stand before His throne. This means that all of life is a pursuit - a faithful, persistent, never-giving-up, growth in grace pursuit of the perfection that belongs to our Lord. Leon Morris sums it up: "Jesus is calling on his followers to be mature people, attaining the end for which God has made them. God has set before us the highest standards; it is expected that we will press on to attain them" [134]. And He has provided the grace and promises for his people to do just that.

 

Conclusion

 

The issue we face regarding loving others is whether or not we are seeking to love others even as Christ has loved us. That is the basis of our forgiving others and being kind to others (Eph 4:31-5:2). Jesus Christ calls for great love for that is what marks us as His disciples. Our Lord gives us grace to demonstrate great love even to the unlovable. Let us be faithful to Christ in showing such love.

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