Matthew 5:43-48. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 4, 2024.
Today, we will finish the Master’s look at what it means to fulfill the Law. In a sense, this is the sixth case-study, but it is also a summary for all of the others. It challenges us to recognize all of the ways that we have been an enemy to people, choosing a path that is of the evil one. It challenges us to see how we have not chosen to take the path of our Father in Heaven, and to change.
This law focuses not on how someone becomes an enemy to us, but on what do we do with those who are already our enemies, and for whatever reason.
Let’s look at our passage.
Jesus lays out the teaching of the current day on how we treat our enemies. “Love your neighbor, and hate your enemies.” In a sense, you only love the people that God commands.
The idea of loving your neighbor can be inferred from the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20. Jesus said that all of the Law and the prophets can be summed up in loving God and loving your neighbor.
Of course, a legalist would ask the question. “Just who is my neighbor?” Jesus answers that later (Luke 10:25-37) with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Here, however, Jesus jumps right by our neighbor and goes to the heart of the issue, our enemy.
Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD!”
This passage does focus on neighbors being of your own nation or people. However, there are other passages that add to this.
Take, for instance, Exodus 23:4-5. It talks about helping your enemy, if you come upon him while he is in a difficult situation (most likely assumed to be another Israelite). Don’t take advantage of them. Also, Deuteronomy 23:7 tell Israel not to hate the Edomites and the Egyptians.
On top of this, the Law and the prophets signal a desire of God to bless the nations, whether through Abraham (Genesis 12) or Messiah (Isaiah 42, 49, and 60). God cared about the nations, and Israel was His tool to reach them with the Truth.
So, how did the religious leaders come to the conclusion that we should hate our enemies? It is a natural inference from the idea that God is going to judge the nations who have hated Him. It would make sense that we should not love those who hate God. Yet, God’s long delay for judging His enemies begs a lot of questions. Why wouldn’t He just judge them and get it over with? Did God really want Israel to hate His enemies?
I mentioned several prophetic passages earlier. It is clear that there is some tension between a judgment of the nations and the light of Messiah going out to the nations. Jesus is now shining the light of day upon this murky area.
Jesus tells his followers to love their enemies, which is the exact opposite of what they would have been told by the religious leaders. We are not given any commentary on the crowd, but I have to believe that their were some audible gasps at this point. It had to be a shock. Perhaps, we could ask the question (like the young man in Luke 10 regarding his neighbors), “What exactly do you mean by love?” Is Jesus telling us that we have to have fuzzy warm feelings for our enemies? No. The word for love here has to do with an intellectual choice that is not dependent upon the person we give it to. It is a love of decision.
Jesus goes on to point out three particular ways to love your enemy. The first is, “Bless those who curse you.” This deals with the area of speech. How do we talk about those who talk evil of us? The second is, “Do good to those who hate you.” This deals with the area of our actions. What kinds of things do we do to those who hate us? The third is, “Pray for those who spitefully use you (treat abusively) and persecute you.” This is the area of our spiritual life.
I don’t believe that Jesus intends us to pray for their destruction. The previous two examples clearly show a good and righteous response to the actions that are not good and righteous towards us. This needs to be a prayer that can be categorized as loving, a choice to work for their good.
This doesn’t mean that we approve of what people do when they curse, hate, abuse and persecute others. It doesn’t even mean that we pray for them to be happy in life. A person who chooses to be an enemy to you is not following the Lord Jesus Christ. They are lost. Perhaps, that is what we should pray for them. “Lord, help me to respond in such a way that they may turn away from being an enemy and turn towards being a brother in you!”
We need to understand that love is a weapon. People who are doing evil are generally not prepared for someone to love them. I guarantee you that no evil person has spent a minute training on what to do when somebody loves them. The enemy of our souls (the devil) intends their actions to destroy your faith. However, what do you think God intends to do by your actions back towards them? He intends to break them free from the devil’s hold on their life. He intends to break them free from a life of anger, contempt, fear, rage, abuse, etc.
The natural question rises at this point, “Who in their right mind would love those who curse, hate, and persecute them?” Jesus follows up quickly with the answer why in verse 45.
Every person ought to ask the question, “Who is my Father, and what is He like?” Jesus points us to God who is firstly our Creator, and for those who have responded by faith, a spiritual Father. This new birth is necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This picture of a child beginning to look like its father is important. If you want to be a child of God, then you need to pay attention to what He is like.
The image of God is more about spiritual things then it is about our physical appearance. We automatically have the status of an imager of God by simply being human, natural birth. However, status is not enough. The activity of my life needs to be a portrayal of the Father. This may sound extremely abstract, but look at the examples that Jesus gives following this. “[He] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” God gives sunshine and rain to everyone. Yes, God can affect the weather and send droughts. However, don’t miss the fact that God generally gives these things to all peoples. Even with these particular judgments, God gives far more grace to the wicked than they deserve.
This can cause those who are trying to be righteous to have a crisis of faith. We may begin to doubt the goodness of God. “Why does He bless those who curse Him?” And, it may even cause us to doubt His very existence. “What good is it to serve God, if the wicked are blessed too?” Of course, these are very short-sighted questions. What good is it if a person never has drought, nor an empty belly, but they go into eternity and are found lacking by the Judge? Why am I having a crisis of faith because God is being kind and showing goodness?
To love your enemy is not to say that what they do is good. To love your enemy does not justify them in what they are doing. It could be said that it increases their guilt, if they don’t cease their enemy-ways. Yes, God will judge all people, and He will judge all the nations at once in what is called the Last Days. If God is good, then why does He delay judgment? It is because He is not willing that any should perish. To love your enemy is to recognize that they will be judged and found guilty. Yet, God doesn’t want them to perish. God desires them to have a change of heart, repent, and enter His Kingdom like little children.
Romans 2:4 says, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” They may never repent, but God’s goodness gives them a chance. If we choose to go into eternity over the top of all of God’s goodness, then He will judge you. But, always remember this. He doesn’t want you to be His enemy.
This becomes a heart check in which we all fail. We do not naturally want this for our enemies. We are not this compassionate and selfless, but God is; Jesus is. Yet, don’t be discouraged. This is what it means to follow Jesus. Our flesh fights it, but the Spirit of God helps us to overcome. Lord, change our hearts with each trial and decision that we face. Let us become more like you!
In verse 46 Jesus gives some if-statements that challenge the kind of love that we might have for others. He uses the verb form of agape for love here. It is the idea of choosing to love, as opposed to a love that is more based in the heart (i.e., familial love, brotherly love, or romantic love). If you only choose to love those who chose to love you, then how are you different than the world? Tax collectors and Gentiles tend do this with those who choose to love them. Notice that God chooses to love His enemies (i.e., act for their benefit). Their life is still limited. They will face judgment. But, He is good to them while they live.
In fact, one of the greatest good things that God has done is design the universe with a principle of cause-and-effect. Even when people dismiss the word of God, and refuse to listen to His followers, cause and effect meets them at every poor choice that they make. Their evil acts themselves draw them into evil consequences that naturally follow their actions, words, and inner life. Through consequences, God is calling them back away from the ledge that they are intent on plunging off. This reality, along with His goodness, is a powerful part of everyone’s life. There is a goodness to consequences that we may not yet even understand fully.
Jesus asks his followers to leave judgment in the hands of the only One who can do so perfectly. We can trust God to do the right thing. In fact, our hunger for justice and setting things right often leads to all kinds of evil things that we do. You risk losing your own soul when you rise up to be an enemy to your enemies, when you hate them. Besides, we really stink at getting justice for ourselves. We carry the bloody flag against everyone else, but do not recognize that this is a conflict of interest. It would be like having you play in the Super Bowl, but also be the only one who is the referee in the game. There is too much at stake to expect that you will always make a righteous call. So, why not leave it to God? Why not work to make your enemy your brother instead? Why not save yourself from a lifetime of hate, contempt, rage, death, and then a fearful judgment from God?
Finally, Jesus lays down a statement that is very fearful on its face. “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” I’m sure there were some gasps on that one as well.
This phrase is interesting because it is in the future tense. Therefore, Jesus is stating that you (plural) will be perfect in the future. There is an encouragement of assurance in this. He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
However, the Hebrews also used the second person future as a way of giving a command to someone about something ahead. This nuance adds another dimension to the statement. There is no question that God will do His part in this. However, this sermon has had several places of warning throughout it. We might hear these wonderful words, but not persevere in following the Messiah. We might grow weary, lose faith, and walk away. Thus, this is also a command to be perfect.
Of course, the flesh of every human who has ever lived protests such a statement. How can God expect us to be perfect? First, let me point out that the Greek word for “perfect” here does not mean to never mess up. It is actually a term that is used in building, growing, planning, etc. A building has many stages to it, but we call the last stage the finish work. When the house is ready, it is perfect, finished, completed. It is what we intended it to be. You are a child spiritually, but children grow up and become adults. You shall be perfect, complete, finished. God essentially guarantees it. Yet, you must have faith in Him, in Jesus, and persevere in this fight against our flesh by the Spirit.
When we say a baby is perfect, we mean that it is exactly what it should be for the stage it is in. However, if the baby never grew, we would quickly become concerned and not think of it as perfect. Quit thinking of this like a legalist, and begin thinking of it in terms of the love of God. As you die to your righteousness, come alive to His righteousness, and rely upon His Spirit to help you learn to love your enemies, then you will be a perfect baby Christian learning to walk, then run, and finally fly. It is our relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit that makes our life perfect, even when there are dumb choices, and sin that we need to repent of.
In this life, Christians are not instantly zapped and made into the image of God. Ephesians 4 12-13 pictures us growing up into the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ. This may feel hopeless at times, but should not co-labor with the Holy Spirit in hopelessness. God is on your side. How can you lose? And how can you lose even when you fall down from time to time? Jesus is the author (it was his idea) and the finisher (he will complete you) of our faith. Guess when you will be done becoming like Jesus? At the resurrection, God will accomplish the coupe de grâce (I mean that in an artistic way and not a military way). Can we just take a deep breath right now and rest in the truth that we shall be like Him? Yes, there is plenty of hard things to go through down here, and there is plenty of things that we may suffer. However, we do these things with our LORD! There is a certain glory that we have to go to war against our flesh, and against the devil’s work on this planet. We were made to destroy the works of the devil with the help of Jesus! We start by destroying the works of the devil in our own heart and mind by the help of His Holy Spirit. Let’s go to work with Jesus this week!