Lesson Fifty: Love Your Enemies
50.1 Our perfect Lord Jesus -- the Righteous One -- still looking at the intent of God's heart in the law had this to say....
You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies, Matthew 5:43
50.2 The hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees had actually changed the Holy Word of God to say, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But it plainly said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Leviticus 19:18 This change was a very terrible and gross violation and misrepresentation of God and His Word. Jesus had to confront it.
50.3 God wrote the ten commandments on two tablets of stone. The first three commandments, dealing with our relationship to God, were written on the first tablet. The Jews summarized the first tablet by reciting the "Shema" from Deuteronomy 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."
Deuteronomy 6:5The last seven commandments, concerning our relationships with other people, were written on the second tablet. The Jews summarized the second tablet by quoting Leviticus 19:18
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Leviticus 19:18
(see also Luke 10:25-28)50.4 But the Scribes and Pharisees had changed it. To them "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." meant "You shall love your neighbor -- and hate your enemy." Since the Scribes and the Pharisees actually believed the statement "you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy" to be the summary of the second table of the law -- they had gutted the whole law. What was left was a meaningless pile of junk. It was left to the individual to decide who his neighbor was, and who his enemy was.
The law of loving your neighbor as yourself included all the members of the nation of Israel from the greatest to the least and extended even to the foreigners who lived in the land...
"One law shall be for the native born and for the stranger who dwells among you." Exodus 12 49
50.5 As the Righteous One -- the Lord of the Law, Jesus restated the heart of God as found in Leviticus 19:18 "Love your neighbor as yourself." What was the intent of God in that law? Jesus made it clear that "neighbors" also included "enemies."
"But I say to you, be constantly loving your enemies unconditionally."
The Pharisees' perversion was crushed.
50.6 When He said, "Love your enemies." Jesus used the word "agape." This does not mean affection. Jesus did not mean that we should show affection towards our enemies. They would probably push us away. No, Jesus was calling for a higher kind of love. He was speaking of an intelligent kind of love -- love that has purpose. The desire of this kind of love is to free its enemy of his hatred, rescue him from his sin -- and bring him to salvation. I do not have to like him to do this. In fact, I may have to protect myself from him. But I can still, by the grace of God, love him. I can see what is wrong with him, do him only good, forgive him, confront him with Scripture, and pray the grace of God upon him to free him from his vicious ways. Is not this the true meaning of the law of love? Let's look at it again -- the whole thing...
"You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, (revenge), nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:17-18
50.7 How shall we love our enemies?
Jesus said,
"...bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." Matthew 5:44
The story is told of the early Christians in North Africa. They had been severely persecuted for their faith. Many of them had been killed. But when disease came and large numbers of their enemies were dying, it was the Christians who took care of them. In this way the persecution ended and thousands came into the Church. That is exactly what Jesus had in mind as we can see from His example of praying for His enemies while He was dying on the cross.
50.8 This is the example of our heavenly Father.
"...that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:45
50.9 If the Pharisees' interpretation of the law -- You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy." -- had been allowed to stand it would have resulted in destruction.
50.10 The Biblical emphasis was on the word "love." The use of the word "neighbor" was meant to bring the understanding that everyone is included. The passage from Leviticus should be read like this... "You shall be constantly LOVING everyone with the LOVE of God." But the scribes and the Pharisees made the mistake of legalism. They could not believe that they were to love everyone. They could not possibly keep that law so they had to find a way to excuse themselves. Since everyone was only implied by neighbor and not spelled out, they tried to excuse themselves by adding the words "and hate your enemy." This shows that they did not know God's grace. Therefore they did not know God. They did not have real connection with Him. They were powerless to keep His law.
50.11 Quite clearly then,
"Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20
50.12 A different kind of righteousness is needed.
50.13 A person who knows grace also knows the love of God. Having received God's love he is able to give it to others. This is impossible for those who do not know God's grace and His love.
50.14 Jesus summarized His whole teaching on the law with these words.
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48
Jesus was speaking of Deuteronomy 18:13 "You shall be perfect (true, upright & sincere), before the Lord your God." This is not the idea of sinless perfection. Rather it is the idea of being complete or whole. This is a goal. It should be our goal to be like "as" our heavenly Father who is perfectly true, upright, and sincere in all His dealings with us. The moral sense is that we should be constantly giving ourselves to the law of love without holding back on any point. Of course we will never be able to do that perfectly. Jesus knew that, but those who hunger after righteousness will be blessed, and those who fall short will always find mercy.
The heart that is perfect (true, upright, and sincere), is a heart that is always seeking the heart of God. What is God's intent? How much more closely can I follow? Only a heart that has been transformed by God's grace (a heart in love with God) can be such a heart.
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
II Corinthians 5:17Discussion: Have you ever tried to love an enemy? What was the result?
Memory Verse: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Leviticus 19:18