The Saturday in the 1st Week of Lent
March 4th
Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus tells us to love your enemies, and your neighbors. Barclay says in the Greek there are four different words for love: family love, eros or erotic love, real affection and agape, God’s love. In loving our enemies or foes, love is “of the will”, “something we will ourselves into doing.” It is a “victory over that which comes instinctively to the natural man.” “It is a determination of the mind.” It is having compassion when we might otherwise feel indifference, or purposefully determining ourselves to wish another well. We are to reflect God’s love.
In addition, Jesus says we are to “pray for those who persecute you, so you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Isn’t it interesting, Jesus adds the very thing for us to do that might remove our indifference or lack of compassion?
Synonyms for persecute are: oppress, abuse, victimize, mistreat, torment. In our everyday thoughts, could we add to the list: annoying, troubling, bothersome, inconvenient people with needs? Jesus is telling us, it’s not enough to love the easy to love. He requires more, love the difficult to love. Jesus is teaching us that we must live by a higher standard than the world expects. A standard impossible for us to attain by our own efforts. We are to pray for help, for us, for “them”.
By using the illustration of the sun rising and the rain falling on both the good and evil, Jesus shows God’s undiscriminating love for both friends and (those who may be) our enemies. They are not HIS enemies!
We are told to “Be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” “Not necessarily without sin, but mature and complete in the likeness of God.” instructs the Ryrie Study Bible KJV.
The Greek word for perfection is functional. Perfection is reaching our full purpose, aim or goal. We are working to be in the image of God, the characteristic of God’s love is universal benevolence and goodwill, seeking every persons highest good. That is loving your enemy.
Enemy is a strong word. We may dismiss this all by thinking we have no enemies; there’s no one we hate. But what of the people avoided, ignored, or prejudged? Where does our apathy enter in? What if we just don’t care about a situation? The sun rises and the rain falls on the good and the evil. God loves all people. We are held to a higher standard. We may think it doesn’t matter if we don’t care. It does matter to God.
Anne Hamner