Loving the Unlovable
Love Your Enemies
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?" Matthew 5:43-47
This is now the eighth part of this Sermon on the Mount Series.
The Old Has Gone
Jesus' main thing is that he turns old sayings and beliefs upside down. In fact, He turned the whole world upside down and people still hate Him for it today.
In this golden nugget He was sharing He was telling those who wanted to hear Him speak that they know the old saying ‘Love your friend,’ and its corollary ‘Hate your enemy.’
To those who were following this old unwritten rule, He was challenging them, as He always have challenged other standard beliefs. He was also shoving a finger into their faces because His fellow Jews look at themselves superior and holier than non-Jews (or Gentiles).
As the Message Paraphase puts it: "If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that."
"If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that."
Yet people pat themselves on the back for being good, or worse being good to those who are good to them or to those who are able to bless them back. That's rubbish.
The New Has Come
One of the reasons why Jesus came is to put a stop to this non-sensical self-glorification -- especially by those who present themselves holy, pious and good.
God's love is nothing like ours.
His is unconditional. That's the message that Jesus wanted to put out there.
That God causes the sun to warm everyone, the good and the bad. He sends life-giving rain to the righteous and the unrighteous.
What Jesus was trying to say is that when someone gives you a hard time, we ought to overlook that (like our Father in heaven has done for us) and respond and react (like He would) with love (real and compassionate).
Not with the love of the selfish, the hypocrites and the religious leaders. Or of those who think of themselves highly because they are able to love those who love them back.
Jesus wants us to love others using the love that Our heavenly Father gives us, everlasting love. Not by our own limited love, because we will always be looking at how "good" we are and compare our acts of goodwill to those of others.
But to be able to love like God, we first have to receive and experience His love.
God sent His Son to die in our place. He sent His love. He showed His love. He shared His love.
Receive it.
The previous single serve nuggets of this series were:
Part 1 - Judging
Part 2 - Giving
Part 3 - Worrying
Part 4 - Building
Part 5 - Praying
Part 6 - Fasting
Part 7 - Storing Up
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?" Matthew 5:43-47
This is now the eighth part of this Sermon on the Mount Series.
The Old Has Gone
Jesus' main thing is that he turns old sayings and beliefs upside down. In fact, He turned the whole world upside down and people still hate Him for it today.
In this golden nugget He was sharing He was telling those who wanted to hear Him speak that they know the old saying ‘Love your friend,’ and its corollary ‘Hate your enemy.’
To those who were following this old unwritten rule, He was challenging them, as He always have challenged other standard beliefs. He was also shoving a finger into their faces because His fellow Jews look at themselves superior and holier than non-Jews (or Gentiles).
As the Message Paraphase puts it: "If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that."
"If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that."
Yet people pat themselves on the back for being good, or worse being good to those who are good to them or to those who are able to bless them back. That's rubbish.
The New Has Come
One of the reasons why Jesus came is to put a stop to this non-sensical self-glorification -- especially by those who present themselves holy, pious and good.
God's love is nothing like ours.
His is unconditional. That's the message that Jesus wanted to put out there.
That God causes the sun to warm everyone, the good and the bad. He sends life-giving rain to the righteous and the unrighteous.
What Jesus was trying to say is that when someone gives you a hard time, we ought to overlook that (like our Father in heaven has done for us) and respond and react (like He would) with love (real and compassionate).
Not with the love of the selfish, the hypocrites and the religious leaders. Or of those who think of themselves highly because they are able to love those who love them back.
Jesus wants us to love others using the love that Our heavenly Father gives us, everlasting love. Not by our own limited love, because we will always be looking at how "good" we are and compare our acts of goodwill to those of others.
But to be able to love like God, we first have to receive and experience His love.
God sent His Son to die in our place. He sent His love. He showed His love. He shared His love.
Receive it.
The previous single serve nuggets of this series were:
Part 1 - Judging
Part 2 - Giving
Part 3 - Worrying
Part 4 - Building
Part 5 - Praying
Part 6 - Fasting
Part 7 - Storing Up
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