Jesus: "Let me clarify this 'hate your enemies' thing..."

Matthew 5, verses 43-48.

Matthew 5:43–48

Jesus is going to say to us,

let me clarify this hate your enemy thing.

An enemy is someone who is a constant threat.

An enemy is someone who is constantly looking

to make life hard for you.

Now, we know our enemies, spiritually speaking,

the devil is our enemy, sin in us is our enemy.

But Jesus has been talking about really

kind of personal relationships

all throughout this section in the Sermon on the Mount.

This morning we're talking about other people

who've got it in for you.

Who hate you.

Who see you as their enemy.

Maybe you hurt somebody years ago

and they've had it in for you ever since.

Or maybe you're just looking to follow Jesus.

You're just looking to be faithful to your Savior and King

and you've taken a stand for Jesus in some areas

and you know what?

Now you suffer for it.

People actually hate you for it.

This morning, right now,

the beginning of this message,

I want to ask you,

is there someone in your mind right now?

Is there someone in your mind right now

that you know has it in for you?

Another person.

They hate you.

They want to make life hard for you.

Well, if you have an enemy who hates you,

the temptation is to hate them right back

and to be justified in that.

But Jesus tells us this morning,

not my followers.

In Matthew 5, 43-48,

Jesus commands us Christians,

His followers,

citizens of His kingdom,

to love your enemy.

Let's look at what Jesus actually says.

Matthew 5, 43-48,

you've heard that it was said,

you shall love your neighbor

and hate your enemy.

But I say to you,

love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you

so that you may be sons of your Father

who is 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.

For if you love those who love you,

what reward do you have?

Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet only your brothers,

what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You, therefore, must be perfect

as your heavenly Father is perfect.

I can summarize what Jesus is saying

to Christians in five words.

You must love your enemy.

It's a command.

Jesus is commanding you.

You must love your enemy.

And this morning, I want you to see

five reasons why you must love your enemy.

So here's reason number one.

You must love your enemy

because according to Jesus,

your enemy is actually your neighbor.

In verse 43, Jesus quotes

what the Pharisees,

the religious leaders and teachers

of the day were teaching the people.

They were saying,

look at verse 43,

you shall love your neighbor

and hate your enemy.

That's what they were teaching.

It's a reference back to Leviticus 19,

Leviticus 19:17–18

verses 17-18.

Love your neighbor as yourself

is what verse 18 closes with.

And what appears to be happening is this,

that the Jewish leaders of the time

understood that word neighbor

to mean just their fellow Jews.

And everybody else fell into

some kind of non-neighbor category.

Do you remember the parable

of the Good Samaritan?

It's one of my favorite parables of Jesus.

It's in Luke 10.

In this parable,

Jesus totally reorients this word neighbor.

There is a lawyer who puts Jesus to the test.

There seems to be a lot of lawyers

putting Jesus to the test

throughout the Gospels.

And he asks Jesus,

what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus responds by saying,

well, what's written in the law?

The lawyer responds by saying,

in a session,

this is my summary.

Love God with everything you got

and love your neighbor as yourself.

And Jesus replies,

well, that sounds right.

You do that and live.

And then in verse 29,

we see a little kind of the truth

of where this lawyer's heart is.

And he asks,

and who is my neighbor?

In other words,

who am I obligated to love?

And that little verse 29

gives you a glimpse into the mindset

of the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

What they were doing is

they were drawing lines

along all the people around them.

Who is my neighbor?

And if this person is my neighbor,

I'm obligated to love them.

Anybody not,

I'm not obligated to love.

And it's to that question,

who is my neighbor,

that Jesus speaks the parable

of the Good Samaritan.

And ironically,

He makes the hero

in the Good Samaritan

to be a Samaritan,

a Gentile,

whom the Jews hated.

And that Good Samaritan

showed mercy on a beat up Jew

outside of a road in Jerusalem

on the road to Jericho.

That Samaritan,

in that parable,

he did not discriminate.

He did not discriminate

along the lines of race,

ethnicity,

appearance,

gender,

political position,

background.

Background.

The Samaritan saw a beat up Jew

on the side of the road,

saw him as his neighbor.

And then he showed that Jew mercy.

Jesus' point of the parable

of the Good Samaritan

is not just speaking to Jews

and saying,

yes, your Jews are your neighbors.

Jesus is saying,

everybody's your neighbor.

Everyone is your neighbor now.

Nowhere in the Old Testament

is God's people explicitly commanded

to hate their enemies.

Nowhere.

And so what the Pharisees have done

is they limited love your neighbor

to their own people

who look like they do

and eat what they eat,

and then they added to it

and hate your enemy.

There are Scriptures

that can be wrongly used

to justify hating your enemies.

But nowhere is there a command

to hate your enemies.

And so the Pharisees

had added to God's Word.

And were just seeing their fellow Jews

as their neighbors.

They conveniently dropped, too,

if you didn't notice this,

the as yourself.

Love your neighbors

and hate your enemies.

There's no real reference

of how they're to love their neighbors.

So what we see Jesus doing here

in verse 44 is this.

But I say to you,

love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you.

Jesus is correcting

this wrong teaching of the day.

What were the Pharisees teaching?

Love your neighbor,

hate your enemy.

And Jesus is saying,

no, love your enemy.

And in so saying that,

He's saying,

because your enemy

is your neighbor.

Jesus doesn't give us

this non-neighbor category.

Everyone is our neighbor now.

So, a little while ago,

I asked you to think of a person

that is hostile towards you.

That you would consider an enemy.

Jesus is wanting to help you

this morning.

And help you see this person

who's hostile to you.

Not to ignore the hostility.

But to see them as a neighbor.

A fellow image bearer of God.

And when you begin to see an enemy

as a neighbor,

it starts to change your heart

towards them.

Don't do what the Pharisees have done.

They make a convenient,

compartmentalized approach

to people.

My neighbor and my enemy.

What Jesus does is He says,

no, no, no.

Your enemy is your neighbor.

That's the first reason

why we're to love our enemies.

They're our neighbors.

And we're going to treat them

a certain way.

The second reason

why we are to love our enemies

is what we see

in the latter part of verse 45.

It's because our Heavenly Father

loves His enemies.

We read,

so that you may be sons

of your Father who is in heaven.

For He, your Father in heaven,

makes His Son

rise on the evil

and on the good.

And sends rain on the just

and on the unjust.

Our Heavenly Father

doesn't discriminate

when it comes to

causing the sun to rise

and the rain to fall

on all people.

This is a common grace

of God to all.

God is lovingly causing

the sun to rise

and the rain to fall

both on the evil and the good.

On the unjust and the just.

Out of mercy,

God in His love

treats all people

with kindness

regardless if they fear Him or not.

We've got an amazing God.

He literally causes

the sun to rise

and the rain to fall

on all people

so that they can eat

and live.

He also gets at the scope

and scale of His sovereignty.

He's in control of all things.

This is called common grace.

Out of mercy,

God shows kindness

to even those who oppose Him

so that they can live.

And we learn from Romans 2

and Acts 17

that this common grace,

this common love for all

is intended to lead people

to God.

And the point that Jesus

is making here

is that this common grace

is an outworking

of His indiscriminate love

for all mankind.

He's kind.

He's kind to all.

So here's what Jesus

is getting at.

If God loves His enemies

this way,

so should we.

We should look out

for the general welfare

of our neighbors

which includes our enemies.

And so we read something

like this

in Romans chapter 12

Romans 12 · chapter mention

the Apostle Paul says

don't take vengeance.

Vengeance is mine

says the Lord.

And then he goes on to say

if you have an enemy

who's hungry,

feed them.

If there's an enemy

who's thirsty,

you give them something

to drink.

He's quoting Proverbs 25

and he says

you'll put kind of coals

on their lap.

But it's also

showing them kindness.

And so vengeance

is in God's hands

so we overcome evil

with good.

good.

But I just got to

remind you

of the guy

who's speaking

these words.

So not only

does God

show His love

for all people

with common grace,

sun and rain,

God has shown

His love

for all people

including

His enemies

with a saving grace.

Jesus and the cross.

And it's the one

who's speaking.

In just a couple

of years,

Jesus,

who is saying

these words,

love your enemies

and pray for those

who persecute you.

In just a couple

of years

from Him saying this,

He's going to be

on a cross.

And do you remember

what He prays

on the cross?

Father,

forgive them

for they do not

know what they do.

Do you know

what He's doing

right there?

He is praying

for His enemies

while dying

for His enemies.

That's Luke 23,

34.

What we see happening

at the cross

is the single

greatest demonstration

of God's love

the world

has ever seen.

There,

our holy,

loving God

dies

for a sinful,

rebellious people.

God's love

is at the

is the genesis,

the drive

of His saving grace.

Do you remember

John 3, 16?

For God so loved

the world

that He gave

His one and only Son

that whoever believes

in Him

shall not perish

but have eternal life.

Why would the world

be in danger

of perishing

if the world

was not

a composition

of sinners

and rebels?

God's love

demonstrated

by sending

His Son

to die on the cross.

A.J. quoted

from Romans 5, 8

earlier

when he was

talking about

life groups.

But God demonstrates

His own love

towards us

in that while

we were yet

sinners,

Christ,

the Messiah,

King,

died for us.

And in 5, 10,

if there's any question,

Paul talks about

these same sinners

as enemies.

God's demonstrated

His common grace,

His common love

to all mankind

in sending

the sun and the rain

so that people

can live.

But He's demonstrated

His saving grace,

His saving love

very clearly

at the cross

of Jesus Christ

where He gives

spiritual life.

He offers that

to all mankind

His enemies.

Now,

if you have

any question,

you were

God's enemy.

You were

rebelling

against Him.

I was

an enemy

of God.

And despite

my rebellion,

God loved me

and Jesus

died for me

and He died

for you

and He offers

salvation

to all.

This is the kind

of love

our God

loves with.

This is the

wonderful agape

love that we

read about

throughout the

Scriptures.

The agape

love,

that's a Greek

word,

agape.

It's a love

for the

unlovely.

Loving those

who don't deserve

to be loved.

And furthermore,

it's loving

people with

the realization

they're not

going to love

you back

in and of

themselves.

That's the

kind of love

with which God

loves His

enemies.

And so,

we see here

in verse 45,

God loving

His enemies,

both the evil

and the good,

the just

and the unjust,

with a common

grace,

and what I've

sought to show you

this morning

and a saving

grace.

It's the guy

speaking.

We're at least

to love our

enemies with a

common kindness.

Jesus points

to something

very specific.

He says,

pray for those

who persecute you.

You know that

person I ask

you to be

thinking of

at the beginning

of the sermon?

This person

who is a threat

to you?

Who's hostile

to you?

Do you pray

for them?

Do you show

love for them

and praying

for them?

There was a

time years ago

where there

was someone

who was

hurting someone

I loved.

And that

person I saw

as an enemy.

I saw

as an enemy.

I hated

this person

for what

he was

doing.

I did.

And I began

to pray for

them because

of this

command.

And I

began by

praying

what's

called

the

precatory

psalms.

Calling

down God's

wrath on

this person.

But what

this person

was doing

was wrong.

Hurtful.

And over

the course

of months

I started

to hear

my own

prayers.

And I

started to

realize

God I

don't want

this person

damned.

I don't

want them

to be

apart from

you for

eternity.

I don't

want that.

And it was

actually through

my praying

that God

transformed

my heart

from seeing

this person

as an

enemy to

finding myself

praying for

mercy for

this person.

That God

would rescue

this person.

That God

would deliver

this person.

This person

never became

my friend.

But I

began to

love this

person.

are you

praying for

your enemies?

God

is good

for you

as you

pray

for your

enemies.

Pray for

the one

who's your

threat.

And if

they're not

a threat

to you

and a

threat to

somebody

else but

you still

feel anger

towards them,

pray for

them nonetheless.

us.

The second

reason why

we must

love our

enemies is

because our

heavenly father

loves his

enemies and

we were one

of his

enemies.

Reason

number three.

We must

love our

enemies because

we are now

children of

God.

We love our

enemies because

it's who we

are now.

now.

Look at

verse 45,

the beginning

of verse 45.

But I say to

you, love your

enemies and

pray for those

who persecute

you so that

you may be

sons of your

father who is

in heaven.

If Romans 5,

8, and 10

are true, we

were sinners,

enemies of

God.

We were

once enemies

of God.

We were

hostile to

God.

We were

rebellious.

We were

worshipping

anything but

God.

But God

loved us

anyway.

We were

unlovable and

he loved us.

We had no

interest in

loving him

back and he

loved us.

He sent his

son for us.

And when we

received Christ,

having believed,

God gave us the

right to become

his sons and

daughters.

On the basis

of what Jesus

did on the

cross, he

gave us the

right to become

the children of

his father.

We were once

enemies,

opposed, but

now by God's

grace, we are

children who are

fully accepted

into God's

family, fully,

fully loved.

That's who we

are now.

love.

We've been

given all the

rights and

privileges of

children of God.

We have been

brought into a

new family.

We've been given

a new status.

We've been given

a new nature.

The Spirit of

God comes and

indwells us.

We have new

hearts.

We are now

capable of what

we were never

capable before.

To love like our

Father loves.

So when Jesus

says, love your

enemies and pray

for those who

persecute you so

that you may be

sons of your

Father in heaven,

don't think that

he's saying, love

your enemies in

order to become

sons and daughters.

We cannot earn

the right to

become children of

God.

We receive that as

a gift of God's

grace.

What he's saying

is that our love

for our enemy and

praying for those

who persecute us is

evidence that we

are children of

God.

Sons and

daughters of

God most high.

It's because we're

children of God that

we are able to love

our enemies with the

kind of love our

Father has loved us.

And it's a distinct

family trait.

It sets us apart.

We love as our

Heavenly Father

loves us.

You must love your

enemy because you're

a child of the

Heavenly Father.

Reason number four.

We love our enemies

because this kind of

love sets us apart.

love makes us distinct.

This makes us salt and

light in a decaying and

dark world.

This kind of love is a

witnessing kind of love.

It speaks a word.

God uses our enemies

hatred for us as an

opportunity to advance

His kingdom in the way

we love them.

Look at verses 46 and 47.

It's really kind of

interesting.

He's making a point.

He has four rhetorical

questions here and there's

a point to it all.

Read with me.

For if you love those

who love you, what reward

do you have?

Do not even the tax

collectors do the same?

And if you greet only

your brothers, what more

are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles

do the same?

What is Jesus getting at

here?

What are all these

rhetorical questions

getting at?

Well, He's kind of

saying this.

If you just love those

who love you, what's the

big deal in that?

Everybody else does

that.

The Heavenly Father

doesn't reward that kind

of everyday, common

loving of one another

because you're being

loved back.

That's an easy and

convenient kind of love.

Jesus' point is it's

relatively easy to love

someone who loves you

back.

When someone hates you,

that is the challenge

to love them.

Jesus is saying, hey,

if you love those who

love you, it's nothing

to write home about.

Even the tax collectors

do that.

Who are these tax

collectors?

Well, Jesus is talking

about Jewish tax

collectors.

And in Jesus' days, Jews

did not like Jewish

tax collectors.

And here's why.

They were seen as a kind

of traitor.

A Jewish tax collector

was a representative of

the Roman government.

They were collecting

money for the invaders.

They were fraternizing

with the enemy.

They were not looked well

upon because of that.

And then there's the whole

tax collecting system.

tax collectors were seen

as thieves because the way

that these taxes were

collected was you charge

a little bit for your

service to collect the tax.

So you put a little

surcharge on it.

But the system was such

that extortion was just

shot through it.

And everybody knew it.

So they were seen as

traitors and thieves.

And they were also seen

as unclean because a lot

of their tax collecting

had to do with Gentiles.

They were interacting and

becoming unclean because of

that.

So Jews were kind of put

out because tax collectors

were traitors, thieves,

and unclean.

And so Jesus is saying,

hey, these people you

despise, they love each

other.

What's the big deal?

There's nothing to be

impressed about if you love

each other like that.

In verse 47, he goes in

another direction.

If you greet only your

brothers, what more are you

doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do

that?

Hey, if you greet your

brothers, hey, isn't

everybody else greeting

those who look like them

and they like?

Gentiles greet each other

on the street.

What's the big deal?

If you just greet your

brothers, you're just like

the Gentiles.

What's so distinct

about that?

By the way, Gentiles were

seen by Jews as being

perpetually unclean.

Eating things they

shouldn't eat.

Doing things they

shouldn't do.

Touching things they

shouldn't touch.

They're gross.

And so do you remember

in Acts 10, the story of

Cornelius who was a

Gentile?

God calls Peter to share

the gospel with Cornelius

in Acts 10.

We see Peter walking

into the home of

Cornelius.

Do you realize what was

happening right there?

That would have been the

first time Peter, as a Jew,

would have entered a

Gentile's house.

Look at verse 28 of

chapter 10.

Gentiles were seen as

unclean.

And so Jesus is saying,

hey, if you're just going

to greet one another,

hey, the Gentiles who you

despise, they do that

too.

What's the big deal?

There's nothing distinct

about that.

The argument here is that

that kind of love, that

kind of greeting, that's

common.

That's normal.

That's usual.

Loving those who love

you, greeting those who

you like, you're peeps.

There's nothing unusual

about that.

Here's what's unusual.

I think Jesus is being

very subtle.

But if you, as a child of

God, love those tax

collectors who extort you

and greet those Gentiles who

make you unclean because

they are your neighbors,

that's distinctly a

God-like love.

That's something to be

rewarded.

That's something to be

commended.

That's something to write

home about.

When you love your enemy

as your neighbor, that is

the fulfillment of the law.

We are to love our

neighbors because it's

distinctly God-like.

You overcome the evil of

those who hate you with

good.

That's Jesus-like.

When someone insults you

with a hurtful word, you

respond with a word of

kindness.

You pray for those who are

hostile to you.

You greet someone who hates

you on the street.

That, this is all being

salt and light in a

decaying and dark world.

People take notice of this

kind of love because it's

uncommon.

It's abnormal.

It is unusual.

God even uses our enemies'

insults and attacks to

further His kingdom and the

way we respond to them.

That's the upside-down way

of Jesus.

So Jesus is saying, you

must love your enemy because

it's an opportunity to be

salt and light.

It sets you apart.

It is distinct.

You're a child so that God

would get the glory.

Reason number five.

You must love your enemy

because you are commanded by

Jesus to be perfect.

It's Matthew 5.48.

Be perfect as your heavenly

Father is perfect.

That word perfect means

complete.

Fully mature.

And if you were to read

Leviticus 19.2, it's that

what God says, be holy for I

am holy.

When you read Matthew 5.48,

there's a similar cadence.

Be perfect as your heavenly

Father is perfect.

Be holy for I am holy.

There is this holiness

component to this perfection.

Moral rightness.

A righteousness that exceeds

even the Pharisees.

What I want to help you see

is that verse 48 is the

concluding verse of this

entire section that began

in verse 17.

Look at verse 17.

Do not think that I have

come to abolish the law or

the prophets.

I have not come to abolish

them, but to fulfill them.

And then Jesus gives six

examples of how the law is

fulfilled when it comes to

anger, lust, divorce, oaths,

retaliation, and now love for

your enemies.

Jesus is showing us through

this teaching what the

perfect fulfillment of the

law looks like.

To be perfect as your

heavenly Father is perfect.

To be perfect in how you

perfectly fulfill the law.

It's time to be honest.

Does anybody in the room love

their enemy with a perfect

God-like love?

No.

We don't.

And we all know it, don't we?

None of us can perfectly obey

this perfect fulfillment of the

law and prophets that Jesus has

just laid out for us.

None of us can.

What are we to do?

This command to be perfect is a

command to the impossible.

This is out of our reach.

We can't do it.

How can we do the impossible?

What's impossible for man is possible for God.

What we're unable to do, God has done.

We're unable to do it.

We're unable to do it.

We're unable to do it.

We're unable to do it.

So what are we to do when we are tempted to hate our enemy

instead of love our enemy?

We're to preach the gospel to yourself.

We're to call to your mind your perfect Savior

who is perfecting your faith.

Jesus, God incarnate, is the only human being

that has perfectly lived out this perfect fulfillment

of the law and prophets.

He's the only one.

So Jesus never murdered,

and He was never sinfully angry.

Jesus never committed physical adultery,

and He never committed adultery in His heart.

He never lusted.

Jesus never divorced,

and you may be saying,

well, He was never married.

Actually, He is married.

To the bride of Christ, the church.

And He will be faithful to us all the way through.

He will never leave us or forsake us.

When it comes to oaths,

He never spoke a word He didn't keep.

His yes is always yes.

His no is always no.

He perfectly keeps His word.

He lived out perfectly

that what He said,

do not resist the evil one,

the one who is evil.

When He was reviled,

this is 1 Peter,

when He was reviled,

He did not revile in return.

When He suffered,

He didn't threaten,

but continued entrusting Himself

to the one who judges justly.

It's perfect.

And with what we saw this morning,

He perfectly fulfilled,

love your enemy

and pray for those who persecute you.

He lovingly died for us

who was His enemies.

He's praying for them on the cross.

He did what none of us could do

in order to accomplish the impossible.

To make imperfect sinners perfect

in God's sight.

In Christ,

remember,

He is the perfect Savior

and He's the perfecter of our faith.

I want to encourage you just quickly

with a couple things here.

Do not forget

that Jesus has made perfect

your record.

He's made it perfect.

He died for your sins,

erasing all sin,

and He imputed to you

His righteousness.

He justified you.

And He is in the process

of making us perfect.

For one sacrifice,

He made perfect for all time

those who are being sanctified.

in the process

of being made perfect.

And there's coming a day

when He will complete His work in us.

He will perfect it.

We will be completely released

of all sinful inclinations.

Unhindered by sin.

That's when we're glorified.

His perfect work of salvation

is past, present, and future.

He's the perfecter of our faith.

And when we are tempted,

when we are confronted

with this call to perfection

and we look to ourselves,

don't go there first.

Go to your perfect Savior.

He is your confidence

when we are faced

with our imperfections.

You have a perfect record.

He's making you perfect.

And there's a day

when you will be perfect.

What ends up happening

is this call to be perfect

as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

It's a call to trust

your perfect Savior.

We've looked at five reasons

this morning

as to why you love your enemy.

Love your enemy

because your enemy

is your neighbor.

That person you thought of,

that person's your neighbor.

and your Heavenly Father

loves His enemies

and you were one of them.

That's the second reason.

The third reason is

you're now a child of God.

You're able to love your enemy.

The fourth reason was

you can distinctly love your enemy

with the Father's love.

It's an opportunity

to advance the kingdom.

And the fifth,

you're to love your enemy

because you've been called

to be perfect.

And we obey that

by first looking

to our perfect Savior.

So this morning,

the question you may have

is where do I start?

I've got an enemy.

I'm going to walk

into an office tomorrow

into hostility.

What do I do?

On your way in,

pray for your enemy.

That's where to start.

Let's pray now.

God in Heaven,

thank You for loving us.

We were Your enemies

and that did not stop You.

We were unlovable

and yet You loved us.

You knew we didn't have it

in ourselves to love back,

but You loved us still.

God, would You perfect us?

Would You make us a people

that when we encounter

hostility,

we respond in a way

that pleases You.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.