Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.
The Lord takes up a saying His hearers had grown up with — and the second half of it is not in the law at all. Two questions follow: who counts as my neighbour, and where did the permission to hate come from?
The first half of the quoted saying comes straight from Scripture. The second half, one writer argues, came from the human heart:
"It was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy." This last clause was a deduction, the inference of an evil nature. The law said, "Love your neighbour"; but there was no instruction to hate an enemy.
Kelly traces where they drew it from. The Jews took it, he writes, from "the general tenor of the law," because God had once sanctioned the destruction of their enemies.
One writer traces, step by step, how Jewish teaching narrowed the word "neighbour":
The question of the scribe in Luke 10:29, "And who is my neighbour?" shows that the Jews had restricted the meaning of this commandment. God intended them to see a neighbour in every fellow-man. They did not want that. They counted only their own people as their neighbours. In this way the Gentiles, the "uncircumcised," were excluded from their love. The strict scribes and Pharisees went even further. They did not want to count ordinary Jews as their neighbours. They considered them cursed because they did not know the law. Finally they excluded personal enemies from this commandment too. Only a very few "privileged" ones were left to be treated as "neighbours."
Notice what the human heart added: not a loophole, but a positive obligation. And notice how far the Lord's reply goes past merely being civil:
Men understand, at least, that they ought to love their neighbour: but their qualifications narrow even their idea of such a duty, while they have invented a duty of hate, which no lawgiver would perhaps dare to write on his tables, but which is nevertheless obeyed all too readily in practice. "You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy" is what a man would justify to his conscience, as he approves it in his heart. But the law has no other word than "neighbour" here, as it has no other duty than to love him; and the Lord specifically puts even our enemies into this class. "But I say to you, Love your enemies" — not merely do them good, though that might seem much, but "love them."
The command is not about warm feelings towards people who hurt you. And the law itself already pointed this way:
But the Jews deliberately overlooked something. In the law God had also commanded them to love their enemies (see Exodus 23:4-5; Leviticus 19:33-34)... the Lord Jesus does not give His disciples new commandments. He judges the fleshly narrowing of the old commandment, and the human addition to it. In God's thoughts, every person we have dealings with is our neighbour. That holds even if he or she turns out to be our personal enemy. The Lord Jesus does not demand an emotional love or a friendly affection for enemies. He demands the much higher divine love.
The law kept certain nations at a distance for generations. What Christ asks stands on different ground:
To love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, is wholly above the law or the duty of a people in the flesh. An Edomite or an Egyptian was not to be despised. Their children could enter the congregation of the Lord in the third generation. An Ammonite or a Moabite could only enter in the tenth. But Christ brought in grace and truth... As He came to seek and to save the lost, those who were His were to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors.
This verse asks more than what a person may do. It asks what he keeps in his heart:
Here was a thing that the law never could teach — it is grace. In a thousand practical instances, the question is not whether the thing is right. We often hear Christians asking, Is such a thing wrong? But this is not the only question for the Christian. Suppose wrong is done to him; what is he to feel then? If there is enmity towards him in another, what is he to cherish in his own heart?
The promised outcome — being sons of the Father — is not a wage earned by loving well:
It is a question of moral conformity or suitability to the character and ways of our Father. In everyday life we sometimes hear the saying, "You would not be your father's son if you acted like that." It is as though our Lord had said, "If you want to be the sons of your heavenly Father, you must act in grace to all; for that is what He is doing."
- Half-quoted. The love command is Scripture. The hate clause is not — one writer calls it a deduction of an evil nature.
- Half-defined. "Neighbour" shrank from every fellow-man down to a privileged few. In God's thoughts it covers every person we deal with, even a personal enemy.
- Half-hearted. The law itself commanded Israel to love their enemies, and they overlooked it. Christ asks for divine love, not a friendly feeling.
- Whole grace. This stands above what the law asked of a people in the flesh. It is what Christ brought in when He came to seek and save the lost.
- Whole likeness. Acting in grace to all does not earn sonship; it shows whose children you already are, because grace to all is what the Father is doing.
But *I* say unto you, Love your enemies, [bless those who curse you,] do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who [insult you and] persecute you,
Jesus takes a saying His hearers knew by heart and turns it inside out. Instead of marking off who deserves love, He points to the two hardest people to love: the enemy and the persecutor.
The command to love your neighbour comes from the law, but the words attached to it here do not. Commentators point out that religious teachers added the second half themselves:
The rabbis first narrowed the word "neighbour" wrongly. Then they went further. If you must love your neighbour, they said, you must hate your enemies — and by "enemies" they meant everyone else: the other nations, Jews without religious training, and personal enemies too... Love fulfils the law, as Romans 13:10 says. Out of that command they had made its exact opposite. You only had to love the few who shared your views. Everyone else you could meet with pride, contempt and hatred.
Loving an enemy is not a harder version of law-keeping. Christ asks for something the law never asked for:
To love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us is far above the law, and far above what the law asked of people in their natural state... But Christ brought in grace and truth. In the light of the Son of Man all were lost, even the sheep of Israel. He came to seek and to save the lost, so those who belonged to Him were to love their enemies and pray for those who persecuted them. It was the mind of heaven for His saints on earth.
This love is not a warm feeling towards someone who hurts you. It is an active interest in their real good, and their hostility is the very reason to care:
Love is not just a kind feeling. It is real concern for another person's true welfare. If that person returns hatred, that is all the more reason to care for him, because he needs special help. When you return good for evil, you represent God rightly. You also set an example that should reach the hearts and consciences of others.
This is not justice, and it is not just staying clean of evil. It is good sent out into a hostile place:
He takes up the principle of the law, which deals with evil in order to hold it down... Then He brings in a vast principle, made known when Christ came into the middle of evil: good that is entirely above evil, yet acts inside it... It is not righteousness, in the sense of justice; it is not what presents us to God... it is goodness in the middle of evil.
The command is not a theory. Christ Himself prayed for the men who were killing Him:
The Lord Jesus showed this love of God to us. "But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). While He hung on the cross He prayed for His tormentors: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). So the Lord Himself is the perfect example of the command He gave.
The verse links this behaviour to being sons of the Father. Writers stress that the point is family likeness, not how someone becomes God's child:
When it is a question of "sons" it refers to our position... while here it is a question of character... God calls us to have the family character and to show the same grace, as sons of such a Father. The person who loves his enemies and does good to those who hate him shows the character of a son. His Father makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good. Think how people treat Him and blaspheme His name... Yet He still treats them this way, and He is "your Father."
These words sound beyond anyone's reach. Commentators answer that the command still stands, and that God supplies what it asks for:
If we are His sons, it is not arrogance to hold feelings higher than human nature can reach. This is our new standing, and it should be our delight. Grace alone can make it real. But Christ has obtained everything we need for this. The Holy Spirit is here to see it through and to guide us to Christ's glory.
- Distortion. "Hate your enemy" was never God's word. Religious teachers added it, shrinking the circle of "neighbour" until it held only a favoured few.
- Elevation. Loving enemies and praying for persecutors stands above the law. It is the mind of heaven, brought down to earth by Christ.
- Definition. This love means caring about someone's real welfare. Their hostility becomes the reason to care, not a reason to stop. It is goodness working inside evil, not justice measured out.
- Pattern. The Father makes His sun rise on evil and good alike. The Son prayed for the men crucifying Him. The command asks only for the family likeness.
- Power. The standard is not lowered for us. Grace alone makes it work. Christ has secured all we need, and the Holy Spirit is here to carry it through.
that ye may be [the] sons of your Father who is in [the] heavens; for he makes his sun rise on evil and good, and sends rain on just and unjust.
Sunrise and rain fall on people who have earned nothing. That is the pattern Jesus sets for disciples He calls to love their enemies, and it raises a question: what does that family likeness look like day by day?
The phrase "sons of your Father" here is not describing how someone enters God's family. Commentators note that the people He spoke to already belonged to Him.
The Lord here presents a high standard. In the Sermon on the Mount the word "son" has a practical meaning. The Lord Jesus is not speaking of the gospel here, or of how to become a child or son of God. He shows His disciples, who were already born again, how they could copy their Father in heaven by loving their enemies. In that way they would show in practice that they were His sons.
An everyday comparison makes the same point about resemblance:
Some think this passage teaches that a person can gain the relationship of children by a certain line of action. It does not. It is a question of moral conformity or suitability to the character and ways of our Father. In everyday life we sometimes hear the saying, "You would not be your father's son if you acted like that." It is as though our Lord had said, "If you want to be the sons of your heavenly Father, you must act in grace to all; for that is what He is doing."
Loving enemies is not a stricter version of an old rule. It goes past anything the law required of Israel.
To love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us, is far above the law or the duty of a people in the flesh. Israel was not to hate an Edomite or an Egyptian, and their children could enter the assembly of the LORD in the third generation. An Ammonite or a Moabite had to wait until the tenth generation. But Christ brought in grace and truth… In receiving Him they receive life, His life, and they are to show it this way.
The two halves of the verse are not saying the same thing twice.
Such love and devotion, to be worth anything, must be no mere form but a living reality — so that they might be sons of their Father in the heavens. That is their place of dignity. And what a pattern He sets! For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. What rich grace in the first comparison, and what faithful goodness in the second!
God gives this daily kindness to people He has every right to condemn.
He has the right to condemn the evil and the unjust. Instead of doing so, He shows them His goodness during their life on earth in the same way that He does to the good and the just. Nothing shows the love of the eternal Creator-God for His enemies more movingly.
Jesus does not point to a distant Ruler. He points to your Father, whose family has its own character.
When it is a question of "sons" it refers to our position… here it is a question of character. "The sons of your Father", "your Father who makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good" — not simply God, but your Father. He calls us to have the family character and show the same grace, as sons of such a Father… Think how people treat Him and blaspheme Him, and what man's character is! Yet He treats them so, and He is "your Father."
The sun that teaches disciples to give also leaves ungrateful people without excuse.
Out of His own goodness, as our Lord put it, He causes His sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good. He sends His rain on the just as well as on the unjust. Yet the man who profits by all these benefits and never thinks of God is a most wicked man, the greatest enemy of God alive on the earth… He shows less gratitude than even the poor animal that knows its master's kindness and care.
Loving enemies sounds impossible. The answer is not effort but grace.
Let us therefore be in earnest to keep up the family character… If we are His sons, it is no presumption to cherish feelings above human nature. This is our new status, and it should be our delight. Grace alone can make it good. But Christ has obtained all that is needed and effective for this. And the Holy Spirit is here to see to it, and to guide us to Christ's glory.
- Family character — the verse is about resembling the Father, not joining His family. Those He spoke to were already His.
- Family generosity — sunrise is rich grace to the undeserving. Rain is steady, faithful goodness. Neither one sorts people first.
- Family reach — the family standard goes past neighbours to enemies. The law never asked that of a nation.
- Family power — this life is above human nature, so grace alone makes it real. Christ's work and the Holy Spirit supply what is needed.
- Family witness — living this way puts the Father's ways on public display. Those who take His gifts and never think of Him show less gratitude than an animal.
For if ye should love those who love you, what reward have ye? Do not also the tax-gatherers the same?
Jesus has just told His disciples to love their enemies, and now He tests the quality of the love they already have. He does it by pointing to the men everyone despised: if your love matches theirs, what is it worth?
The comparison only works if you know how people saw these men.
The Jews hated paying taxes to the Romans, and they thought the men who collected them deserved no respect. That is why "tax collectors and sinners" are often grouped together. Religious people mocked the Lord for entering their houses. They called Him "a friend of tax collectors and sinners." But God's grace was for all, and Matthew was called from his tax office to be one of the apostles.
Returning love for love is not a Christian achievement. It is the ordinary human floor, and that is why it earns nothing.
The Lord Jesus then gives two examples, in verses 46 and 47. They show that loving your neighbour as the Pharisees practised it was no different from the way the world behaves. Even the tax collectors knew how to love their friends... There was nothing in that behaviour which would lead anyone to expect a reward.
What these men had was real, but it was only natural feeling. The Lord looks for love of a different kind.
Even in the time before the cross, the Lord insisted on a love wholly above mere human nature with its likes and dislikes. The hated tax collectors had natural affection, and loved those who loved them. The Lord told the disciples to love far beyond Jew or Greek. The family were to love as their heavenly Father did. It could not be equal in degree, but it was the same kind of love. That love must be in God's children by divine grace. It rises above every question of what a person deserves or what can be gained from them.
Christ sets His word here against what the people had been taught. The change He brings is not a tighter rule.
Here was something the law could never teach — it is grace. In a thousand practical situations the question is not whether the thing is right. We often hear Christians asking, Is such a thing wrong? But that is not the only question for the Christian. Suppose someone wrongs him; what is he to feel then? If someone is hostile to him, what is he to hold in his own heart? "Love your enemies… pray for those who persecute you… so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." In this way they show in practice that they belong to such a Father.
The tax collector is only the floor. Verse 48 sets the ceiling: the Father Himself. One writer explains what that does not mean.
The name of Father reveals to us the fullness of grace. According to this sweet name they were already children, accepted in Christ as Christ is accepted by the Father... It is not said: Present to God a character of perfection, so that He may accept you through it and be pleased with you. Rather, you are the children of your heavenly Father — so display His character to the world. "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." He acts according to His grace, and not according to the law: you saved sinners, you are and ought to be witnesses of it. The tax collectors love those who love them, but your heavenly Father loves His enemies... It is not said, Be perfect before Him, or with Him, as if you were without sin, but like Him, act in love towards your enemies.
The test comes first with fellow believers who rub us the wrong way.
If I love the brother who is nice and agreeable to me, I am only doing what anybody might do. "If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" Suppose my brother is not nice and agreeable to me. If I love him because he is born of God, I am displaying the love which is the nature of God Himself. And nothing is greater than that.
- Floor — Returning love for love is the world's baseline; even the most despised men in Israel managed it, so it proves nothing about a disciple.
- Kind — What marks God's children is not warmer affection but a different kind of love, one that rises above what a person deserves or what can be gained from them.
- Source — This is grace, not law. The question stops being "was I wronged?" and becomes "what will I hold in my heart toward the one who wronged me?"
- Measure — The standard is the Father who sends sun and rain on evil and good alike; being "perfect" here means acting like Him toward enemies, not being sinless.
- Test — It begins with the believer you find hard to like. Love him because he is born of God, and you are showing the very nature of God.
And if ye should salute your brethren only, what do ye extraordinary? Do not also the Gentiles the same?
Here the Lord sets a simple test for His disciples. The Lord names two groups nobody in His audience admired — tax collectors and Gentiles — and points out that both manage the same warmth toward their own circle.
One reference work explains why tax collectors were so despised:
The duty of paying taxes to the Romans was deeply resented by the Jews, and those who collected them were thought unworthy of any respect. So "publicans and sinners" are often grouped together. The Lord was mocked by the religious people for entering their houses; they scornfully called Him "a friend of publicans and sinners." But God's grace was for everyone, and Matthew was called from his tax office to be one of the apostles.
The word "brothers" here reaches wider than family:
Even the tax collectors, those despised people who enriched themselves at the expense of their own people, knew how to love their friends. And the Gentiles also greeted their brothers — that is, everyone they knew well. There was nothing in this behaviour that would lead anyone to expect a reward.
Natural affection is real. But it reaches only the people already tied to us.
Even in the time before the cross, the Lord insisted on a love wholly above mere human nature with its likes and its dislikes. The detested tax collectors had natural affection, and loved those that loved them. The Gentiles greeted tenderly those bound up with themselves in mere ties of flesh and blood. The disciples were told to love far beyond Jew or Greek. The family were to love as their heavenly Father did. This could not be equal in degree. But it was the same kind of love. It must be in God's children by divine grace, rising above any question of what a person deserves or of hidden motives.
The question "what more are you doing?" invites a comparison — but not with the people next door.
It is God, not man, whom the Lord makes the standard. He points to the heavenly Father — not the fearful moral ruler made known to Israel, but our Father. What are His affections, what is His will about us?
Kelly presses both questions and refuses any lower standard:
If they loved those that loved them, did not the hated tax collectors do the same? If they greeted only their brothers, the despised Gentiles did the same too. This was altogether beneath the Christian according to Christ. "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The Saviour would not tolerate a lower standard of feeling and conduct.
So the call is to family likeness. Kelly points to how the Father Himself acts:
Let us therefore be in earnest to keep up the family character. Does not our Father who is in the heavens make His sun rise on evil and good? Does He not send rain on just and unjust? If we are His sons, it is not presumption to cherish feelings above human nature; it is our new standing, and it should be our delight. Grace alone can make it good.
Another writer draws the line between display and earning acceptance:
It is not said: present to God a character of perfection, so that He will accept you on that basis. Rather: you are the children of your heavenly Father — therefore display His character to the world. He acts according to His grace, and not according to the law. You saved sinners, you are and ought to be witnesses of it.
The test bites hardest among fellow believers. Easy company proves nothing.
By upbringing and habits we may have very little in common. We may also disagree on many matters connected with the things of God. Now these are just the ones who put us to the test. Are we free to say they are no concern of ours, and pass by on the other side? We are not. If I love the brother who is nice and agreeable to me, I am only doing what anybody might do... If I love my brother because he is born of God, even though he is not nice and agreeable to me, I am displaying the love which is the nature of God Himself.
- More — a greeting kept inside your own circle is not more. Tax collectors and Gentiles already do that.
- Source — the standard is not the neighbours but the Father. God, not man, is the measure.
- Kind — children cannot match His love in degree. But it must be the same kind of love, above any question of what a person deserves.
- Reach — the Father sends sun and rain on evil and good alike. His children's kindness must go past where natural affection stops.
- Result — this is not how you earn acceptance. It is how accepted children show the family character to a watching world.
Be *ye* therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus ends a run of sayings about loving enemies with a command that sounds impossible. Everything turns on one word: perfect. Does it call for sinlessness in us, or likeness to God?
Many read this as a demand to become sinless. It points somewhere else — to a name, and to the family likeness that comes with it.
This text has no bearing at all on the question of perfection in the flesh. It is the revelation of the name of our Father who is in heaven, and the character that suits the kingdom of heaven in practice. The Jew of old was responsible to bear witness to the righteousness of Jehovah. The believer now is responsible to show the grace of "our Father." … The children are bound to sustain the family character. … Other Scriptures prove, if anyone needs proof, that sin still lives in the believer here below. It stays there, however much he must refuse it and put it to death. This text simply urges us to imitate our Father's grace, even toward those who deserve His judgment.
The word does not describe a flawless finish. It describes a character with nothing missing.
We speak of a thing as perfect when it has all its parts, without considering the finish of those parts at all. So the Lord tells us that as children we must resemble our Father, and to do this we must display all the features of our Father's character. We must not only love those who love us. He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust. We must display this feature of His character too.
God told Abraham and Israel to be perfect before Him. Here the wording changes. The relationship comes first, and the conduct flows out of it.
It does not say, Be perfect "before me," or "with your God," as was said to Abraham and to the Israelites, because the name of Father reveals to us the fullness of grace. … Now it does not say, Present to God a character of perfection, so that He may accept you through it and be pleased with you. Instead, you are the children of your heavenly Father — so display His character to the world. … He acts by grace, not by law. You are saved sinners; you are witnesses of it, and you ought to be. … It does not say, Be perfect before Him, or with Him, as if you were without sin, but like Him — act in love toward your enemies.
The Father is not naive about evil. He sees it and still holds a steady course. That steadiness, not blindness, is what we copy.
The Father notices and understands all the evil in the world. Yet He keeps an even course toward all. He sends His rain for the just and the unjust, and gives the evil a share in all His benefits. He Himself stays apart from all evil and always remains in His own perfectness. So we see things as they are. We are not to be blind to them, and not to be shaken by them. We go steadily on, taking what meets us in the spirit in which the Father bears with things. Then our hearts hold no answering evil. In this way we are perfect according to the pattern shown in the ways of the Father Himself.
A command like this can sound beyond reach.
The answer to all this is that our blessed Lord does not ask us to do impossible things. He never gives a command without supplying the grace needed to carry it out. So when He calls us to be perfect as our Father, it is plain that He is granting us a holy privilege and clothing us with a high dignity. It is our place to seek to understand and take hold of both.
Other passages give the same call in different words. Set side by side, they show two sides of God joined here.
God is the perfect example of true love for one's enemies. As the heavenly Father He is our example not only in this but in everything. In the parallel passage in Luke 6:36 we read, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." In 1 Peter 1:16 we find the quotation of Leviticus 19:2, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." God is love and He is light (1 John 4:8, 16; 1:5). Mercy is an expression of love, and holiness is a mark of light. In our verse both are joined together.
- Father first. The command rests on a name already given — you are children before He tells you to act like one.
- Family likeness. To be perfect is to carry the family character: showing His grace, not reaching sinlessness in ourselves.
- Complete, not polished. Perfect means every feature is present. The missing one is love that goes beyond those who love us back.
- Reach. His own love sets the measure: sun and rain for the undeserving, and a steady course toward evil with no evil in return.
- Grace supplied. He never commands without giving what the command needs. This is a privilege held out, not a weight laid on.