But to you that hear I say, Love your enemies; do good to those that hate you;
Right after the blessings and the woes, Jesus turns to the people listening. He tells them to love their enemies, which raises two questions: who is this word spoken to, and where does anyone find the power to obey it?
Spoken to those who hear
Jesus aims these words at one audience: the people willing to listen. One writer asks who those hearers were and answers from the Lord's own words:
Who then were those who heard the Prophet of Jehovah? There need be no doubt about the right answer, since the Lord Himself gave it. Speaking to His disciples He said, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." They were His followers, for they had heard Him. As the sheep of the "little flock" they had heard the voice of the good Shepherd.
Others miss it by their own choice:
Many are spiritually deaf and do not hear such things. They have closed their ears to the things of Christ on purpose.
A revelation of what God is
Jesus first spoke this to Jewish disciples. One writer explains why it reaches every believer, and what it reveals:
All that Luke says is, "But I say to you who hear." The disciples addressed were Jews. But the instruction by its own nature goes out to any man. It is profitable for all the faithful, for the non-Jew as much as for the Jew... The non-Jewish believer has the same heart as the Jewish one. He is in the same world, and has to do with enemies and with those who hate. So this word is valuable... It goes completely against nature. It is the revelation of what God is, applied to govern the heart of His children.
The disciple copies what he has received
Disciples are not told to invent this love. They pass on what they first received:
From verse 27 He shows what must be the conduct of the disciples as such. They were to display God, to unfold what was shown in Him. The grace that was full and perfect in Him should show itself again in them. That is the principle of our path, sadly as we all fail in it. "Love your enemies," etc. God loved us when we were His enemies, and we have now to show in practice what God is.
What loving an enemy means
The word "love" here is easy to soften into a warm feeling. One commentator corrects that and names where the strength comes from:
Love is not just a kind feeling. It is real concern for the true, proper good of another. If that person returns hatred, that is all the more reason to care for him, because he needs special help. Doing good in return for evil represents God rightly. It also sets an example that should touch the hearts and consciences of others... The power of the Holy Spirit greatly changes our natural resentment, when we let Him work in us without grieving or quenching Him.
Another writer sums up the disciple's whole manner in three words, and says where such love comes from:
The love that can go forth and even embrace an enemy is not human but Divine; whereas any sinner can love the one who loves him. The disciple of Jesus is to be a lover, a blesser, a giver.
More than the law ever asked
Loving a neighbour as yourself still keeps yourself as the measure. This teaching removes that limit — and, one writer warns, it exposes us in the process:
And here I find what is entirely beyond law. Law tells me to love others as myself; grace tells me to give myself up entirely for my neighbour or for anybody. Did not God forgive you? You go and forgive your enemies. Is He kind to the unthankful and the evil? You go and be the same. It tests all the fibres of our hearts, all the pride and vanity and selfishness that are in us.
Summary
- Hearing first. Jesus speaks to "you who hear" — those who have already listened to His voice. Others have closed their ears on purpose.
- Received before required. God loved us while we were His enemies. Disciples give out what they first received.
- Character, not code. This is not a stricter rule. It is a display of what God is, given to govern the hearts of His children.
- Love as action. Loving an enemy means real concern for his welfare — his hatred is the reason he needs it most.
- Beyond your reach alone. Such love is divine, not human. Natural resentment gives way only as the Holy Spirit works freely in us. The demand tests every hidden bit of pride and selfishness.