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 saying He corrects
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.
Higher ground than the law
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.
What this love is
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.
Goodness that works inside evil
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 one who did it first
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.
Sons showing the family likeness
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."
Why it is not out of reach
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.
Summary
- 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.