Love Your Enemies
June 8, 2025
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-48
A concerned husband goes to see the family doctor: "I think my wife is deaf. She never hears me the first time I say something. In fact, I often have to repeat things over and over again."
"Well," the doctor replies, "go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, and say something. If she does not reply, move about five feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this so we can get an idea of the severity of her deafness."
Sure enough, the husband goes home, and he does exactly as instructed. He stands about fifteen feet from his wife, who is standing in the kitchen, chopping some vegetables.
"Honey, what's for dinner?"
He gets no response, so he moves about five feet closer and asks again.
"Honey, what's for dinner?"
No reply.
He moves five feet closer, and still no reply.
He gets fed up and moves right behind her—about an inch away—and asks one final time, "Honey, what's for dinner?"
She replies, "For the fourth time, vegetable stew!"
Today, we are going to look at a topic that we often do not hear or want to hear, much less apply. It is the topic of loving others including your enemies. Let’s look.
Verse 43, You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
Jesus once again says, You have heard that it was said. This was the sixth time Jesus pointed out a misinterpretation of the Old Testament by the Jewish religious leaders. He had to correct their view on murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, eye for eye, and he rebukes them on their view of loving their neighbor and hating their enemy.
The phrase, love your neighbor, is a quote from Leviticus 19:18. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Now there is nothing in the Old Testament that told the Jews to hate their enemies. This was something that just came naturally and still comes naturally to us. The religious leaders held that one only had to love their neighbor by loving their fellow Jews. Love of neighbor did not extend to the Gentiles.
These religious leaders taught a limited view of love your neighbor. It referred only to Jews—not to Gentiles, and certainly not to one’s enemy. The Qumran sect who preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls had a common saying, Love the brother; hate the outsider.
H.B. Tristram, a scholar in customs and traditions of the Middle East during Biblical times notes, “If a Jew sees that a Gentile has fallen into the sea, let him by no means lift him out. Of course it is written, ‘Do not rise up against your neighbor’s life.,’ but this man is not your neighbor (Paraphrase of Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands).
Tacitus, a first century Roman historian, wrote, They (the Jews) readily show compassion to their own countrymen, but they bear to all others the hatred of an enemy.
Why did these religious leaders conclude that the Jews must hate their enemies? I believe these religious leaders considered how the Lord commanded the Jews to wipe out all the Canaanites—not sparing any of them—and applied that to enemies in general. Various Psalms also indicated hatred toward one’s enemies.
For example, Psalm 139:19-22, If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
It is important to understand that it is okay to hate what God hates. Please realize God hates the sin, not the person. It is also important to grasp that a person can be too loving as it corrupts God’s truth. Some professing believers are all love, love, love, but they forsake God’s truth. An example of this is one who professes Jesus but believes in universalism. It is also important to realize as noted last week by Romans 13 that it is the government’s role to execute justice on wrongdoers.
These religious leaders didn’t interpret God’s word from His perspective as they also neglected other Old Testament Scripture such as Exodus 23:4, 5, If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
Proverbs 24:17, 18 states, Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.
Proverbs 25:21, 22 states, If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. 22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
Principle 1: Be careful not to misinterpret God’s word!!!! Do not interpret Scripture out of context. Use proper hermeneutics! Do not interpret it to satisfy your own selfish desires or natural sinful tendencies.
This is the sixth time Jesus had to correct the misinterpretation of God’s word. Each time the religious leaders interpreted for their own selfish desires. So, Jesus once again corrects their viewpoint.
Verse 44, But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
The correct way to respond to your opponent is not to hate him, but to love him. That is not natural. It’s supernatural. It is by the power of God!
The Greek word for love here is agape. It is an act of the will. One needs to line up his/her will with God’s will. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a Paul describes love as he writes, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. Please take to heart agape love involves attitude, but it is best described by what it does.
C.S. Lewis’ states, The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will come to love him/her. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him/her a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).
As we show acts of kindness to others, especially our enemies, we will find our love for them growing.
Jesus also tells us to pray for our enemies, even for those who persecute us. Prayers can change things and people! The very ones who would take your life, pray for them. Remember we are to hate the sin and love the sinner. Prayer is the key for each of us and for the relationship. It is prayer that often changes our hearts and moves us from the natural response to the supernatural response. I don’t have what it takes to love my enemies, but God does. We need to ask for God’s to empower us through his Spirit of love!
Let us also pray for God to forgive them. This is what Jesus did on the cross as he said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). When Stephen was being stoned, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59, 60).
Pray for healing in broken relationships (Romans 12:18).
We also should plead for their salvation and correction (I Timothy 2:1-4).
Principle 2: Love your enemies and pray!!!
Terry Anderson, a reporter for the Associated Press, was captured in Lebanon in 1985. He was held hostage for nearly seven years. For much of the time, he was chained to a wall by himself in a dirty, spider-infested cell. He suffered through sickness, and mental and physical anguish inflicted by his guards. He was given just one book, the Bible. He read the Bible numerous times. He found comfort in God’s word. He identified with the story of Joseph in captivity and with the Apostle Paul in prison. As he read God’s word, one passage stunned him. I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. When he was released on December 4, 1991, a reporter asked him, “Can you forgive your captors?” Anderson paused, pondered the question and the words of the Lord’s prayer that he prayed regularly in prison came to his mind, “Our Father, forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. Then Anderson spoke, “Yes, as a Christian. I am required to forgive, no matter how hard it may be.”
Verse 45, that you may be children 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.
One reason we are to love our enemies is because it proves you are a child of God. When we love our enemies, we demonstrate that we are God’s children. It demonstrates one is born again of His Spirit!
Jesus pointed out that the Father in heaven demonstrates his love by causing his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
It does not matter whether they are good men or evil men, God gives them His sunshine and rain. Even if they do not acknowledge it belongs to him! He gives them light. He gives them warmth. He makes their food grow. He does not just supply food for the righteous, but also for the unrighteous.
He also did the most loving thing he could do in the attempt to redeem us. Romans 5:8 states, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Though we were enemies and separated from God, God acted in love towards us by dying for us.
Jesus showed his love by going to cross for our sins. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The Bible also says God is love. If God is love, and I am His child, then I should be characterized by love. I John 4:7, 8 states, Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Principle 3: Prove you are a child of our Heavenly Father by loving others including your enemies! Reflect His love!
Now, let me note this. We are to do the most loving thing to help others. Sometimes, it is showing love through kindness to help a legitimate need or the hope they will repent and be reconciled with Lord (Romans 2:4). Other times, one needs to exercise tough love in the attempt for that person to change to do the right thing. The question one must ask in dealing with people is what is the most loving thing that I can do for that person. For instance, sometimes it is showing kindness by helping financially. At other times, it might not be helpful because it would only enable them to satisfy their own selfish desires.
Verses 46, 47, If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Jesus makes that point that if you just love the people who agree with you, and think like you, what reward will you get? The love of these religious leaders was no different than the tax collectors. They loved those who were likeable and hated those who were not. If you just greet and talk to those who you like, you are not any better than the pagans, those who did not recognize the LORD. If we do not love our enemies, we are no different than the world.
Since you know the true God, you can do better. You can be friendly with your friends and your enemies. You can love the way God loves. True salvation in Christ should prompt a person to genuinely love! There should be a supernatural love in the life of believers, which distinguishes them from the world.
Here is principle 4. Do not be like those who do not know the Lord. Show God’s love toward others including your enemies. If you do, the Lord will reward you!
The Apostle Paul realized this as he writes in I Corinthians 13:1-3, If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Only agape love, God’s love, will be honored and reward by God.
Jesus closes by saying, verse 48, Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The word perfect here means mature or complete. Jesus is talking about the way we ought to love. Loving only our friends and our family is an incomplete love that any human being can do. But loving your enemy—loving those that hate you and those that hate God—that kind of love is mature, perfect. Our love should be like our heavenly Father’s love.
It has to do with an end, an aim, a goal, or a purpose. The great yearning of God is for all humankind to become like Him. He wants us to become mature in Christ.
Now, I hope all of you will agree that none of us are perfect. This is the reason Jesus came—to save us, to transform us by giving us His divine nature through the gift of His Holy Spirit. Listen: a Christian is not someone who keeps the Sermon on the Mount. A Christian is somebody who knows he cannot, do you see – and comes to Jesus Christ for forgiveness for the sin of falling short, and receives from Christ the forgiveness, and then the power to begin to live these principles. That’s the point of the message. Jesus will cleanse your life, and He will plant His love in your heart, and then He will teach you how to love the way He wants you to love.
Here is the last principle. Pursue being mature in Christ!
The Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:28, 29, He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Note I Corinthians 3:1-4…
The Lord wants us to be fully mature in Christ. My hope is you will have wholehearted desire to take hold of Christ Jesus. I love Paul’s statement in Philippians 3; I want to know Christ…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things (Philippians 3:10a, 12b-15).
I encourage you to grow into the character of Jesus. Let go of any anger, resentment, self-assertion, envy, unkindness, impatience, and the like and love like Jesus! Be kind and compassionate, forgive, live a life of love just as Christ loved us. Oh, how we need to live above the level of mediocrity by the power of His Spirit. He calls us to have a humble, self-giving, servant kind of attitude toward people who are our adversaries.
Let me close with this story. Abraham Lincoln, while President of the United States, became a man of faith and dependence on the God of the Bible. He grasped the significance of loving your enemy. Lincoln was held in contempt by a man named Mr. Stanton. He called Lincoln, “A low, cunning clown,” and he nicknamed him ‘the original gorilla,’ and he said that men were foolish to wander around Africa trying to capture a gorilla when they could find one in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln never said anything to Stanton, and because Stanton was the best person for the job, when Lincoln needed a war minister for the United States, he chose Mr. Stanton. He appointed him over all the soldiers of the United States. He treated him with love and courtesy, and the years passed. After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his body was taken to a little room. In that room, stood Mr. Stanton. As he looked down into the silent face of Abraham Lincoln, he spoke through his tears, “There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.” And because Mr. Lincoln could love him with a forgiving love, he received and returned his adoration.
Oh, how I hope our leaders and each of us would have such love. Listen, Jesus is calling us to love our unlovely, unlovable world with a love that will show that we are like God and reveal God to them.
