01.11. The Sermon on the Mount (19)
The Sermon on the Mount (19) Love your Enemies (Matthew 5:43-48) The Lord starts the last of His six examples from the law again with the words: "Ye have heard that it hath been said..." He does not once say: "It is written," not even when He quotes a commandment of the Old Testament such as inMatthew 5:27 and Matthew 5:38. The Lord Jesus did not want to put aside the inspired commandments of God with His sixfold reply, "But I say unto you." Rather, He intended to bring to light and judge the false interpretations and distortions of the scribes and "the tradition of the elders" (Mark 7:3) which they esteemed so highly. Above all the Lord Jesus showed His disciples the inner attitude and outward behaviour which pleases God. The commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour" (Leviticus 19:18), is the verse from the Old Testament most quoted in the New Testament (see Matthew 19:19; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). The law of Mount Sinai which is called holy, just and good in Romans 7:12 culminates in the two commandments to love God and your neighbour (see Matthew 22:35-40). These two commandments have therefore not wrongly been called the quintessence of the Ten Commandments.
Distortion of the Word of God 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. They did not want to see a neighbour in every fellow-man, as God had intended, but only considered their own people (the Jews) as their neighbours. In this way the Gentiles, the "uncircumcised," were excluded from their love. The strict scribes and Pharisees went even further than that and did not want to consider the simple Jews as their neighbours. They considered them cursed because they did not know the law (John 7:49). Finally they also excluded personal enemies from this commandment so that only a very few "privileged" remained to be considered and treated as "neighbours." In addition to this false restriction upon loving one’s neighbour the Rabbis even concluded that if the neighbour was to be loved, the enemies, that is all other men (the nations, the unlearned Jews and also personal enemies) were to be hated. To support this they referred to passages such as Deuteronomy 7:2 where God forbids the people of Israel to join with the Canaanites and commands them not to show any mercy to them but to destroy them. This led to the conclusion "... and hate thine enemy" (which is not found in the Talmud, but is here referred to as a Jewish-made commandment by the Lord). Out of the commandment of love, which is the fulfilling of the law according to Romans 13:10, men had made the exact opposite. One only had to love the very few who shared the same views and could meet all others with arrogance, contempt and hatred. But I say unto you, Love your enemies But the Jews deliberately overlooked that God had also commanded them in the law to love their enemies (see Exodus 23:4-5; Leviticus 19:33-34). By continuing, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," the Lord Jesus does not give new commandments to His disciples but judges the fleshly restriction of the old commandment and the human addition. According to God’s thoughts every fellow human being with whom we have to do is our neighbour, even if he or she turns out to be our personal enemy. The Lord Jesus demands, not an emotional love, nor a friendly affection for enemies, but rather the much higher divine love (Greek: agapao). The Lord Jesus was the revelation of this love of God: "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Romans 5:8-10). While He hung on the cross He prayed for His tormentors: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Our Lord therefore is also the perfect example for His commandment, "Love your enemies... and pray for them which. persecute you."
"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" (the J.N.D. Translation gives "sons" rather than "children"). The Lord here presents a high standard. As we have already seen in our study of Matthew 5:9 and Matthew 5:16 the word "son" in the "Sermon on the Mount" has a practical meaning. The Lord Jesus is not speaking of the gospel here or how to become a child or son of God. Rather, He shows His disciples, who were already born again, how they could be imitators of their Father in heaven by loving their enemies and therefore practically demonstrate that they were His sons. The proper sonship of the New Testament was only revealed after the redemptive work of Christ had been accomplished (Romans 8:14-15; Galatians 4:5-7; Ephesians 1:5). The Lord Jesus first of all directs His disciples to love their enemies. By doing so they would demonstrate that they are sons of their Father in heaven. He then reminds them of the attitude of the Creator towards all men’s attitude towards men. "He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." It is true that the love of God to His creatures found its highest expression in giving His beloved Son (John 3:16). But everyone who wants to can recognise His undiscriminating love towards all in that He makes His sun to rise both on the evil and the good every morning and sends the vital rain on both the just and the unjust. 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. The love of the eternal Creator-God for His enemies could not be manifested more touchingly. The disciples of Jesus ought to follow this example. To prevent any misunderstanding let it be mentioned however that God does not show His love without distinction. God is a Saviour (JND: Preserver) of all men, specially of those that believe (1 Timothy 4:10). Believers too are invited to love one another (to have brotherly love) and to love all men (to have love for their fellow-men) (1 Thessalonians 3:12; Galatians 6:10). And the moment will come when those who despised the goodness of God which was meant to lead them to repentance, will receive eternal punishment.
"Be ye therefore perfect" The Lord Jesus then mentions two examples in Matthew 5:46-47 which show that the practice of loving one’s neighbour according to the Pharisees did not at all differ from the behaviour of the world. Even the Publicans, those despised people who enriched themselves at the expense of their own people (being willing servants of the Romans), knew how to love their friends. And the Gentiles (J.N.D.) also saluted their brethren, that is all those they knew well. There was nothing about this behaviour that would lead to the expectation of a reward. Neither the practice referred to in such examples nor the teachings of the Scribes and Pharisees could be authoritative to the disciples of Jesus. They need and do have a much higher example. This higher example is mentioned in the last verse of this paragraph, in which the Lord Jesus spoke of the false righteousness of the Pharisees and the more excellent practical righteousness of His true disciples. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." God is the perfect example of true love for one’s enemies. As the heavenly Father He is not only our example in this but in all things. In the parallel reference in Luke 6:36 we read: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful," and in 1 Peter 1:16 we find the reference to Leviticus 19:2 : "Be ye holy; for I am holy." God is love and He is light (1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16; 1 John 1:5). Mercy is an expression of love, and holiness is a characteristic of light. In our verse both are linked together in the words, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." The word "perfect" (Greek: teleios) in the Gospels only appears here and in Matthew 19:21. It is stated of God in this verse in Matthew 5:1-48. It is no difficulty for the believer to see that God is perfect in every respect. But how can weak and by nature sinful men be as perfect as He is? The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us the wonderful fact that the Lord Jesus by one offering has perfected for ever every believer (Hebrews 10:14). But this perfection which is based on the completed redemptive work of Christ is not talked about here. Neither is the perfection of growing faith considered (as we find it in 1 Corinthians 2:6 or in a different way in Php 3:15).
Surely Old Testament men of faith are already called "perfect," such as Noah (Genesis 6:9) and Job (Job 1:1); Abram was encouraged by God to "walk before Me, and be. perfect" (Genesis 17:1). And yet these men were not "perfect." They had their weak points and sinned, but they had the deep desire in their hearts to live honestly and blamelessly before God and men. This practical perfection is talked about here. It is only possible through the complete deliverance of faith. The Lord Jesus here presents His disciples such a life of deliverance as the aim of His practical teachings. In this the apostle Paul later followed Him by writing to the Corinthians: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ," and to the Ephesians: "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children" (1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:1).