Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27-36

Key Verse 6:35

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

This passage teaches us the virtues and ethics which the sons and daughters of the Most High should go by. Jesus teaches these things in order to ensure that through the service of his disciples the people of this world would know God's love and come to believe in the gospel and be saved into His kingdom. 

First, But, I tell you...

In the previous passage Jesus said, “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).

Then Jesus says, “But I tell you who hear me.” The expression “you who hear me,” gives us a clue to better understand and obey Jesus.  

A lot of commands in this passage are hard to obey. Recently, someone broke into one of the rooms in the basement. After this incident, I had to fix the door and change the locks. This was now the second time this has happened. But Jesus says, “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.” Here a cloak is like your jacket, and a tunic is like your underpants. A cloak is also like your car, and a tunic is also like your wallet. Suppose you went to a Mobil gas station around midnight. You have the car parked, and you start pumping gas. Then, after you are done, you step into the car. You are about to drive off, when suddenly a total stranger comes up, and says, “Hey, dude. You got a nice car. Why don’t you please turn those keys over to me?” Instantly you say, “Oh, my God. I’m being robbed.” Then what do you do? Do you knock him down with some karate skills? No. According to Jesus, this is what you are supposed to do. You say to him, “Oh, do you like this car? No problem. Go ahead. It is all yours.” Then you step out of the car and hand the keys over to him, saying, “Please enjoy it. Drive safely.” The guy says, “Oh, thank you.” But this guy does not stop there. Before driving off, he says, “Oh, I forgot your wallet. Can you please give it to me?” What are going to do? Just in case you forgot, Jesus says, “Do not stop him from taking your tunic.” 

Maybe you can imagine yourself doing what Jesus is asking you to do in the world of your own imagination. Or you can talk about the beauty of the messages Jesus is teaching. Or you can teach it to others. But what about you? Can you yourself put it into practice? 

Indeed, in actuality, it may not be easy for us to actually do it ourselves; we can ask others to do it, but for us ourselves to do it, well, that’s a totally different story. 

This is particularly true with us who have grown up in a western culture. What is the western culture like? One way to understand it is to watch western movies. Do you remember such western movies as OK Corral? Or such western movie stars as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood? Your enemies are coming against you with guns and knives. They are coming to cut you down and take your possessions. What do you do? In order to protect your persons, your families, and your property, you stand up against your enemies. Thus gun battles erupt. And in any gun battle, the virtue is that you cut down your enemies first, before your enemies finish you off. 

Perhaps, it might have been the same with the disciples. Like many of us, they were protective of their own rights and interests. 

But see what Jesus says: “But I tell you who hear me.” In my opinion, the words “you” and “me” are very important. Jesus wants us to hear him. Jesus wants us to think about his character, his influence, and his example. “I tell you who hear me.” Here “you” refers to Jesus’ disciples listening to him. They “heard” Jesus. They were committed to listening to Jesus, and learning from Jesus. They were determined to practice what Jesus asked them to do. With this determination they followed Jesus to the end. Of course, they briefly ran away from Jesus. But eventually eleven of them came back to Jesus. They remembered how Jesus loved his enemies. They saw how Jesus prayed even for those who were driving nails through his body. They witnessed how Jesus did not stop the soldiers from dividing his tunic. After rising from the dead, Jesus could have commanded his disciples to chase after all his enemies and gun them down, one by one. But instead Jesus called his disciples to him, and commanded them to preach the gospel of forgiveness to all of his enemies. 

“But I tell you who hear me!” At that particular moment, Jesus’ disciples could not understand what Jesus was talking about. But, after witnessing Jesus’ example, they fully understood what Jesus meant. Then, by remembering Jesus’ example, they obeyed Jesus’ commands even if it meant martyrdom. 

“But I tell you who hear me!” So here is the question for each of us: Do I really hear what Jesus is saying? 

Second, love, do good, bless, and pray!

Let us now think about the commands in verses 27 and 28. “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Have you had (or do you now have) any persons who fall into the following categories: 1) “your enemies”; 2) “those who hate you”; 3) “those who curse you”; or 4) “those who mistreat you”? 

If your answer to this question is “Nope,” do not worry. Sooner or later, many will come your way, especially if you mean business about getting the word out to this hostile world. In the case of the disciples of Jesus, as they were hiding from the life of mission, they did not encounter that many enemies. But as they came out of their hiding places and started preaching the gospel boldly, tons of enemies stood up against them. This was particularly true with the Apostle Paul who tried to get the gospel of light into the Gentile world. And strangely enough, the enemies arose mostly from inside of the Jewish community. Then, as he got into the deep waters of the Gentile world, his enemies (more precisely the enemies of Jesus Christ) rose against him from all different directions. 

In the passage, Jesus saw this happening down the road in the lives of the disciples. He already said that as they serve the gospel to this hostile world, people would hate them, exclude them, and reject their names as evil, all because of Jesus. When this happens, it is very likely that the disciples would retaliate, hit their enemies in return, and then run away. In fact, initially, as Jesus’ enemies approached, to arrest Jesus, in his spiritual ignorance, Simon Peter came up with an armed response; with the sword, he cut off the right ear of one of the high priest's servants named Malchus. But Jesus commanded Peter saying, “No more of this!” 

In today’s passage as well, Jesus says, “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Here, we find four verbs: “Love,” “do (good),” “bless,” and “pray.” They are all in the form of commands. Jesus did not even add the word “please.” Rather, Jesus sternly says, “Love, do good, bless, and pray!” Jesus is a gentle shepherd. He is not a forceful shepherd. But why does Jesus command us to do these things? 

The answer is obvious. It is because he knows that we hate to do these things. He knows that we do not like to obey what is being asked of us. What then does this mean to us?  Do we ignore what Jesus says? No. If we ignore what he says, we are not his disciples. So here is the assignment for each of us: Let us honestly write down on a peace of paper, the names of the people in our lives who fall into any of the four categories, and start asking God for the wisdom, love, and power to carry out what Jesus asks us to do for them. 

Look at verse 29a. “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.” This command is particularly difficult because unlike the previous commands such as love, or do good, or bless, or pray, this command is very specific, and shows that Jesus wants you to even get yourself exposed to more harm and danger. In Jesus’ case, we see him positively practicing this command when he decided to obey God’s will to die on the cross for our sins. In so doing, he exposed himself fully to the harmful hands of his enemies who hurt him blow after blow, strike after strike, thrust after thrust, until they finally finished Jesus off. 

The command to turn the other cheek also is virtually no different than the command to offer ourselves not only to God, but also to the inflicting hands of our (and yes, God's) enemies just as Jesus himself did. If this is indeed to be the case, then the question becomes, “Why?” and “How?” Again we find an answer to these questions from Jesus’ theology, if you will. In Jesus’ dictionary, there is no such thing as an accident. To him, all are in God's control. Jesus did not think that all those who were involved in the so-called “conspiracy” to crucify Jesus as an “accident.” He did not regard the Roman soldiers beating him down as out of God’s will. He did not consider the fellow criminals hanging on a tree hurling insults at him as accidental victims. To Jesus, all these came from God. He read God’s will in all these, and the will was for him to die at the hands of the enemies, in exactly the way Jesus died. After all, these events were written in the Scriptures in advance. The script had already been given to him even before his coming to this planet earth. In this way, in all the conflicts, sufferings, and trials, Jesus believed in God who works for the good of those who love him. (cf. Romans 8:28) To him, getting himself exposed to the harmful hands of his enemies was a step towards reaching glory. If this is indeed the case, why try to skip the step? Why avoid the step that should lead him to glory? Didn’t Jesus say to his disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things...and on the third day be raised to life?” Later, the Apostle Paul understood this and said in Philippians 3:10-11, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” 

“If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.” The point is that Jesus is teaching us more than what Mahatma Gandhi is teaching. Jesus wants us to believe in God who is totally good and good all the time. He wants us to treat those who are violent to us with all kindness. And he wants us to do so by faith in the Lord God who is totally good and good all the time. 

Look at verses 29b-30. “If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” In this passage Jesus wants us to be good to our enemies, not only when they attack our “persons” but also when they go for our “possessions” also, such as our cloak or tunic; in our case, houses, cars, or laptops. In this passage we find such words or expressions as “takes,” “do not stop him from taking,” “give,” “asks,” and “do not demand it back.” These have one thing in common: material possessions. 

In commanding us to be generous in giving to those who are demanding, Jesus employed three separate statements: No. 1, “If anyone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic”; No. 2, “Give to everyone who asks you”; and No. 3, “If anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” As I see it, these expressions are gradual in terms of the difficulty of compliance. For, the first statement involves someone trying to take away your personal belongings without asking your permission. A robber or a thief comes along and takes your stuff, and as you happen to see him doing so, what should you do? Do not stop him!  The second category is a little better because at least this guy standing in front of you is asking your permission. The third case a little tricky: most likely the man must have taken your own stuff for his use for a while, and then he forgot to return back to you. What Jesus says here then is that in order to get your stuff back you have already called that person to remind him of the need to return it, but still this man refuses to return it to you! Then what should you do? Do not “demand” it back. 

This observation already makes us scream: “Man! That is impossible. That is absurd!” But still Jesus says, “Give, give, and give.” What then should we do? We must struggle to obey what Jesus says. But here is a warning for all of us. If we try to obey Jesus’ commands according to our own “goodness,” sooner or later bitter roots will grow inside. And very quickly we will burn out. Furthermore, we will end up becoming a bunch of hypocrites. After all, God loves a cheerful giver. If we give something reluctantly, we better not give at all. Then how can we be a cheerful giver? James 1:17 answers the question: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” More directly than this is Luke 6:38: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Let us then think about the so-called “golden rule” in verse 31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Many great teachers of the past have endorsed this rule. [It can be stated positively (as here) and negatively (such as saying, “Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.”) The negative statement has a real negative connotation to it, such as saying, “I will not bother you, so please do not bother me,” or “I eat my bread, you eat yours.” So let us focus on the positive statement.] 

President Kennedy in 1963 appealed to the golden rule in an anti-segregation speech at the time of the first black enrollment at the University of Alabama. He asked whites to consider what it would be like to be treated as second class citizens because of skin color. Whites were to imagine themselves as being black—and being told that they couldn’t vote, go to the best public schools, eat at most public restaurants, or sit in the front of buses. Would whites be content to be treated that way? He was sure that they wouldn’t—and yet this is how they treated others. He said, “The heart of the questions is . . . whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.” 

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” We can apply this rule in many different relationships such as between employer and employee, husband and wife, or among fellow siblings in the Lord. The important point for us to remember here is that we ourselves must apply this rule to ourselves, not to others. 

One may think that this rule is asking too much from us. But when you think about it, all this rule asks us to do is to be consistent. Suppose I skipped meals for three days. And I do not have money to buy even one lousy Big Mac. You are my friend. You have money. So I want you to buy a Big Mac for me. Then, if I saw you in the exact same situation, what do I have to do to you? Jesus wants me to do to you, as I would have you do to me. The same goes with you. Jesus wants you to do to me as you would have me do to you, had you been in exactly the same position as mine. 

According to the Ancient Chinese book I-Ching, one of the best ways to practice this rule is to put ourselves in the position of others. To apply it then you’d imagine yourself in the exact place of the other person on the receiving end of the action. 

This however is more easily said than done. In my case, Missionary Rebekah wants me to finish the Sunday message early. And she has been asking me to do this for more than two decades. For a long period of time, I thought she was kind of a nuisance to me. But when I thought about it, I realized that all the while I was demanding her to put herself in my position and understand all the difficulties I have to endure to finish the message early each week. In demanding her to do so, I even quoted the old Indian saying, “Do not judge others until you have walked in their moccasins for at least ten years.” All the while then I did not try to get out of my own position, and put myself in her position and consider how much she had to suffer because of the Sunday message not being done as quickly as she desires. Lately, however, I came to understand her pain a little bit because, as I noticed, in her dictionary there is no such thing as being late, not even by a minute or second. She is not cut out to be late. It is unbearable for her to be late or to see others being late. It is a torturous experience to see me being late in completing the message, so I gradually realized that I have been torturing her for the last 20 plus years. 

Third, reward in heaven

 

Although Jesus’ commands are very hard to obey, obedience to his commands is not without a reward. How then will one be rewarded by obeying His commands? Let us read verses 32-36 responsively. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” [Here “sinners” refer to unbelievers and “you” refers to believers.] Here Jesus uses the word “credit” repeatedly. In my opinion, credit is what makes what is unfair, fair. If anyone comes and takes away what rightly belongs to me, and does not return it, it looks as if I am losing out. The whole transaction does not seem fair. God made us to believe in what is fair. So in order to make what is unfair fair we resort to human ways such as guns or knives. But in the passage Jesus says that each time we obey Jesus' commands, entries are made into the heavenly savings account opened up for each of us in a heavenly bank whose manager is God the Father, making our life fundamentally fair. 

In conclusion, let us read the key verse once again. “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” Jesus is God’s love in action. Jesus called his disciples to spread this love among all peoples on earth. By commanding us to love even our enemies, Jesus prayed that all peoples on earth would know the kind of love God has for us. May the Lord bless us to be instruments of God’s love. May the Lord bless each of us to be a center of God’s love, where many can come and taste the love of God and be saved into the kingdom of his love. 

One word: Love your enemies