Matthew 5:44-48 … To LOVE the enemy (05/26/17)
“And I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you … For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? … Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”~ Jesus (Matthew 5:44-48)
First & foremost, it is absolutely critical for those desiring to truly understand this all-important passage that “Love” for Jesus was not an amenable thought or a warm emotion or even friendly words. No, Jesus Christ was incredibly consistent throughout his entire Gospel ministry – and one of the things he was consistent about was professing the Truth that real LOVE – the perfect LOVE of his heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48) – is a verb …He makes LOVE a verb when he defines “neighbor” as the enemy (i.e. the Samaritan) who actively showed “mercy” to the Jew lying in the gutter in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37) … He makes LOVE a verb when he replaces the ten “do not” Commandments of the Old Testament with his two-in-one “Do Love” Commandments (see Matthew 22:37-40) … He makes LOVE a verb in his “Parable of Parables” (the Parable of the Sower – see Matthew 13:18-23), where he notes that “But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who not only hears the word and understands it, but who indeed bears fruit and yields” … And he makes LOVE a verb when he states quite succinctly that the only ones who will ever be Blessed are those who do not only comprehend the perfectly selfless LOVE he was preaching, but who put that LOVE into practice (see Matthew 7:21-24, Matthew 16:28 & John 13:15-17et al) – especially by actively Caring for the downtrodden in their communities (Matthew 25:35-40), and especially – as the passage above quite clearly attests – by actively Caring for their enemies as well.
Second, please note that the phrase “pray for those who persecute you” means that we are to A) openly & unconditionally forgive them (not that we are to arrogantly “pray for their salvation”), and B) cherish the empowerment that they have provided us – by activating the same; by choosing to Love them anyway (see Matthew 5:10-11) … Indeed, LOVE must be difficult to give to become potent once given, and this is why “perfect LOVE” – the LOVE that would willingly give our lives for our greatest enemy – is the most potent LOVE of all; a LOVE that awakens that enemy and transforms him or her into an ally; a LOVE that re-unifies the Soul of the Giver with “the Father” within (John 14:20); a LOVE that awakens all who witness it being given; a LOVE that grants both the Lover & the Beloved simultaneous & instantaneous entrance into the “Kingdom of Heaven” (see Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 18:3-4, Mark 8:35, Luke 23:43, John 10:10 et al).
Amen … Let it be so.
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