You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ Matthew 5:43
In my New American Standard Bible, when words are all caps in the New Testament it means those words are a direct quote from the Old Testament. In this verse, the all caps are for the phrase, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.” Jesus is quoting this from the last part of Leviticus 19:17. Notice that the phrase “and hate your enemy” is not in all caps, but it is still in quotes. Jesus is quoting that from somewhere, but where?
Could it be that the last part of the sentence, “and hate your enemy,” is quoted from man’s traditions? Could it be that over the centuries man just couldn’t believe God meant that “YOUR NEIGHBOR” included everyone, even your enemies? Loving enemies just wasn’t natural, so man helped God out with the “real” meaning of the command and gave themselves a suggestion clause: it’s okay to not only not love your enemy, you could hate them. Now that was much more reasonable and certainly more doable.
Both sides of the first century battlefield could agree with this suggestion clause. For one side, it was a nice addition to his “to do” list. Through man’s tradition, a “legalist” was vindicated in hating his enemy. The “liberal” was free to choose. This suggestion allowed him to pick and choose who was a neighbor and who was an enemy.
Both camps were leaning, both were unbalanced, and they were fighting each other instead of Satan. Because each camp decided the other camp was their enemy, they didn’t have to love each other. In fact, they could hate each other. And they did.
The Pharisees didn’t like the Sadducees and vice versa. Both groups were so appalled by the illiterate sinner that they would cross the street to avoid them. And the common Jew resented the burdensome load of all the religious sects, while at the same time despising their Samaritan cousins. And, of course, everyone hated Rome! Talk about class lines and prejudices!
So, Jesus is about to cut right through the “letter of the law,” tear up their suggestion clause, and erase all doubt concerning God’s intent in regard to this command. Century old walls were about to go tumbling down brick by brick!
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Matthew 5:44-45
Ouch! For Jesus to compare the Jews sitting on that hill, all sects and classes, with unclean Gentiles and despised tax collectors was a stinging slap to everything they held dear. He might as well have physically knocked them down. For some, these were “fightin’ words” (Matthew 26:4) and they were obsessed with opposing and stopping this radical Teacher and His teaching. They would pay a high price for their hardened hearts.
For others, they were, “…amazed at His teaching” (Matthew 7:28). They followed Jesus everywhere and heard His teaching, but most didn’t fully grasp what this God-Man was all about or why He was on earth. Some leaned one way trying to hold tight to their tradition while still grasping at the Savior’s message of hope (Mark 10:17-22). Some leaned the other way, throwing out tradition and Jesus’ command to be perfect, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). These individuals thought they could follow Jesus and not give up everything (Luke 9:57-62).
A few got it! Oh, sometimes they leaned one way or the other. Often they were hard headed. And every now and then they gave Satan battle ground. But they clung to Jesus…hard! They put their faith in the Man from Galilee. They rejected what was normal and natural and clung to what was impossible and irrational. They knew they couldn’t “be perfect” on their own. Only by God’s grace and mercy would their lives be all God intended them to be.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
For everyone on that hill, they would never be the same. They would have to do something with these new commandments and with this Jesus. They heard the truth and were now without excuse. It was impossible to be neutral with Jesus and dangerous to try.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.‘ Matthew 7:21-23
Every one another, true believer in Christ Jesus, will lean towards legalism or liberalism now and then. And some of us lean to one side or the other as a lifestyle choice. What I am challenging all of us to ask ourselves is who do we consider to be the enemy? Is it that brother or sister in Christ who leans on tradition to help them in their daily living? When I listen to some preachers rant against these brothers and sisters, I have to wonder. Or is your enemy the one another who seems to use grace as a license to get as close to the sin line as possible?
Do Not Lean! When we lean, we are off balance and ineffective. Remember who the real enemy is and stand firm against him in love and in truth. Jesus leaves His followers without excuse. We are commanded to love one another – those who are fellow born-again believers in Jesus Christ. But even if we are convinced someone who claims to be one of us can’t possibly be one of us, we are still commanded to love her as our neighbor. And even if we refuse to treat her as a neighbor because she is the enemy, we are still commanded to love her and to pray for her.
These are not suggestions. These are commands. No one is to be excluded from the love of the Father that is supposed to be flowing through us. Impossible, you say! You bet it is when we try to do it on our own. Our only hope is to put on the whole armor of God, get in the middle of the battlefield, and let Satan have it…using love as our ultimate weapon!
Discussion
In order to be prepared for this battlefield, we must use the full armor of God. On a scale of 1-10 (1 indicating not using it at all and 10 indicating using it all the time) rate your overall use of each piece of the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6:10-20.
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
Feet Shod with the Gospel of Peace
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of the Spirit
One Another Living 