Do not even the Gentiles do the same?, Luke 6:27-29But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,[28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. All rights reserved. 4:4. OpenBible.info The Gospel of Matthew doesnt present Jesus as speaking of the Scriptures themselves as something heard, but rather as something read. So in Matthew 5, when Jesus uses the formula of you have heard it saidbut I say, Jesus is not arguing with the passage itself. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Matthew 7:12. This makes it sound as if Yeshua was replacing the Torah's law "to hate our enemies" with a new law of love for our enemies: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). We are in no permanent position of hatred and enmity with others. Jesus is demonstrating what God really commands over against the teachings and practices of his day. He's the inspirer of it, the . Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Given the Qumran use of Nahum 1:2 in applying Lev 19, we can see why Jesus grounds his instruction of love toward enemies in the character and example of God (v. 45). Oh, my goodness is God long-suffering under the Old Covenant towards people who dont deserve them. 6:35). Sign up now for the latest news and deals from Bible Gateway! You cant find that anywhere in the Law of Moses? Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. These words have been a central part of Christian ethics for nearly two thousand years and resonate even with many unbelievers around the world. You shall not walk in their statutes. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. It simply means you cant let bitterness and hatred grow in your heart. Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal; there I began to hate them. But if he says to you, I will not go out from you, because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you. L And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? S But the casual, easy interpretation by the Pharisees and the Sadducees led the people of Israel to see all the Gentile nations as prominent and perennial enemies. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. These are people who are under the oppressive regime of the Roman empire. Something went wrong while submitting the form. 27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Matthew 5:43-47 (RSV) "You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. He knows the Bible pretty well. It may come as a surprise that some specific teachings on showing love toward enemies appear only in the Old Testament. Jesus emphasizes the reality of reward in loving others. 2:23, Job 25:3; Ps. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. In both passages, Jesus provides the theological necessity for loving our enemies, as well as the blessed consequence of obedience. A simple way to look at it is everybodys got something. Learn about the different ways to move on with Pray.com, Learn about emotional intelligence with pray.com. And Jesus knew this when he said, Forgive them, Father.. Youre proving that youre sons of your father when you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute. So what about those enemies in the Old Testament? In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus says, You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. And Jesus knew this when he gave his sermon on the mount in the book of Matthew., On a mountainside, Jesus gave a long sermon on a number of topics ranging from adultery to murder. God causes the sun to rise on evil people as well as the good and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous. Jesus says: You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 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. Love for ones enemy even extended to his animal. Oba 1:12). Of course I have already talked in previous little lessons about how confusing that must have been if it were true to his disciples because often times people who hold to that premise will say, Well, this is the New Covenant law, but yet Jesus was ministering under the Old Covenant. Of course hes quoting from the Old Covenant law, the Law of Moses and hes making counterpoints but hes not correcting himself. Love Your Enemies (). Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. How can you learn to be optimistic? To love as Christ loved us is to receive and share the reward of such love: new life. 5:44, "pray for those who persecute you," is a synonymous parallel to "love your enemies." Thus, those persecuting you are included in your enemies. Is the god of this world Satan or Jesus in 2 Cor. [44] But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45 . It is important to acknowledge ways that Jesus teachings stand in tension with some aspects of the Old Testament. Receive the Daily Devotional, Share prayers with others, and more on the Pray.com app. If possible, take a look at their history and try to understand how they ended up the way they did. And that is not only how to love your enemies, but also why we must love them. When Jesus said to love your enemy, hes asking us to make it our goal to love as our Heavenly Father loves. Your enemy doesnt just mean some outside force that you fight with bayonets and swords., Put simply, loving our enemies means seeing them as human beings.. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. To love your enemy means to try and understand them and behave toward them as you would like them to do to you. A Psalm of David. Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C,, Hit by friendly fire: what to do when fellow believers hurt you, 3 Real Ways Christians Can Love Their Enemies. That's what this guide is all about. W And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. Today we come to Matthew chapter five in verse number 43. That's Proverbs 25:21-22. In addition to the obvious point that the OT nowhere states that one ought to hate their enemy, and the fact that Jesus describes His teachings as law-fulfilling (Matt 5:17), there are serious problems with this view. Pray for those who persecute you! Moreover, those who persecute us today may, in Gods grace, become those who protect us tomorrow. For more insight, daily prayers, Bible stories, and more, download the pray.com app on the iOS App Store and Google Play. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Thats not a quotation. Each time the Syrian King tried to attack Israel, Elisha used his prophetic radar to anticipate his attacks. That they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God. Is he my darling child? 1 Corinthians 16:4 - Let all that you do be done in love. All right, so you've got tradition in Jesus time. Paul quotes this proverb in Romans 12:20, most likely as a specific instantiation of Jesus command in the Sermon on the Mount. I will strike them down. (v. 21a). Now, we know that there was some debate on this whole concept in Jesuss time because a guy came up one time and asked, Who is my neighbor? Whats he referring to? Blog, A There are many ways to express love, even for an enemy. When you love your enemies, you eliminate hatred from your heart and you show that Jesus is the Lord of your life. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. Then Jehoram even asks Elisha twice, Shall I strike them down? Elisha the prophet and Jesus both taught the importance of loving your enemies. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.. God wants to bless your enemies and will bless your enemies. We read in Proverbs 25:21: If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink. But it cannot be said that Jesus teachings on the subject of love for enemies repudiates or inverts the Old Testament. We might hate the wicked ways of those around us as they represent an affront to Gods holiness. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. In the Old Testament the enemy is our neighbor. It's not Jesus, it's the Jewish law of Moses, it's the Pentateuch of the Old Testament. Jesus said the greatest commands were to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself ( Matt. Whos my neighbor? It does not envy, it does not boast, it isn't proud. Verse 43: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies." So what Jesus is doing here in these six commandments is showing his disciples how some of the scribes and Pharisees applied the Old Testament teachings, and then, over against that, what he was calling them . Salem Media Group. And he made him a robe of many colors. Suppose ten are found there. He answered, For the sake of ten I will not destroy it., For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him., I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.. . Jesus teachings were in deep continuity with the Old Testament. What does it mean to pray for your enemies? You may unsubscribe from Bible Gateways emails at any time. Yeshua said, "You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy" (Mathew 5:43). In vain you beautify yourself. Theres a little revelation there. There is no other alternative for one who knows such love in ones own life. You can love your enemies too. You could also have similar jobs, common friends or family members, or similar personality traits., One surefire way to find common ground is by acknowledging your differences. 5:8). Hes correcting the false beliefs, the false ideas, false interpretations, things taught by scribes and Pharisees. 32:35; 1 Sam. We hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in your life today. Verse Concepts. It can have affectionate, benevolent, strong liking, romantic, or sexual implications. Its one thing to have laws and teachings about loving enemies. Meditate on the truth that is proclaimed throughout all of the Bible and personified in the person of our Lord: But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. The Lord appeared to him from far away. Proverbsand we have to remember that these were . Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! [47] And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Can we find this teaching of Jesus in the Old Testament? Or is it exclusively a New Testament innovation? Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. Its human nature., When you provide someone with that basic need, you can often help thaw their cold heart., We can always pray for our enemies because praying is an act of mercy. Show your enemies the genuine respect that every human being deserves. Police officers do a dangerous, but necessary job. Solution: God never commanded His people at any time to hate their enemies (see comments on Mal. God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.. It is the case, though, that God's People have always sought to circumvent this teaching of Scripture down through the centuries. When you are facing obstacles, Jesus is always in your corner. So he takes that straight out of the Old Testament, but he also says "you have heard it said that you should 'hate your enemy.'" That is a little more difficult, because nowhere in the Old Testament is there ever a command to hate one's enemy. In both passages, Jesus provides the theological necessity for loving our . The Old Testament is love your neighbor and your neighbor includes your enemy. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. D This also means we dont necessarily have to stay in contact with people who have wronged us. The Lord Jesus says that when we love our enemies, we prove that we are His children. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. . 13. Maybe theres someone who you resent or even feel hatred toward?, Almost everyone has those kinds of individuals around them at some point in their lives. New King James Version (NKJV). Pray for those who persecute you. H But Jesus, as he so often does, turns . Publication date: Apr 27, 2023. TopicalBible That nowhere in the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses that there was any provision for showing mercy and grace for undeserving people and turn the other cheek? If thine enemy be hungry, give . It may have been assumed by some Hebrews that to love the neighbor (a fellow member of one's community . Has anyone in your life constantly annoyed you or upset you in some way? For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Hes raising the standard, so under the Law of Moses, God didnt want Israel to love their enemies? In the New Testament, quite clearly, Jesus is not presenting a new ethic. Knowledge of the Old Testament should lead us to reject what we might call a docetic ethics, a belief that Jesus ethical teachings just dropped from heaven.
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