Today's Reflections
Love of Enemies
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Mt 5:43-48
[Jesus said to his disciples,] 43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45that
you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise
on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the
unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?
47And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU. The
Israelites were commanded to love their “neighbors,” which means their
fellow Israelites. They were to treat strangers well, because they
themselves experienced the fate of being strangers in Egypt. There is no
Old Testament provision demanding hatred of one’s enemies, but hatred
of evil persons was assumed to be right (cf Ps 139:19-22). In some
instances, especially during the conquest of Canaan, the Israelites also
practiced herem or total obliteration of enemies. And the
Psalmist, who takes account of the suffering of his people, prays to God
to finish off their oppressors, including women and children (cf Ps
137:8-9). “Hate” here has the meaning of exclusion from love or not
being preferred, as in the sense of the Lord “loving” Jacob and “hating”
Esau.
Jesus
teaches that no one is to be excluded from love—not even enemies. Love
is inclusive. Loving an enemy means accepting that the person is also a
child of the heavenly Father. The early Christians died praying for
their enemies and persecutors, just as Jesus did on the cross. By so
doing, they literally freed themselves from hatred and lived their
identity as children of the Father.
If you find it hard to forgive people
who persecute you, pray for them.
God will inspire you to forgive them.
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