“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, that 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. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:43-48).”
There was a false interpretation of the OT that said love your neighbor and hate your enemy. The biblical quotation for the first part is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18),” and there is no specific OT quotation, ‘hate your enemy.’ Jesus reinterpreted the Torah and continued his teaching on retaliation - do not resist your enemies but do double what they ask you (Mt 5:41), and extend a loving hand to them and pray for them. In loving those who persecute you it makes it harder for them to triumph in persecuting you. That is the wisdom of Christ’s love. The world remembers Christian martyrs of antiquity with reverence but dislikes those who put the martyrs to death. Martyrs receive a heavenly reward (Mt. 10:16-23) as will all who endure trials to the end for the Kingdom. We should be willing to make such a sacrifice if we think of God’s overwhelming love (Jn. 3:16) and generosity towards us. In this way we would be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect (Lev. 19:2). Jesus modeled this perfection.
Almighty God, we were created by you to love you and serve you. You ask us to be holy as You are holy, but we cannot tend towards holiness without your sanctifying grace. In your overwhelming love and generosity help us to imitate Christ and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for Your Kingdom and in the process lead others to salvation. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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