How are Christians to interpret Jesus’ commandment to love their enemies?

[Eugene]

All things of the Old Testament were examples. 1 Cor 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

E.g., Deut 20:1. Israel, the instrument of correction in Deut 20:1. When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

In Ex cap. 17 Israel cries that they are without water to Moses tempting the LORD in Deut 17:7, God brings forth Amalek against them, and then delivers them as the image of our war against the flesh from generation to generation. Our fight is with us. We, not others are our enemy as God works in us. That persecution from others can be the very tool as the trial of our faith producing the very thing God wants to see in us. 1 Pet 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

My thoughts.

 

[Butch5]

I agree with what others have shared about needing to bring context into the picture. With all these teachings of Jesus it's good to ask, why?

Why love our enemies? Why turn the other cheek? Why bless those who curse us? What are these teachings meant to achieve?

Hi John,

The answer is so you'll be like your Father in Heaven.

38 "You have heard that it was said,`An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth1.'
39 "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
41 "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
43 "You have heard that it was said,`You shall love your neighbor1 and hate your enemy.'
44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you1,
45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 "And if you greet your brethren1 only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors2 do so?
48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mat 5:38-48 NKJ)

 

[Butch5]

I've been thinking about what people have said, especially the part about enjoying the protections that come from other people using violence on our behalf, like police, military etc...

I'm not sure if I'm a hypocrite for this but so long as a policeman/woman was doing their job of their own accord, I would enjoy the protection they afford. However, if I were to get into a discussion with that person about it, I would definitely tell them to quit their job in favor of preaching the gospel full time(Mt 6:24-34, 1 Cor 9:7-14), living with other Christians full time in community the way the early Christians did (Acts 2:44-45) and applying Jesus' teachings on enemy loving/pacifism.

I'd had another look at the verses when thinking about my response and noticed something which I think hasn't been mentioned yet.


I think verse 43 is important because Jesus deliberately makes a connection back to OT values, and then adds a "but". He's not destroying the old ways, but he is fulfilling them into a more complete picture, so we shouldn't keep going back to the old law as though the "but" isn't there.

I've included verse 45 because I believe it adds significant context. He makes this statement a follow-on from enemy loving, doing good to those who hate us and spitefully use us. God allows everyone to experience trouble.

This issue of turning the other cheek and blessing those who curse us, allowing people to do wrong to us is part of a bigger picture. It's how we show the kingdom of Heaven is different from the values of this world.

No matter how many guns we make and use, violence still happens. The other guys just find new or better ways to get around our defenses. Ultimately our protection must come from God, but even when we pray fervently he still allows bad things to happen to us. Consider the example of Job, a righteous man who put his trust in God. God quite willingly allowed Satan to take Job's family, his material wealth and afflict his body with pain but Job didn't curse God. He understood that God gives and God takes away. God was still the boss to him, no matter what.

In the pursuit of showing the values of Heaven, God will ask us to be the examples of what it means for love to overcome hate. This is why Jesus stressed so many times about counting the cost(Luke 14). He talked about laying down our lives (john 15). He talked about those who love their lives will lose them and those who hate their lives will gain them(john 12:25). In the Revelation, it says the saints overcome the Beast by "loving not their lives even unto death". In Rom 8 Paul references psalm 44, "for thy sake we are killed all the day long" when explaining how even death cannot separate us from God. He makes a connection between being "sheep for the slaughter" and doing God's will.

So much of this self defense argument is based on fear of being hurt or fear or dying. No one likes to be hurt or to be killed. I'm not judging anyone in that area, but recognizing a genuine problem that Jesus also recognized. He said we should not be afraid of what people can do to our bodies (Mt 10:28).

These bodies are temporary. We need to get an eternal vision where we recognize that death is not the end of life. We may not understand it and it may not seem to accomplish much, but the standard Jesus taught is to willingly suffer wrong without hitting back. Even if it does not inspire a single other person out there, we should still do it just because God said to do it.

Now I'm not talking about being foolish or having no care for life and I'm not suggesting that we put our own faith on to other people by volunteering them to also lay down their lives with us. I'm only suggesting that on a personal level we need to consider where our protection really comes from, and to consider that there are times when God allows us to experience pain and suffering for his own reasons.

Thank you John, this is an excellent post. I've pointed out in the past that I think this is the where one can really show their faith in God. I believe martyrdom is one of the biggest reasons that Christianity spread so rapidly in the beginning. People took notice that the Christians were not willing to renounce their God even if it meant death. Because of the way those Christians lived others were drawn to them and became Christians even knowing that it very well may cause their deaths.

 

[john darling]

Our fight is with us. We, not others are our enemy as God works in us. That persecution from others can be the very tool as the trial of our faith producing the very thing God wants to see in us. 1 Pet 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Hi Eugene. I like what you've shared here; particularly the part about fighting with ourselves. I think it's easy to talk about laying our lives down. Peter and the others were so sure they'd die with Jesus and then they all ran away. It's hard to say what we will do when the real-life situation comes, but I think meditating on these scenarios can help. Am I prepared to take a beating or let someone kill me without fighting back? Am I really prepared to let someone who breaks into my house take all my stuff without trying to stop them? I'd like to think so.

 

[john darling]

Hi Butch. Yeah I noticed something you posted on another thread similar to this topic and was quite inspired by it because I felt you'd spoken my mind, but at the time I didn't have my thoughts collected well enough to post what I thought would be a helpful response.

Anyway, your comments reminded me of this quote:
The 2nd-century Church Father Tertullian wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church," implying that the martyrs' willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others.

I think it's the "foolishness" of winning through losing. In the Revelation Jesus is described as a baby sheep slaughtered and as a conquering King depending on which aspect of his ministry is being promoted, and yet he's both at the same time. In the gospels he boasts about laying his life down, making specific mention that no one takes it from him, but that he chooses to lay it down. When I read that I get goosebumps because I think, Here is a guy who is in complete control. He's not afraid. He's not arguing or haggling with God. He's not running away or stalling. He really believes in the value of life. No one takes it from him. He chooses to give it.

It's hard to appreciate that kind of power in a theoretical sense, especially when there's so much teaching about how "Jesus did it all on the cross", as though it's understood that we are not responsible to follow that kind of example. n the real, non-theoretical, non-bible discussion world where bad things actually happen, I think circumstances need to be considered on a case by case basis, but that in all our circumstances and considerations, this idea of choosing to lay our lives down still needs to be there weighing against all of it.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Hi Butch. Yeah I noticed something you posted on another thread similar to this topic and was quite inspired by it because I felt you'd spoken my mind, but at the time I didn't have my thoughts collected well enough to post what I thought would be a helpful response.

Anyway, your comments reminded me of this quote:
The 2nd-century Church Father Tertullian wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church," implying that the martyrs' willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others.

I think it's the "foolishness" of winning through losing. In the Revelation Jesus is described as a baby sheep slaughtered and as a conquering King depending on which aspect of his ministry is being promoted, and yet he's both at the same time. In the gospels he boasts about laying his life down, making specific mention that no one takes it from him, but that he chooses to lay it down. When I read that I get goosebumps because I think, Here is a guy who is in complete control. He's not afraid. He's not arguing or haggling with God. He's not running away or stalling. He really believes in the value of life. No one takes it from him. He chooses to give it.

It's hard to appreciate that kind of power in a theoretical sense, especially when there's so much teaching about how "Jesus did it all on the cross", as though it's understood that we are not responsible to follow that kind of example. n the real, non-theoretical, non-bible discussion world where bad things actually happen, I think circumstances need to be considered on a case by case basis, but that in all our circumstances and considerations, this idea of choosing to lay our lives down still needs to be there weighing against all of it.

I agree.
Thank you.