Love for Foes
Jesus not only had love for friends and family, He also had love for His foes. He had love for His enemies, for those who hated Him.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:32–35)
Christ's Radical Love for Enemies
The real test of the whether Christ’s love is in us, is this: do we love our enemies as He loved His?
- Remember how He refused to retaliate against those who came for Him?
- Remember how He healed the ear of the soldier who had come to arrest Him?
- Remember how He asked God to forgive the very ones who drove nails into His hands and feet?
- Remember how He appeared to Paul who was arresting and killing the early Christians, and offered him grace and mercy?
I read about a lecturer who asks students in secular universities what they know about Jesus. And the thing that comes up most often? They say, “Jesus said ‘Love your enemies’.”
That is the one teaching that sticks with people because it is so counter-cultural, so unlike the normal way we do things.
Jesus had many opportunities to get back at His enemies.
Loving Enemies: A Powerful Transformation
But He chose to love them.
He chose to forgive them.
He chose to give them mercy.
A story is told of Peter Miller, a plain Baptist preacher living in Ephrata, Pennsylvania in the days of the Revolutionary War. Near his church lived a man who maligned and harassed the pastor to the last degree. The man became involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. The preacher started out on foot and walked the seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for the man’s life. Washington heard his plea, but he said, “No, your plea for your friend cannot be granted.” “My friend!” said the preacher. “He is the worst enemy I have.” “What!” said Washington, “you have walked nearly seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon.”
If we are to love like Jesus loved, we love our enemies and pray for them. How the world would change if those who follow Jesus did this.
