NOTES for Mat 5:42-48
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. |
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. |
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; |
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. |
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? |
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? |
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. |
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Christ's commandment to love our enemies, offenders, and persecutors is perhaps one of the commandments hardest for us to fulfill. Of course, one can say, "I love everyone, I forgive everyone, and I have no enemies," but few can say it sincerely. After all, anyone can be a person's enemy, even those closest to him; in fact, it is precisely among close people that the greatest tensions arise first of all - they wound most painfully, and from them one has to endure the hardest persecutions. Perhaps that is why the Lord said elsewhere, "A man's enemies will be those of his own household" (Mt 10:36).
And yet He calls us to love our enemies - both near and far. And we try to pray for and bless not those we like, not those who make us feel good, but those whom it is hardest to love - those who cause us pain. Someone may call this approach masochistic, but it is not: it is precisely what Christianity can set against masochism - the humility and meekness commanded to us not because life is easier that way, but because they are an inseparable characteristic of our Lord Himself. We are not obliged to follow His way of acting, but if we want to understand what true love and true happiness are, then we will have to learn to forgive our enemies.
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