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Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus calls those who follow Him to be set apart from the ways of this sinful world. One way in which He does that is by the commands He gives for His followers to obey. The command He gives in Matthew 5:43-48 may be one of the toughest to do and hardest to understand and grasp why He would require such a way of life. Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:43-45 (NKJV), “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor [Leviticus 19:17-18] and hate your enemy.’ 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 you, 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.” Jesus goes on in Matthew 5:46-48 to explain the importance of this command. Tax collectors (as we see Jesus reference in this passage) were considered some of the most sinful people of the day as they would charge more tax than necessary so they could get rich. They were considered untrustworthy and ruthless as they cared not for the results of their actions. Jesus uses the public knowledge of those in which He is speaking to bring His point to light as He states in Matthew 5:46-48, “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
This is a command to love one another as Jesus has first loved us.
The Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 5:6-8 (NIV), “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If Jesus died for us while we were still living in sin and disobedience to God, then in following Jesus in our new reconciled life through the freedom we receive from God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus, we should also have a love for others that grows a desire for them to be set free from sin also. This is not a condescending love but a genuine love for the lost souls of humanity.
Dear LORD,
We have a tough time displaying the love of Christ Jesus in our lives as You call us to love our neighbor as ourselves – and this is to include those who have treated us unfairly. In this is love of a caring hopeful heart that desires Your Holy Spirit to work in the lives of all people. It is the joy of our heart and soul that is through Christ Jesus that allows such an attitude as it is not normal for the secular world to behave in such a way. But You have called us to be set apart as Your children and be a reflection of our Savior Christ Jesus in this world that is so in need of love. Please help us to be the reflection of Jesus in the world today. In Jesus name I pray, amen.