Jesus’
Life
Matthew 15:21-28
There
is only one ethnic group that is held in complete prejudice in the Bible, and
that is the Canaanites. The Canaanites
were cursed from their father on (Genesis 9:25), and it is the one group that
Scripture says is to be completely judged (Deuteronomy 20:17-18). Nothing should be given to them, for they
shouldn’t even exist (Deuteronomy 7:1-2).
But a Canaanite woman was asking Jesus for the promise of God to God’s
children. Jesus refused at first, but
when he saw that she had complete devotion to Yahweh, even to the extent of
being insulted, he changed his mind and made her a child of God by giving her
what belonged to children. He loved her
fully, even though she was an enemy, because of her faith.
Luke 23:33-34; 39-43
Jesus
was crucified and killed. And even through
the agony and shame of what he was experiencing, he cried out to God on behalf
of his enemies—asking that God would not immediately destroy them for their
actions against him. Even so, there were
two men on crosses who had cursed Jesus (Matthew 27:44). But one of them realized his evil and stopped
the other from cursing Jesus and confessed his sin. For this, Jesus said that he would enter
paradise after his death. Even in the
agony of his cross, Jesus was concerned for his enemies and offered them forgiveness.
Our
Lives
Matthew 5:43-48
Our “enemies” here is defined as those who have done evil
to us, who hate us in action as well as in attitude. In turn, we are to do good to them. We are to pray for them who curse us, and do
good to those who do evil to us. We do
this, first, because this is how God treats his enemies—with care and
compassion instead of hatred, giving them what they need. And second, we do it because it shows that
our righteousness isn’t only for show, but it goes against our natural
instincts.
Luke 10:25-37
The
man asking Jesus the questions was attempting to show that he did not need to
love everyone, only particular persons.
The Samaritan proved to be the true neighbor, and even as he showed
compassion and love, then he too should be shown love and compassion, even
though he was considered a heretic by his “neighbors”. Thus, Jesus shows, we are to love those who
are our religious enemies.
Acts 9:1-27
Saul
hated Christians and wanted them all to go to jail. He was in the process of succeeding in this
when Jesus met him on the road and turned his life upside-down. Jesus accused Saul of persecuting Him—which
was true—but he still loved Saul enough to convert him rather than destroy him. Ananais feared Saul, for he knew his reputation,
but he loved Saul enough to obey his Lord and lay hands on him for healing and
to baptize him. The apostles in
Jerusalem feared Saul, but Barnabas made sure that Saul was fully accepted by
all of those in the church. Fear can
drive people away, but former enemies who repent must be forgiven by the
church.
Romans 12:19-21
Paul
summarizes the whole teaching. We are
not to do anything that harms those who harm us. We are not to harm or destroy them. Rather, he says we are to do good. We are to feed those who do evil to us and
give them something to drink. In this
way, they might feel guilty for their evil actions and possibly repent. But even if they don’t, we prove our
righteousness by doing good.
Examples
Although
they killed her husband, Elizabeth
Elliot still worked and taught the Acua Indians in Ecuador. She gave the gospel of Jesus, while living
the gospel of loving her enemies. She
surrendered a large portion of her life, without a husband, to those who took
her husband from her. All for the love
of them through the love of Jesus.
Dirk Willems was a preacher for the
gospel and he went to a town in Germany where his gospel of baptism and love
for all was not accepted. He was found
there by the magistrates of the town, and a man was hired to capture him and to
bring him to trial, where he would be sentenced to death. Dirk fled from his persecutor, upon a river
which had frozen over that winter. Dirk
passed over safely, but his pursuer fell through the ice, and because he did
not know how to swim, proceeded to drown.
Dirk saw his plight and ran back to his persecutor and pulled him out of
the river, until he was safe. The mayor
of the town saw this and so yelled at his hired policeman to capture Dirk. The man was in a perdiciment, for he did not
want to persecute the one who had saved his life, but because of his promise he
captured Dirk anyway. Dirk was tried and
sentenced to death by burning in 1569.
Living It Out
Do no harm to your
enemies—whether personal, societal or national.
Jesus
lived out and taught “love your enemies,” no matter what kind of “enemy” that
person is. We are to love particular
members of enemy nations, we are to love enemies against us personally, and we
are to love those who do evil against our society—even as Jesus did all
three. Let us not try to exclude anyone
by playing the guessing game of “Who is really
my enemy?”
Give your enemies what they need
If the person who bugs you needs food—give it to
them. If the person you hate needs
clothing—give it to them. If the person
who has slandered you needs the gospel—give it to them.
Listen to your enemies’ perspective
One
of the things we all need is a listening ear—someone who will hear and
understand our perspective. Many times
we have an enemy because they are prevented from being heard. Allow your enemy to express themselves, even
if you disagree. You can always disagree
with them after they have been heard.
Pray for your enemies
Pray
for God’s blessing on your enemies. If
your enemy is in sin, pray to God that he would grant them the grace of
repentance. If your enemy is ignorant,
pray that God would teach them his Truth.
If your enemy is poor, pray that God would provide his needs.
Give opportunity for your enemies to repent
Don’t
write your enemies off, no matter what harm they have done to you, no matter
how bad they seem. If they come to you
humbly, then give them an opportunity to say that they have repented and that
they want to reconcile. But if they come
to persecute you, flee.
Forgive your enemies if they repent
If
your enemy is trying to repent and reconcile, then make peace with them. Accept them as your friend, and try to have
them join a community of followers of Jesus.
Note: Jesus didn't show us or give us an example of allowing our enemies to abuse us unless they have authority over us, or unless God
tells you to. Fleeing is
acceptable. But, no matter what, we must not harm them in return.
