Part 6 of 6 of the theme 'Nonviolence' by Gijs van den Brink
Jesus' importance of nonviolence is also evident in his statement about enemies: "You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor, and your enemy must hate you. 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 insult you and persecute you" (Mat. 5:43-44, HSV). Jesus quotes an abbreviated form of Lev.19:18. The heart of the verse is connected with a well-established consequence: your enemy shall hate you. For example, in Qumran they explicitly taught to hate enemies (1QS 1:4,10-11; 9:21-26).
This verse also reveals what Jesus means by enemies. They are not only personal opponents, but also people who persecute and violently treat the disciples, i.e., opponents and enemies of God. Jesus emphasizes the commandment "you shall love your neighbor" and explains it clearly: if our neighbor is hostile to us, cursing, hating, threatening or persecuting us, for example, we must still love him. Yet love for our enemies has a different character than love for our friends. When it comes to our loved ones, there is a natural love, born in our hearts, whereas when it comes to loving our enemies, the will and deed play a much greater role. This is evident here from the other commandments, which Jesus gives (bless, do, and pray for them). Blessing those who curse us and praying for our persecutors presupposes that we have forgiven them and thus speaks of our disposition in loving enemies.
Repaying good with evil is what the devil does, repaying good with good and evil with evil is what man does, and repaying evil with good is God's way. The latter is also the attitude required of us Christians today, in the time before the return of Christ. We leave the judgment to God. In the future He will judge every man according to what has been done on earth, and then there will either be acquittal or retribution.
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 6 of 6 concise blog on the theme of "Nonviolence" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
