Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt 5:43-48)
“You have heard it said . . . but I say to you” is classic Jesus material. The question comes for us, Love our enemies? As disciples of Jesus we have spent two thousand years finding every excuse possible to NOT fulfill this command of Jesus—from countless wars to the current culture wars. Perhaps now is the time to listen to the Lord.
