On January 8, 2025

Loving my Enemies

The Law commanded the Hebrews to love their neighbors¹ (Leviticus 19:18), but Jesus challenged his followers to love even their enemies (Luke 6:27). Later He would be asked “who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Here we might ask, “who are our enemies”?

Many believers today might think of our enemies as those we find unpleasant, people we just don’t like. But that’s not strong enough. By “enemies”, Jesus meant those we actually hate and those who hate us for whatever reason.

Jesus’ statement didn’t need to look far to understand who it was he was talking about. Verse 17 notes that an enormous crowd had gathered around Him, including Gentiles from the coastal cities in Tyre and Sudan. These centers of Baal worship had troubled the Hebrews for generations by introducing pagan ideas and practices and systematically corrupting them spiritually. Elsewhere, Roman occupation troops held sway over the region, exploiting the Jews through oppressive taxation and political manipulation.

So it was immediately clear to the crowd who their enemies were-who were likely to curse and shame them (6:25), who was likely to strike and rob them (6:29), and who was likely to exploit them (6:30), “Love your enemies,” Jesus told them. Love those you hate, and who hate you.

Those of us who follow Jesus, in today’s world, also have “enemies”. Basically, we do not differ from those first believers. If we look carefully, we will recognize people we hate, and who hate us. The bitterness stems from racial, ethnic, political, economic, moral, gender, religious, or ideological conflicts. But they go beyond mere likes and dislikes.

So Jesus’ challenge to us is the same, “Love your enemies. Love those you hate, and who hate you.”