Wide Shot

1. Is this teaching of loving our enemies different from human nature?

What does it mean to love our enemies?
Does that mean not doing bad things to them?
Does that mean doing good things to them? Physical and spiritual?
+Loving our enemies is not just not doing bad things to them, but rather it is doing good things
to them. ood things, both in action and in spirit. !o love our enemies means to sho" #indness
to, to help out, to sacri$ice our time and e$$orts $or the people, "ho are against us, the people "ho
"e don%t li#e and they don%t li#e us, the people "ho "e "ould rather not deal "ith. &esus says,
'Love your enemies and pray $or those "ho persecute you.(
What is human nature, speci$ically "ith od and )is good in$luence out o$ the picture?
*re people evil to those "ho are evil to them? *l"ays?
*re people good to those "ho are good to them? *l"ays?
++ thin# "e can all agree that people "ill repay evil $or evil. We retaliate against those "ho harm
us and the desire to get revenge is natural $or us. + actually thin# that, again speci$ically "ithout
od%s good in$luence, people "ouldn%t just get even, they%d get even and then some. -ou
punched out one o$ my teeth? Well +%ll punch out all o$ your teeth and then brea# your glasses.
++ thin# "e are conditionally good to those "ho are good to us. .ut not al"ays right? We are
only good to others on the condition that others are good to us. When you stop being good and
start being evil to me, there is no residual goodness $actor in me that says '"ell &ared "as good
to me be$ore so +%ll still be good to him no" even though he just slashed my tires.( +n Psalm 1/01
123 it says My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent,
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for people who are wicked and
deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying
tongues.
3
ith words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.
!
In return
for my friendship they accuse me, "ut I am a man of prayer.
#
$hey repay me evil for good, and
hatred for my friendship.% We still do harm to those "ho are good to us, the phrase 'don%t bite
the hand that $eeds you( e4ists because people do bite the hand that $eeds them. !he e4ample o$
parents not letting their #id go to a party and their #id gets upset and hates his parents and rebels
and has an attitude and says his parents are stupid.
So then, "e can say that loving our enemies is completely di$$erent $rom human nature.
&esus is saying that "e must love the people "ho bring out the "orst in us. !he e4ample that
comes to mind is "aiting $or an elevator and the doors open up and you get in. *nd "hile you%re
"aiting $or the doors to close, you see that annoying person5student5co"or#er trying to catch the
elevator too. *nd in your mind you%re saying, '6h jee7, it%s that guy. 8aybe i$ + pull out my
phone and pretend to not see her, + can ride up by mysel$.( Loving my enemy means that + don%t
push the button that ma#es the door close $aster, it means that +%d push the button that holds the
door open, it means that +%d say to them ')ello, ho" are you?( +t means +%d pray $or them as "e
ride up and as# that od bless their day.
.ut $or all o$ this, "hy? Why should "e love our enemies? +t%s stated implicitly in verse
93 and e4plicitly in verse 9:. .ecause it is "hat od does; od loves his enemies. We as
<hristians are being sancti$ied, being changed to be more li#e od, to adopt more o$ )is
character. *nd because od loves his enemies, so "e too ought to love our enemies.
<lose =p
>. Jesus says in verse 40: For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust. !o" do you understand this saying and "hy do you think Jesus
uses it to hel# e$#lain the teaching of love for our enemies?
!he rain and the sunshine are both good and od gives that goodness to both the
righteous and the "ic#ed ali#e. od blesses the just person "ith rain and sunshine, and #no"ing
$ull "ell that the unjust person that lives ne4t to him "ill also reap the bene$its, od still sends it.
od is impartial "ith "hom )e blesses, )e blesses those $aith$ul to )im and those "ho are )is
enemies. So "e too then ought to love impartially. &ust because a person is our enemy does not
mean that they should be e4cluded $rom us loving them. %&s though he did not regard human
character at all, 'od (ids his sun shine on good and (ad. &s though he did not kno" that any
men "ere vile, he (ids the sho"er descend on just and unjust. )et he does kno", for he is no
(lind deity. !e does kno"* and he kno"s "hen his sun shines on yonder miser+s acres that it is
(ringing forth a harvest for a churl. !e does it deli(erately. ,hen the rain is falling yonder u#on
the o##ressor+s cro#s, he kno"s that the o##ressor "ill (e the richer for it, and means that he
should (e* he is doing nothing (y mistake and nothing "ithout a #ur#ose.% ?Spurgeon
Wide Shot
@. !o" "ould you define 'odliness in the light of this #assage?
)o" does &esus portray this odliness in )is li$e?
+odliness is loving everybody, even your enemy, unconditionally. !here is no deed so sin$ul
and evil that "e can ma#e od not love us and conversely there is no good deed, no top2level o$
'spiritualness( that "e can ma#e od love us more. +$ "e are to imitate od, then "e too must
love the unlovable. When "e do that, + thin# it creates a sharp contrast bet"een our enemy%s
disdain $or us and our love $or them, "hich + thin# brings more glory to od.
+!he superlative e4ample o$ &esus loving his enemies is )is death on the cross. + "as having a
conversation "ith a $riend and he said to me that the greatest act o$ sin humanity has ever
committed, the most evil thing, the boldest proclaim o$ 'od is my enemy,( "as the death o$
&esus. !he most per$ect, innocent, righteous human being ever being murdered by us. .ut, "hat
absolutely blo"s my mind is that od, a holy od "ho cannot tolerate sin nor "ill he abide "ith
sin, can use evil acts and turn it around $or good. +n enesis 3/, "hen &oseph is tal#ing to his
brothers "ho sold him into slavery, he says &s for you, you meant evil against me, (ut 'od
meant it for good. *nd so "hat does od do "ith the most evil act man#ind has ever
committed? )e turns &esus% death into the #ey $or our salvation, the ultimate act o$ grace and
love. Aomans 31@/ says it "ell.
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.oreover the la" entered that the offense might a(ound. /ut
"here sin a(ounded, grace a(ounded much more,
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so that as sin reigned in death, even so
grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus 1hrist our 2ord.
>. !o" can "e manage to live this "ay?
Prayer; Let us as# the )oly Spirit in us to empo"er us to live li#e &esus to love our
enemies. Doing good to those "ho do evil to us does not come naturally $or us and so "e must
as# $or od%s help. *t the most recent men%s con$erence, one o$ the spea#ers said to put yoursel$
"here you%re uncom$ortable and "ea# and od "ill meet you there. So i$ "e put ourselves in
situations "here "e can love our enemy and not avoid them, i$ "e%re see#ing to please od and
as# $or his help, + thin# od "ill honor that and help us to love them.