Luke 6:27-36 - Embracing Your Enemy
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Every family has a culture embedded in it. Some families are outdoorsy. Some families are extremely social. Some families tend to keep to themselves. Some families are known for sports. Some families are all about books. Some families love to travel. Some families are more homeward in orientation. The heterogeneity of earthly families is seemingly endless.
But what about those who belong to God? What about those who are adopted children of God and part of His eternal family? What is the culture that represents that family?
Today we are going to see what the family of God should be known for - namely love - even for their enemies.
Join me as we read today’s Scripture:
Read Full Scripture:
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Prayer
If you recall from last week, we are going through what is called the Sermon on the Plain in Luke which is paralleled by the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. This sermon will continue for the remainder of Luke chapter 6.
The interesting thing about today’s Scripture is that this is the first time in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus issues direct commands. Up until now Jesus has been teaching through examples and sayings. These examples carried with them authority as we have already seen Luke mention.
and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.
But now His authority turns up a notch further with Him giving authoritative direct commands. And these first direct commands He offers in this Gospel are most certainly difficult teachings!
Today we will see three ways Christ challenges us to love like He loves… The first is…
I. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Mandates Your Requirement (27-31)
I. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Mandates Your Requirement (27-31)
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
The first question most people have in regards to this command is, ‘Who is our enemy?’ The Greek word for enemy used here is echthros (eck-throse) which means hostile or hated. Jesus is speaking of those who persecute you and hate you. Jesus is teaching the crowd and multitude that we heard mentioned last week. But His emphasis is on the disciples. If you recall, Luke tells us the following:
Luke 6:20a (ESV)
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples…
His focus was on those who were or who would be soon following Him. And we will see this theme throughout this section. We even see Him allude to this because He starts off verse 27 with:
Luke 6:27 (ESV)
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Who is it that hears? It is only those who have their ears and minds and hearts opened up by the Holy Spirit. See Paul expound on this idea in 1 Corinthians 2:14:
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Friends, unless God’s Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures for you, you will not understand the Word of God.
Reading the Bible without the Holy Spirit is like trying to read it in the dark. It is impossible to make out what is on the pages. But the Holy Spirit illuminates and lights up the pages - leading to one being able to discern and understand what the Scripture is saying.
And all of those listening to Christ on the mountain that day might have heard Christ’s sermon - but not all understood it. The same is the case with my sermon today. Those who are believers have the Holy Spirit living in them. They are able to understand the Word of God. God reveals it to them. They may not understand every part of it, of course. But they are able to understand what God wants them to get from the Scripture. But those who are not believers - only if God is drawing them to Himself by His Holy Spirit - only then can they hear and understand. So may we pray that God draws people to Himself through the Word we preach and the Gospel we share with others. And may we pray that we also pray diligently that the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures for us as well!
Getting back to our Scripture:
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Jesus gives…
Three Commands to Respond Like Christ Did:
1. Do Good
2. Bless
3. Pray
We are to do good to those who hate us. We are to bless those who curse us. And we are to pray for those who abuse us. Note the progression here.
The first direct command to do good to those who hate us refers to someone whose heart is set against us in hate, but we haven’t actually been directly harmed. They may have not yet done anything, but their opinion of us and our God is obvious. We are told to do good to them. In other words, we are not to try to hate them back. We should be kind to them and gracious.
Next we get to more direct actions coming from our enemy’s hatred of us. We are told to bless those who curse us. I’m pretty sure that your first response to someone cursing you isn’t naturally ‘have a blessed day!’ If it is, well you are more sanctified than me! But this is the goal we are to aim for! Because the word ‘bless’ means to bestow favor and goodness on another, this is quite a charge. We are to bestow favor on those who curse us.
Finally we are told to pray for those who abuse us. That is those who persecute us and treat us poorly. First century Christians and many worldwide since then have suffered much physical abuse for being a Christian. We mentioned Acts 5:41-42 a couple of weeks ago and the Apostles rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for their Savior. And it is in situations like this that God commands us to intercede and pray on behalf of our enemies who persecute us. We are to pray for their salvation - even as difficult as these prayers may be.
It is in this context that we come to the following two verses…
To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
Jesus’ teaching becomes even more difficult here. In essence, Jesus teaches us to avoid revenge and to be gracious even to those who harm us.
Three Ways Christ’s Commands Practically Are Applied
1. Turn the Other Cheek
This command does not mean that one should not use self-defense. Some have taken this out of context and have misunderstood the heart of the meaning of what Jesus says here. But don’t just take my word for it. Take Jesus’s:
He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.
Jesus teaches the disciples to be prepared - and even to the point of obtaining a weapon! - as they head out into a dark world.
And then when it comes to turning your cheek for someone to hit you again we see Jesus’ response to getting struck in the cheek in John 18:22:
When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
Note that Jesus doesn’t invite the officer to literally hit His other cheek. He speaks up and calmly questions the officer. Note that Jesus does not seek revenge or get violent. But He does address what just happened in a calm and controlled manner.
This is yet another great lesson on hermeneutics (the study and interpretation of Scripture) again as we mentioned last week. We allow Scripture to interpret itself. We don’t just disregard tough Scriptures. We interpret the meaning with other Scriptures that provide clarity to what we are studying.
2. Do Not Seek Revenge
Luke 6:29–30 (ESV)
To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
These two underlined passages actually go together. To take away one’s cloak would have been extremely offensive in Jesus’ day. Most people only had one cloak that would go over their shirt. The Mosaic law even had a law regarding this - that if one took a cloak in pledge then they had to give it back before sunset (Exodus 22:26).
And in this same vein, one was not to seek revenge on those who committed theft. This doesn’t mean that we not should file appropriate legal action in some cases, although there may be instances where one should refrain if able. But we are not to personally go after someone in these areas.
3. Give to Everyone Who Begs from You
Luke 6:30 (ESV)
Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
Note again that we must take the entirety of Scripture in order to understand the meaning that Jesus is giving us here. Jesus is calling us to be radically generous. Those who are a part of God’s family are radically generous with others because God has been radically generous to them. Generosity is an expression of love.
But there are cases where one should possibly refrain from giving. Consider 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12:
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
For those who are able to work and not disabled the Bible is clear that we would be doing them harm by not encouraging them to work and continuing to support them. This would be a sermon in itself in our day and age. But we are made in the image of God as workers. Work is not a part of the curse. Work became harder because of the curse.
But Jesus’ aim is that we are sacrificially and radically generous as He guides and directs us by His Holy Spirit in our giving.
And Jesus ends these sharp and difficult, direct commands with the following statement:
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
Jesus summarizes this first section with the Golden Rule - also known as the Second Greatest Commandment as seen in Matthew 22:39
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
This Golden Rule summarizes the mandated requirement that Jesus gives here. Love your enemies as yourself.
Moving forward…
Scripture References: Luke 4:32, Acts 5:41-42, Luke 22:36, John 18:22-23, Exodus 22:26, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, Matthew 22:39
II. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Maintains Your Reward (32-34)
II. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Maintains Your Reward (32-34)
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
The word benefit is used twice and credit is used once in these three verses. These terms refer to a heavenly reward and not an earthly reward. Jesus tells us there is no such reward for acting as the world would act.
In these three verses, Jesus mentions three ways the world naturally acts. Believers should go beyond the actions of the world. The world is naturally reactive. If someone is done wrong - they do wrong in return. Although there certainly are those who are proactive in evil, many unbelievers - through selfishness and self-preservation for the most part - will respond to good by doing good in return. But believers are to be countercultural in this.
Let’s go through the three ways the world often responds and then understand how we should respond further.
Three Ways the World Can Naturally Responds:
1. The World Can Love Those Who Love Them
It is easy to love those who love you. It almost even comes natural. When someone does something kind for you or treats you well, it is hard not be kind back. There is something about kindness that spurs others to do the same. Even evil people will oftentimes respond well to someone who blesses them. This is a common grace that God allows us to enjoy on earth as those made in God’s image.
2. The World Can Do Good to Those Who Do Good to Them
Even evil people will often respond with goodness to someone who is good to them. Think of gangs. Gangs are notoriously evil in their dealings with others. There are often drugs, robbery, and even murder as part of the DNA of a gang. Yet, when it comes to those who are in the gang, they would do anything on behalf of their brother in the gang. Does this mean these men are good? Absolutely not. But even those who are evil often respond positively to those who are positive to them.
3. The World Can Lend to Those Who Always Repay
Many people will lend to someone who is reliable in paying them back. But few will lend to someone who is unable to pay them back. We are to be radically generous as God is generous with us.
However, to be sure to teach a Biblical understanding of how to practically understand lending, there are a couple of important lessons taught in Scripture regarding lending that are applicable here:
A) Do not put up security for a neighbor when you don’t have it to put up.
This is unwise lending of what you don’t have to lend. You cannot be generous with money that is not yours.
One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
Practically speaking, this is cosigning for a loan that you cannot afford to pay. Or it is being generous with money that you borrowed. This is unwise. We are to be generous with what is ours - not what is the bank’s or someone else’s money.
B) Count the cost and be sure you can pay it.
If you cannot make ends meet without getting the money back, don’t lend.
Don’t lend what you cannot give. And if you can give, consider just giving instead of lending.
In summary of these three things that Jesus mentions, we are to be different than the world. We should love those who hate us - not just those who love us. We should do good to those who do not do good to us - even do good to those who seek to harm us. And we should be willing to lend and give to those who may never be able to repay us - assuming we have it to give. This takes radical love my friends. It takes agape - sacrificial love.
And when we do these things through the power of Christ working through us, we store up heavenly rewards and blessings. We may lose out on earthly things and earthly rewards, but the investment for eternity has a much better return my friends!
Scripture References: Proverbs 17:18
III. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Mediates Your Relationship (35-36)
III. As a Part of God’s Family, Christ Mediates Your Relationship (35-36)
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Here we see the real reason that we need to love others by being generous with them and showing them love. It glorifies the Father by making us more like Him. We become His hands and feet to a lost and broken world.
We mentioned the reward from obedience in our last point. We discussed how when we love our enemies, do good to them, lend to them, and bless them - that God has a heavenly reward for us. And this is very true. Jesus even says here that our reward will be great.
But the greatest reward that is bestowed to believers is the reward of relationship.
We who are in Christ are reconciled to God the Father as sons and daughters of the Most High. How amazing is that friends! And as sons and daughters of God we are able to have a relationship with God the Father through the mediation of Jesus Christ.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Through Jesus Christ we have access to God the Father as legitimate adopted sons and daughters. Because of His sacrificial atonement on the cross, we who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ and repented of our sins are now heirs of eternal life with Christ. Not because of what we did - but because of His great work on our behalf. We have the promise that we will be raised like Christ was raised from the dead.
And as adopted sons and daughters, God promises to sanctify us - meaning that He continues to make us more and more like His Son Jesus. And through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, through the Word of God, and through other believers sharpening us as well - we are progressively sanctified throughout our lives to look more like Christ.
And in this we become more like the Father as well. We see in our Scripture today that we should be kind to the ungrateful and evil because God is. And we should be merciful because God is as well.
Friends, we must know that we were the ungrateful and evil before we came to a saving knowledge of Christ. We were enemies of God in rebellion to a loving and merciful Father. But God loved us anyway, drew us to Himself, and saved us.
And God calls us to respond to our enemies the same way He responded to us - with love and mercy. We do not love them because of their intrinsic worth. We love them because God first loved us. Right after asserting that we love because Christ loved us in 1 John 4:19, John goes on to give us a strong warning against trying to love God but hating others.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Scripture References: 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 John 4:19-20, Acts 7:54-60, Acts 9
Conclusion:
As we come to a close, it is important to know that all of these commands that Jesus gives are really about our relationship with God. The reason we love our enemies radically and sacrificially is because we understand that God has loved us radically and sacrificially. When we love God well, we love others well - even those who appear unlovable. And God uses our love for our enemies to show His love for them. He uses our love for our enemies to share the Gospel.
The stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 is the first account of a Christian martyr in the New Testament. His response of love to his enemies as he is stoned is remarkable. Listen to the end of the account in verse 54-60. The context is that Stephen has given an abbreviated history of Israel and has finished with letting them know that they have crucified the Messiah - namely Jesus Christ:
Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Stephen showed love for his enemies as he was persecuted and killed for Christ. And this radical love and forgiveness likely had an impact on Saul - also known as Paul who wrote much of the New Testament after Christ saved him. Many theologians think that that this encounter started to fertilize the heart of Paul so that when Christ appeared to him in Acts 9, he was quickly broken before Christ.
God uses our love for enemies to glorify Himself and save others.
We are never more like our Savior than when we love our enemies.
We have been given quite a charge by Christ today, Church, may we walk in His power and strength to carry it out.
Prayer