Love Is Defined And Commanded (6:27-28).
g Love your enemies (Luke 6:27 b),
h Do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27 c),
g Bless those who curse you (Luke 6:28 a),
h Pray for those who use you badly (Luke 6:28 b).
Love Is Defined and Demanded (6:27-28).
He commences this next section with a call to love their enemies, followed by definitions of what that involves.
“But I say to you who hear,”
His words are for those who will hear and do what He says, for those whose ears are awoken by the Holy Spirit.
“Love your enemies,
Do good to those who hate you,
Bless those who curse you,
Pray for those who use you badly.”
So He now concentrates on those for whom His blessings are promised, although those who wished to avoid the woes would do well to take note. His message will not be palatable to the rich, but if they wish to avoid their fate they will do well to listen. Notice the ‘I say to you' (compare Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:27; Matthew 5:32; Matthew 5:34; Matthew 5:39), which is the connecting up phrase with what has gone before. He wants them to know that He is speaking with Messianic authority. He is here making clear the new divine initiative, making new demands in the light of the times. And it is spoken to ‘those who hear', that is, those who hear with the intention of response, those who are committed to discipleship.
For in the light of His presence among them it is now necessary for men and women to behave differently, and His demands in this direction commence with four requirements, the first being partly defined by the other three. Thus in this foursome the first line indicates the demand, and the other three explain how it should be revealed. Love must be active if it is genuine.
They are to ‘Love your enemies.' This love (agape), as is clear from the words, is a love which behaves in the same way towards all. It is Christian love. It does not refer to feeling affection for someone (phileo), and it certainly does not speak of sexual love (erao). The latter is simply a human craving and is not really love at all. It arises out of physical effects on the body which are looking for reciprocation in a sexual way (although we often deceive ourselves about them). It would be better described as ‘passion'. Many today seek to justify wrong relationships because ‘they love each other'. What they mean is that they want sexual gratification, and will do any wrong to get it. But Jesus condemned such attitudes out of hand. That was not what He spoke of when He spoke of love. The Greeks had a separate word for sexual love. It was erao (from which comes Eros, the goddess of lust). They too recognised that that was not genuine social love. Indeed it is often antisocial.
Of course sexual love may be combined with true love, but then it will be thoughtful and considerate, and obedient to God instruction on the matter, keeping within God's laid down standards. For the true love will override the sexual love. But having strong feelings for someone is not what Jesus was describing when He spoke of love. Such feelings lead often to evil and not to right behaviour.
Furthermore affection and liking arise out of compatibility between people and from having known someone for some time, and ‘getting on with them'. But if that was in mind we would pick and choose. However, for true love there is no picking and choosing. The love that Jesus is speaking of here is a higher love, a spiritual love, a love which is the same towards all, a love which produces right response and right action, even towards those whom it is difficult to love. It is a love which wills and purposes good towards its recipients from a benevolent heart. This comes out in the way in which it is defined in the following three lines. It is a love which responds to hate, by the person doing good towards those who hate them. It is a love which blesses even as it is cursed. It is a love which means that when those who have such love are used badly, they respond by praying for the good of those who treat them in that way. It is unselfish love that seeks no benefit from loving. It is like the love of God which continues, even when it is dealing with a world that insults Him to His face (see Luke 6:35; Matthew 5:45). It has nothing to do with the love between a man or a woman, or its perversions.
We can contrast this whole attitude with the position held by the cults of the day. The teaching of the Essenes, for example, was that their followers should ‘hate the children of darkness', and they meant it. The emphasis with many was on loving those who are ‘with us' and hating those who are not.
‘Bless those who curse you, pray for those who use you badly.' True Christian love will not be affected by any counter response, for God remains unmoved by man's antagonism against Him. He could destroy mankind at a blow, but He does not. Thus those who follow Him must bless men even when all they receive are curses. They may be cursed by those whose views they run counter to, or by those whose business profits they affect, but in return they are to offer blessing. And when those curses turn to misuse and persecution, they are to pray for those who use them badly. Indeed they are to pray for all who use them badly. For they should be filled with God's love shed abroad in their hearts towards all.
Illustrations of This Love.
The demand that they love their enemies is now illustrated by a number of practical examples. It was never intended to be just a good idea. So practical illustrations are now given of what this might involve. They include reaction to personal violence, reaction to those who take advantage of their generosity through greed and theft, and then a general reference to all aspects of life, a saying which sums up the whole.