43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[q] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![r] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.47 If you are kind only to your friends,[s] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:43-48
Who is your enemy? Perhaps you can answer this easily but I can not. I do not really have any enemies that I can think of. I find the language hard and do not like to think that I have anyone like that in my life. So who is Jesus talking about? Looking at the context, Jesus is talking about anyone who does not love you. These are your ‘enemies’.
How do you respond to the people who do not get you, respect you or care for you?Do you retaliate? Do you cancel them? Do you ignore them and walk away?
What Jesus says is probably the hardest thing that he could ask us to do. He says that we should love those who hurt us. We should respond to hate and indifference with love.
The Old Testament says that if someone mistreats you that you have no responsibility to them. However, Jesus says that we are the children of God and as such, we should be following his example of showering love on everyone. That person who does not love you is just as worthy of love as others are.
One of my favourite stories is Les Miserables. There is a scene where Javair has been hunting Jean ValJean through the French Revolution, intending to bring him back to justice and send him to jail. However, he is captured and is to be executed by the rebellion. Jean ValJean finds his life in his hands and has the power to kill him. To do so would mean his safety and an end to so much of his trials. It would feel like just revenge for years of pain and grief. However, instead, he goes out of his way to rescue him and to release him. He knows full well that Javair will continue to hunt him. He knows also that Javair would not do the same for him. However, he is following the path of Grace and not of Legalism.
"You are free. There are no conditions. No bargains, no petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more." - Jean ValJean
This is the kind of love that shines. This is the kind of love that can change the world. It is not, I love you because you love me. It is relentless, not looking at the value of the target but at the character of the love-giver. We do not love because they deserve it but because it is who we are. We are children of love.
There are always people in life who are really easy to love. It is like they draw love out of you. It is easier to love them than it is to not love them. But we are not defined by how we love those who are easy to love but by how our love transforms those who are hard to love. It is how we love when it is hard, when we are mistreated and when they least deserve it that shows where the source of our love comes from. This is the love that we saw on the cross and this is what it means for us to follow Jesus. It is to walk in the footsteps of love. It is the hardest thing that God could ask of us and yet it is also the most powerful force on earth.
When I think about what it means to be a zealot or radical Christian, this is what I believe it should mean. It is not Javair who is bold enough to condemn the sins and faults of the world but Jean ValJean, who would suffer and sacrifice for the benefit of his enemies because of love.
What should it look like to walk in those steps?
