Seeds for 05/29/2023 - Matthew 5:43-48
Scripture: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Observation: This is the last in the series of “you have heard it said… but I tell you…” passages. The rationale for love and prayer for one’s persecutors is imitation of God and differentiation from humans.
First, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” This implies that loving and praying for those who oppose you on account of following Jesus is part and parcel to being a follower of Jesus. This is a tall order. It is seeking the good of those who are seeking the bad for you. The familial language paints a picture: bearing a family resemblance to God looks like love for enemies.
After making this striking statement (I can only imagine what it would be like to hear this on the Galilean hillside), Jesus explains the “family resemblance” reasoning further.
God provides both sunshine and rain for the evil and good alike. This reality is referred to as “common grace,” God’s unmerited goodness shared with all. Jesus is linking this with His instruction so that imitating God in practicing “common grace” is a mark of Christian discipleship.
Second, Jesus (perhaps because love for enemies is such a tough teaching) grounds the command in the character of God first, then comes at it from yet another angle—differentiating themselves from others. He points out that simple reciprocity—responding in kind, doing good to those who do good to you—is nothing more than anyone already does. Anyone can reciprocate goodness. Not anyone absorbs opposition and evil, then does good in return. Yet this is the teaching of Jesus.
We get hung up on the word “perfect” here. But Jesus has explained exactly what He means by it. He’s talking about being “perfect in love.” Wesleyan-Methodists express this idea about transformation and discipleship when we use the phrase “being made perfect in love.” Being a Methodist myself, I like this phrase. It is biblical and, being in the passive voice, it acknowledges the necessity of God’s transformative work in our hearts by the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. That said, Jesus is clear that this is our calling and expectation—to imitate God in His perfect love. This is a love that is not conditioned on the actions of the recipient, but on the character of the giver.
Application:
What examples have you seen of someone imitating God’s perfect love?
When is it hard to live this out?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, you have given us the example of perfect love in Jesus’ earthly ministry and in His death. Transform my heart. Perfect me in love for your glory’s sake. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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