By Bishop Keith Cowart

I was recently invited to preach at a local church with the specific request that I conclude a 10-week series on Matthew 5. Jumping into another pastor’s series is always a little tricky because you don’t have the full context of the series. More importantly, I knew the final verses of Matthew 5 were about “loving our enemies,” and in all candor, it’s just not the sort of message I get excited about preaching.

But that’s one of the reasons I believe good biblical preaching should always include at least some preaching through entire books of the Bible. That way we’re not tempted to get fixated on our favorite passages while quietly passing over the more challenging ones. So I decided to accept the pastor’s challenge, and reading the passage with fresh eyes, I was reminded of just how convicting these words from our Lord truly are. I also emerged from my preparation with a deep sense of their timeliness for our current cultural context.

But before we dive into Matthew 5:43–48, it is important to remember that these verses are a small part of the most substantial message we have directly from our Lord. The larger context is critical to understanding the full implications of each portion.

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“We live in an ‘eye for eye’ world …”

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The Broad Context

Jesus is teaching about life in the kingdom of God. Though we live in the world and are immersed in the culture of the world, we have been called out of the world; not in physical terms — we must live in and engage in this world — but in terms of refusing to embrace the ways of the world in order to be ambassadors for the kingdom of God. Peter says that we are to be a peculiar people. That doesn’t mean we should be weird or obnoxious, but so devoted to the way of Jesus that our lives are noticeably different from those who are not followers of Jesus.

Let’s be honest. That’s never easy. It’s always difficult to go against the grain. We naturally find great comfort in being accepted by the people with whom we interact on a regular basis. But if we are a kingdom people, we will find ourselves at odds with those who embrace the ways of the world. We live in an “eye for eye” world that will never understand things like turning the other cheek, giving up our shirt and our coat, walking the extra mile, or loving our enemies.

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“Jesus is not calling us to be doormats.”

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There are those who have famously said that the Sermon on the Mount exposes Christianity as a religion of the weak; that all of these responses Jesus requires betrays weakness in the face of power. I would argue that couldn’t be further from the truth.

All of these responses are both radically sacrificial, and at the same time, dignifying to the one who sacrifices. Jesus is not calling us to be doormats. He’s calling us to something far more courageous, far more difficult. When someone slaps you or sues to take your shirt or requires you by military force to carry their gear for a mile, you have no choice in the matter. Those are actions done to you with no consideration of your will. Jesus is asking us to respond by willingly choosing to act in ways that demonstrate love rather than hate. Without question, this is much more difficult than being a doormat, but it also means that the one who has treated you with utter disregard must now regard you as a person.

Finally, it is important to remember that Jesus meant for us to actually live in these ways. There are also those who have argued that Jesus’ intent in this message was to put forth a Utopian ideal that we should admire but never expect to achieve. I understand why some might reach that conclusion. In our own strength, these kingdom standards are impossibly high, especially this final mandate to love our enemies. But as kingdom people, we are not left to our own strength. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us! And by His Spirit, our hearts can be transformed and our wills empowered to follow Jesus’ example.

Breaking Down the Passage

Before we consider the implications of Jesus’ message, let’s be sure we understand precisely what He was saying:

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! 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, 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.” (NLT)

Jesus begins by referencing a “law” they’ve all heard: “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” It would be interesting to know if anyone present was aware that this “law” as quoted could not be found anywhere in the Old Testament. To be sure, the Old Testament did command love for one’s neighbor, but added the words, “as yourself” to ensure a concrete, high standard. The Pharisees lowered the bar on love and then added the part about hating your enemy.

It is worth noting that the Pharisees certainly weren’t the last to distort God’s Word to bring it into alignment with their own views. Several years ago, Pam and I visited the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., where we had an opportunity to visit a special exhibit devoted to the “slave Bible.” In this Bible, slave owners had literally taken a pair of scissors and cut out the portions they didn’t like (i.e., Exodus 21:16 NLT: “Kidnappers must be put to death, whether they are caught in possession of their victims or have already sold them as slaves) while highlighting portions they found more favorable to their cause. Unfortunately, we could cite many examples of how some who claim to follow Jesus have grossly distorted His message to support their own twisted views.

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“… one’s enemy is not necessarily someone you actively despise or who despises you, but anyone who is not ‘one of us.’”

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We should also consider the precise meaning of the terms, “neighbor” and “enemy.” For those listening to Jesus, the “neighbor” who was to be loved was a fellow Jew. The “enemy” who was to be hated was a Gentile or outsider. So, in this context, one’s enemy is not necessarily someone you actively despise or who despises you, but anyone who is not “one of us.” Let that one sink in for a moment.

Next Jesus turned this “law” on its head by demanding that those who follow Him must “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” The specific word Jesus used for “love” was the Greek word agape. The Greeks had several words for “love”: eros (sexual), phileo (love of friend), storge (familial love). But agape took love to a whole other level. Agape is a love that is completely other-oriented. It means to give of oneself for the highest good of another. It is to love the way God loves. In fact, historians say this word was practically nonexistent before Christ came on the scene. It’s almost as if they had to create an entirely new word to describe the radically different kind of love Jesus taught about and demonstrated.

That Jesus specifically calls for this kind of love for our enemies — even those who actively persecute us — is truly radical. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived this passage in a German prison until his execution, wrote, “This is the supreme command. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead to God for him.” Drawing on Jesus’ teaching, Bonhoeffer identifies prayer as the means by which we first love our enemies. It is impossible to hate those we are sincerely praying for, especially if we do so consistently over a lengthy period of time. The more we bring our enemies before God, the more we begin to see them with eyes of redemption rather than vengeance.

In verse 45, Jesus answers the “why” question. We are to love our enemies because we belong to a God who is generous to all, even those who oppose Him. If we are to be known as children of God, we must be like Him. Jesus goes on to say that loving only those who love us is nothing more than basic humanity. Plenty of people who don’t belong to God are capable of such love, but as children of God we are called to a much higher standard. In fact, that standard is “to be perfect as He is perfect.”

Admittedly, that last bit is not easy to swallow. If perfection is the standard, how can any of us measure up? The Greek word here is telios, which does not mean “without flaw,” but “complete or mature.” It is also important to note that Jesus was specifically talking about love. Therefore, He is saying that one of the signs that we are maturing as believers is that we will love others the way God loves us as His children.

Application

Now, here comes the most challenging part. Jesus meant for us to live this message, not just hear it or be convicted by it, but to do it. So we must genuinely consider what that looks like in real-life settings. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I’ll suggest four possible groups of “enemies” Jesus has called us to love.

First, we must consider those who have hurt us. Admittedly, this one can be especially complicated. Loving those who have hurt us does not necessarily mean that we remain in close relationship with those persons. If loving is “giving of myself for the highest good of another,” it is not loving to enable or overlook sinful behavior. Loving them may require that we hold them accountable for their actions or even create necessary boundaries, but the enemy of our souls would be thrilled for us to spend the rest of our lives hating those who have hurt us. God calls us to love them through the act of forgiveness. Forgiveness does not mean that we live in denial, or pretend it didn’t hurt, or let them off the hook by rationalizing their actions. It simply means that we release them to God and trust God to bring either redemption or justice. But in doing so, we are released from the bondage of hate and freed to love.

Second, are those who are “not one of us.” We would like to think of our enemies solely as those we are tempted to actively hate or who hate us. In doing so, we might well conclude that these verses don’t really apply to us because we can’t easily identify that kind of enemy. However, those who first heard this message would have considered Samaritans, Romans or Gentiles to be enemies simply because they weren’t Jews.

Therefore, Jesus’ words confront all the ways we tend to think and act in tribal ways. Now, to use a good Southern phrase, I’m about to go meddling, but that’s exactly what Jesus was doing throughout the Sermon on the Mount. In a few months, we will be engaged in another presidential election. Four years ago, along with a pandemic and widespread racial tensions, our nation was perhaps at its tribal worst. There was the “Mask Tribe” and the “No Mask Tribe,” along with various racial, ethnic and political tribes. And, unfortunately, these tribes invaded many of our churches, often dividing longtime friends and even families. Perhaps, we didn’t think of those who were not loyal to our preferred tribe as enemies, but we sometimes treated them as such — especially in the remote and shallow world of social media.

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“Jesus’ standard is not ‘don’t hate.’ Jesus’ standard is agape love.”

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Please don’t misunderstand what I’m getting at. I’m not suggesting that we should all just get along: “I do me, and you do you.” Even as fellow believers, we can and will have convictions that sometimes lead to disagreements. There’s nothing wrong with openly expressing or even championing those convictions. When they do not rise to the level of biblical non-negotiables, we should at least respect opposing views. We would do better to give them due consideration in a spirit of humility, leaving open the door to new perspectives or deeper understanding.

But even when we disagree over non-negotiables and can no longer stand together as one, we are called to love. Please don’t miss this. Jesus’ standard is not “don’t hate.” Jesus’ standard is agape love, which means we actively give of ourselves for the highest good of those with whom we disagree. I dare say that Election Season 2024 will look radically different if we take Jesus’ words to heart and devote ourselves to living accordingly.

Third are those who actively oppose us and consider us to be their enemies. I was invited to bring this message just a few days after attending a conference in Montgomery, Alabama, ground zero of the Civil Rights Movement. It is impossible to bring a message on loving our enemies without acknowledging the incredible ways many African Americans in our nation have lived this message in their struggle for civil rights.

On two previous visits to Montgomery, Pam and I have visited the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We have been to other similar museums, such as the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and the Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Both of those are heartbreaking and profoundly convicting, but Montgomery was different because it hit so close to home, literally. I found the pillar devoted to those who had been lynched in my home county. As I read through the names, I saw the last names of several African American classmates or prominent white families in our area who were obviously slave owners. I learned that the county adjacent to ours (a county of only 10,000) had the most lynchings of any county in Georgia, outside of Fulton County (Atlanta). I read the story of a man whose grandson I personally knew well.

But here’s the thing. I had no idea those things had taken place so close to home because I never heard the stories. Nor did I hear accounts of courageous African Americans who led the way to end such atrocities. Many of those leaders were profoundly influenced by the teachings of Jesus and shaped their strategies in ways that honored His command to love their enemies. Chief among them was Martin Luther King Jr. I share here two brief excerpts from his sermon, “Loving Your Enemies,” from Matthew 5:43–38:

I would say the first reason, and I’m sure Jesus had this in mind, we should love our enemies is this: to return evil for evil only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. And somewhere along the way of life, somebody must have sense enough, somebody must have morality enough, somebody must have religion enough, to cut off the chain of hate and evil. And this can only be done by meeting hate with love. For you see in a real sense, if we return hate for hate, violence for violence, and all of that, it just ends up destroying everybody. And nobody wins in the long run. And it is the strong man who stands up in the midst of violence and refuses to return it. It is the strong man, not the weak man, who stands up in the midst of hate and returns love.

And so put us in jail, and we will go in with humble smiles on our faces, still loving you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country and make it appear that we are not fit morally, culturally, and otherwise for integration. And we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hours, and drag us out on some wayside road and beat us and leave us half dead, and we will still love you. (That’s right.) But be assured that we will wear you down (Yes indeed) by our capacity to suffer. (Yes) And one day we will win our freedom, but not only will we win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process. (Yes, Lord) And our victory will be a double victory. This seems to me the only answer and the only way to make our nation a new nation and our world a new world. Love is the absolute power.

What makes these words so powerful is that they weren’t hypothetical. Many of these things happened to King, himself, and all of them happened to folks he knew well. Yet, he never retreated from insisting that those who joined him must never stop loving those who opposed them, leaving us with a living example of what it looks like to love even those who oppose us.

Finally, we must consider the way we think about and respond to those who oppose us specifically because we are Christians. This is probably the most relevant and important category of all. Just as Jesus was, in effect, chastising His Jewish listeners for not loving non-Jews, He would chastise us for not loving non-Christians.

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“We are called to make disciples whose lives will begin to reflect those values as they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.”

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I think it’s fair to say that a large portion of the American church has been caught up in a culture war with non-Christians for several decades now, fighting to protect Christian values in an increasingly secular environment. On one level, it’s understandable. It would be relatively easy to make the case that the moral fiber of America has decayed significantly as we have drifted further and further toward secularism. And without question, I believe our nation would benefit if we would embrace biblical values, but there are two critical flaws with the idea of trying to win a culture war.

First, our primary mission as followers of Jesus is not to perpetuate Christian values. We are called to make disciples whose lives will begin to reflect those values as they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Further, as we live them out in Christian community, our collective witness will be our greatest testimony to a watching world. Frankly, we should not expect non-Christians to embrace Christian values apart from a living relationship with Jesus Christ and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

Second, when we shift our focus from disciple-making to fighting a culture war, we inevitably begin to view those with whom we disagree as enemies. And perhaps they really are enemies who despise us and everything we stand for, but guess what? Jesus said we are to love them and pray for them. Let’s not forget that it’s agape love He calls us to, meaning we demonstrate our love with blessing even in the face of persecution.

How can we possibly hope to win those who don’t yet know Jesus if we treat them with contempt? What would change if, instead of contempt, they were consistently met with sincere demonstrations of love? I have a feeling this is the kind of thing Jesus had in mind when He said earlier in the chapter, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14–16 ESV).

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Bishop Keith Cowart, D.Min., presides over the Free Methodist Church USA along the Eastern Seaboard and in the South and Midwest. He also provides ecclesiastical accountability in Europe, the Middle East, and the U.K./Ireland. He previously served as the superintendent of the Southeast Region Conference after 21 years as the founding lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Columbus, Georgia.  His educational experiences include doctoral and graduate degrees from Asbury Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Southern University. He is married to Pam Cowart, and they have two sons, Andrew and Aaron (Hannah Mae), and several grandchildren.

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