What is the most impossible commandment in the Bible? With my nervous disposition, I used to say Psa. 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God”. And when I first examined the verses on marriage, I thought it was Ephes. 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church”. But I have now come to believe that Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:43-44 is the hardest. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy, But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you , do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Why is this the hardest? This is the hardest because it is impossible for any human in his own strength to love his enemies, and yet it is not impossible because God never commands us to do anything that we cannot do. It is interesting to note that while the Old Testament commands that “we love our enemies”, the rabbis refused to follow this teaching by adding to the commandment which according to them would say, “love your neighbor, but hate your enemy.” No such teaching is found anywhere in the Old Testament.
In order for us to understand this command, we need to ask several questions.
- What is the meaning of love in the command? Many people flippantly say, “I love my enemies” but only mean, “I will tolerate them, ignore them, or have nothing to do with them”. But this is not the meaning of Christian love. Christian love is always proactive, never passive and inactive. It means to positively reach out and take special actions of kindness and help towards another. This is clearly seen when Jesus goes on to say that loving your enemies means that you will bless them, do good to them and pray for them who hate you.
- Does loving your enemies mean you must like them? No, to like another is based upon your personal preference regarding others, while love is based upon the fact that no matter what objectionable traits others may possess, they are still of infinite worth to God for 2 reasons: (1) Each is created in God’s image, (2) Christ died for every single person.
- Does loving your enemies mean you must feel like loving them? No, feeling is an emotion which you cannot always control. Loving is exercising your will. Since Christian love is an act of the will, and not simply an emotion, Jesus has the right to command us to love our enemies: after all, He loved us when were His enemies (Rom. 5:10).
- Who are ones enemies? Jesus describes them: Those who curse you, those who hate you and those who persecute you.
- Has anyone ever kept this commandment? Yes.
- Stephen – Acts 7:60
- Jesus- “Father forgive them… (Luke 23:34; Matthew 27:39
Having made these clarifications, let us move on now and ask, How can I keep this commandment? Jesus tells us in three ways:
- You are to bless those who curse you. Meaning those who have condemned, assaulted, told lies, assassinated your character and even treated you in an ungodly way. Example: The way David treated Saul in I Samuel 24.
- You are to do good to those who hate you.
Example # 1: Story related by S. I. McMillan in, None of these Diseases.
Example # 2: Dr. Paige Patterson sends expensive tie to worst enemy every six
months.
Example #3: Neighbor who gave his sick neighbor chicken soup after he had killed and eaten his only chicken.
- You are to pray for those who despise and persecute you. Illus: The persecuted pastors of India after being assaulted by 100 Hindus who said they were inspired by the “Monkey gods”. When we pray for our enemies, we find it is easier to love them. It takes “poison” out of our attitude.
What are the results when you love your enemies? According to Jesus, there three:
- You prove to the world that you are a child of God. Jesus says that when you love those who love you, you only do what even a criminal would do. It is only when you love those who hate you that you prove you are a Christian. (Matt. 5:46) Love for friends require no divine power. The unsaved can do that; there is nothing distinctively Christian about it.. If our standards are no higher than the world’s, it is certain that we will never make an impact on the world.
- You also demonstrate in your own life that you are God like. Jesus points out that “God sends rain on the just and the unjust”. (Matt. 5:45).
- Indeed you will be demonstrating the perfection of your heavenly Father. Jesus says “therefore be ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). The perfection demanded here does not mean sinless perfection, but it means to treat even your enemies in the same way your heavenly Father treats them.
Final Word. The truth above confronts us with the absolute necessity of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It would be impossible for you to keep this commandment without His power. Paul explains this perfectly in Romans 8:3-4. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak, through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit”.