“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” —Luke 6:27-36 (NRSV)
There are times when I read the Bible where I cannot relate to the situation at hand. I’m not sure what it’s like to build a boat or leave Egypt for a land flowing with milk and honey. I’ve never seen a chariot made of fire or been involved in a shipwreck. Never have I ever been married to more than one woman! But here in Luke chapter 6, Jesus speaks eternal principles that are easy to decipher, and yet they are also challenging in true understanding and practice.
Earlier in this chapter, Jesus gathers everyone together on “a level place” (v.17) and lays out this critical information: Love people. Not only love just any people, but love your own enemies! He also gives some practical situations in which one can practice this love. Do not be too attached to your clothes if others take an interest in them. Turn the other cheek. Be an active good to those who hate you. (Hate you!) Seemingly, the main thrust of verses 27-31 is that Jesus is exhorting us to let other people take advantage of us.
In the next part of this pericope (v.32-36), Jesus turns this concept around into a new light: Even bad people do good to those they love. Are you on this same level or can we be different? Jesus is calling all of us into a new understanding of humanity. This is not simply being nice to others. Being nice to others is what keeps our churches segregated and the marginalized in the shadows, even in a conference-owned building during the worship hour on Sabbath. The words of Christ here call us to a closer relationship with one another, especially in a world where barriers and delineations are becoming more and more stark. This is not unlike the world in which Jesus spoke these words into. Roman, Jew, Gentile, man, woman. All with their place in the strata of society. Our time and place has some different labels, but similar structures. Jesus challenges us to break the patterns of hate for hate, instead instructing love and humility.
The critical question leaps from the page! Do we want to be rewarded as children of the Most High? Be kind and merciful to the ungrateful, just as God is. When we deal in hate, we are the ungrateful and are mired in the quicksand of worldly habits, exchanging an eye for an eye and much enmity. We are reminded that there is a higher calling for those who wish to follow Jesus. No matter the inconvenience, we must heed the words spoken on “a level place” that turn stranger into kindred and unites all for something more – an actionable love that can light up the sky!
These words, spoken by Jesus so long ago, have an imperative meaning for us today also—“the fierce urgency of now,” as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. calls it. Find a practical way to love your enemy so that the words of Jesus echo into eternity, where submission and reconciliation will shape us all for God’s kingdom and glory.
Kevin Straine is the Associate Chaplain at La Sierra University. He is married to Marni and father to Cooper and Milo.