MATTHEW 5:44
Elder Mark Green
“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” (Matt. 5.44).
This is an exceedingly difficult command for us to follow, but follow it we must. It is diametrically opposed to our sinful natures. To have someone do something bad to us and then to allow it to go unavenged is contrary to our inclinations, but God has reserved vengeance for Himself. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rm. 12.9). God has not
placed vengeance within our bailiwick. That He reserves solely for himself.
Did not Christ himself do just as He here commands us to do? “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Pet. 2.23). How many times did He endure without retaliation the epithets hurled against Him? We are sinners, and if we do not deserve the rebukes that are given us in a particular instance, certainly we deserve them in many others; but He was “holy, harmless and undefiled.” Not once was He worthy of any reproof, yet He did not revile them which said such unjust things against Him, but left justice in the hands of the Father, whose judgment is always righteous. Could there be any better place for us to leave the matter? We do not need to worry that He will not do exactly what is right in His providential dealings in every case, for He will.
I do not understand that this command requires that we feel warm and tender emotions toward the vilest of men who are doing the vilest of things. “Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?” David asked (Psa. 139.21). However, we need to understand that love does not always denote tender feelings. In 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle gives a code of conduct that he defines as charity or love. This is how we are to treat others. We might not always be able to dictate what our emotions will be, but we can control our actions. We can treat others as the Scriptures tell us to treat them. That is love, and we can love our enemies in that sense. We can do good to them who treat us badly.
The main thought of Jesus’ command deals, I believe, with how we are to respond to religious persecution. How different is this to the reaction of those who look to the sword (government) as their defense! God is our defense, and true religion needs no other. Instead of mounting a political campaign against our antagonists, we should bless them, do good to them and pray for them. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” were the gracious words of our Lord from the cross, even while the soldiers were gambling over His only natural possession.
We show that we are followers of the meek and lowly Lamb of God by our conduct. Let us be reminded once again by the consideration of this weighty verse of Holy Writ as to how we ought to act. Mark Green, The Christian Pathway, Jan. 2006.