Matthew 5:43-48
Love Your Enemies
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.
Psalm 110:2
Jesus Will Rule Over and in the Midst of His Enemies
2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of your enemies!"
Luke 23:32-43
Jesus on the Cross Between Two Thieves
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father,forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Believers know that Jesus came for sinners...In fact, He went around talking, teaching and forgiving people on earth and letting all of His followers the importance of forgiveness...There was no one like Him on the subject of forgiving others, in this respect because we sin and He never sinned...So in this way, He did not have a these things in common with others...
Jesus is a forgiving One, and He could even forgive His enemies, and would sincerely pray for them...Jesus said God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous...If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?...Are not even the tax collectors doing that?...He is telling us that it is easier to forgive those we love than those we do not know or are different from us...And if we greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?...Do not even pagans do that?...He says, be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect...
It is nice to sit among friends and enjoy the common things you have with them...It is like sitting among roses and lilies, and not with people who you have little in common with...There is something to say about friendship...There is this happiness we have when we are around our family and friends...Yet, as we study Jesus' teachings do not learn a lot on the subject of happiness and teachings about friendship...Jesus was one out there meeting people of all types head on, no matter who they were...Often eating with sinners and tax collectors...And for me many of His teachings are a paradox, with much controversy, yet at the same time He spoke the greatest words ever spoken...And not only this, He made the difficult tasks of teachings often look easy...So how can this be?...
King David wrote that the LORD, his LORD would rule and extend His mighty scepter beyond Israel and would rule in the midst of His enemies...David foresaw that the Messiah would one day rule in the midst of His enemies...But not only would He rule among and in the midst of His enemies -He wants us to go much further and way beyond that...He want us to love them...
Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’...But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 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...If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?...Are not even the tax collectors doing that?..And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?...Do not even pagans do that?...Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect...
Martin Luther wrote in his book, Life Together, “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of His enemies...At the end all His disciples deserted Him...On the Cross He was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers...For this cause He had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God....So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes...There is His commission, His work...'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies...And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people...O' you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ!..If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared'...
It seems there are times in our lives we are to move out of our comfort and into an area that is in the midst of those who do not believe in Jesus...A place of discomfort and among enemies...Jesus was willing to go anywhere and meet with those who opposed Him and who did not believe in Him...He often was in a place that would make one feel uncomfortable...And as Martin Luther says at the end of His life on earth, He was deserted and alone...He was between two thieves...And on the cross they crucified Him there in a place called the Skull, along with the criminals—one on His right, the other on His left...Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”...And they divided up His clothes by casting lots...The soldiers also came up and mocked Him...They offered Him wine vinegar and said, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”...
And on His cross there was a written notice above Jesus, which read: this is the King of the JEWS...One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t you the Messiah?...Save yourself and us!”...But the other criminal rebuked Him...“Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?...We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve...But this Man has done nothing wrong.”...Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”...Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”...
As Martin Luther writes it sometimes takes suffering to get and be in the Kingdom of God...We naturally would rather feel comfortable and have an easy life...And it is nice to be among friends...We work for an easy life...But Jesus' life ended in suffering, torture and hardship...And sometimes we must go there...Those who are wicked and evil are non-believers...They are often are enemies...We may be uncomfortable and afraid...But we have and get the chance for them to see our actions...Or to talk to them about Jesus and help them get closer to Him...This is a very difficult task, that He somehow make look easy...But that is the way of the cross...