Flourishing by Following: Love, Hate, and Prayer (Matthew 5:43-48)
Introduction
Today, we will explore our passage of Scripture in a different way. This different way is going to be difficult. I want you to understand that right from the start. This passage from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount wrecked me. I admit that I am not where Jesus wants me to be. What Jesus calls us all to do is incredibly difficult. I wish I could say that I have mastered the actions outlined by Jesus in this passage, but I cannot. I want to share what Jesus teaches us today as someone who is walking alongside you on the path He calls us to. Some of you may be ahead of me in this journey, and that's wonderful. Let’s be patient with one another and support each other as we all take steps closer to Jesus. Later in our service, we will walk out the teaching of Jesus together. So, let me give the Big Idea right up front.
Big Idea: Jesus ruins your prayer list. This reflects my emotional response to our passage today. I felt a bit upset with Jesus. His teaching revealed that my prayer list reflects my heart. The people on the list, as well as those who are not on it, indicate how much the love of God has transformed my heart. Jesus encourages you and me to include people on our prayer list whom we don’t want to. I want to pray for my children, wife, sister, mother, and friends. I don’t want to pray for my enemies—those who have personally hurt me—yet this is precisely what Jesus calls us to and models for us. If we can bring ourselves to trust Jesus by praying for those who have caused us personal harm, we can experience profound healing and witness God do remarkable things in the lives of our enemies. Let’s explore together how Jesus ruins our prayer list.
Passage
Matthew 5:43-48, “43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. ’44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Distortion Through Addition and Subtraction
This section marks the sixth and final time that Jesus will correct the Pharisees, the Jewish religious teachers, for their misunderstanding and misapplication of the Old Testament. Jesus follows the same pattern of speech that He has used in the previous five sections: misunderstanding, correction, and application. This section is unique because the misunderstanding is more egregious, and the correction, along with the subsequent application, is more demanding.
“You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” distorts Leviticus 19:18 through addition and subtraction.
Leviticus 19:18, “18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
Let’s first consider how the Pharisees had subtracted from Leviticus 19. “As yourself” is omitted from the command to “love your neighbor,” shifting the emphasis from how you love to whom you love. This shift from manner to object may explain how the idea of hatred evolved in Jewish thinking. This may be why, when Jesus conversed with an expert in the Law about the command to love in Luke 10, the lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He wanted to know who should be on the list of those he was called to love. There appears to be an underlying thought behind the Pharisees’ teaching and the lawyer’s question: I only need to love my neighbor, and I’m not obligated to be concerned with those that are not my neighbors. This subtraction, which changes the focus, leads to the corrupted addition, “hate your enemy.”
The phrase “hate your enemy” is not found in the Old Testament; it is a later addition. This command to “hate” those who are not “neighbors” or fellow Jews overlooks the context of Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19:9 begins with teaching how to love one's neighbors, and verse 10 addresses loving the poor and sojourners by not harvesting all your crops but leaving some for foreigners and the less fortunate. Additionally, the subsequent commands—such as not stealing, robbing, or committing injustice—also apply to how Jews treat non-Jews. Exodus 20 lists similar commands with no restriction on the recipients of these behaviors. Leviticus 19 hardly promotes hatred to outsiders. The command to “love” is extended to the sojourner in verse 34. In Exodus 23:4-5, God commanded his people to look after the livestock and animals of an enemy. This is similar to the command in Deuteronomy 22:1-4, which instructs how to care for a fellow Israelite's animals. Moses didn’t command the Jews to hate non-Jews.
Now, we must keep in mind that the Old Testament contains many depictions of warfare, where God instructed His people to carry out His justice against evil people, and the Israelites would reflect God’s opposition to these evil people. This sort of opposition was not meant as a sanction for ethnic hatred, but one can see how it could be taken to that further step, which history shows it did. The Qumran community of Essenes, a Jewish minority sect, taught that Jews should “love all the sons of light” and “hate all the sons of darkness.” The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus records that the Essenes were required to vow to “always hate the wicked and assist the righteous.” Tacitus, the Roman senator and historian, concluded that hatred of non-Jews was an essential part of the Jewish religion. Jesus confronts this promotion of hatred and calls His followers to love their enemies.
Love and Prayer
The Pharisees' understanding of Leviticus 19 was clearly less than it should have been. Jesus doesn’t just clarify the meaning of Leviticus 19; He goes beyond its commands. This indiscriminate love that Jesus teaches extends beyond the Old Testament. Jesus' instruction here clearly shows us who to pray for and may also indicate when we should pray for them. Let's first consider whom we should pray for. This answer seems obvious in the text, but we often abstract the concept of an enemy by distancing ourselves from them. This is how I applied this passage to my life, but I now realize I missed the true calling of what Jesus intended.
Notice how close the relationships and interactions are in this passage. They are not distant but near. Jesus speaks about those who “persecute you,” “who love you,” and refers to greeting “your brothers.” He is not talking about distance or generalizing opponents. He wants us to think of those who have personally injured us. Jesus desires us not to merely consider a terrorist thousands of miles away, but rather the individual who got close to us and hurt us. This is where Jesus' words wrecked me. I have often prayed against my enemies, asking that they experience God’s justice, but I haven’t devoted enough time to praying for them, wishing that they would experience the forgiveness of God. Not only is the “whom” of our prayers challenging, but the “when” is also.
When should we pray for our persecutors? To answer this question, we must look deeper into the grammar of what Jesus says. We can form verbs and actions in ways that add meaning. The most basic way we do this is by changing the verb tense: past, present, or future. We change the verb “kick” into “kicked” to indicate a past action or “will kick” to signify a future action. We can also modify a verb to illustrate how the action occurs. For instance, we can transform the verb “kick” into the participle “kicking” to demonstrate repeated action. We can say, “I am kicking the bag” to show that we are continuously kicking it. The present participle “persecuting” is formed in such a way that it may communicate that the action is continuous and simultaneous with the act of “prayer,” suggesting that Jesus wanted His followers to pray while they were being persecuted, not just after their wounds had healed, which is an act He performed. Jesus prayed in Luke 23 for those who were in the process of crucifying Him. It is hard to fathom praying for someone as they hurt you. The timing of this prayer, as you are persecuted, aligns with the proximity of the prayer; it is for the one who hurts you personally.
As we apply Jesus' teaching here, I want you to think of an enemy who is close, not far away. Who is near to you that has hurt you? This is who we are going to pray for today. This will not be easy. You may think you do not have the power to offer such a prayer. When you keep your gaze horizontal, on the person who hurt you, you will feel powerless to make such a prayer, but when you look up to your heavenly Father, this prayer comes into reach. “Looking up” is where Jesus moves us in verses 45-48.
Showing Sonship, Not Worldly Imitation
Jesus uses the categories of “tax collectors” and “Gentiles” as His audience would. He is not endorsing discrimination; Jesus had many positive interactions with both groups, even calling a tax collector to join His closest group of followers. Instead, He illustrates that those deemed corrupt by others love their friends and hate their enemies. We will not find or be encouraged to embrace love for our enemies by looking horizontally.
Tax collectors made their living on commission. Taking more taxes than Rome required earned them higher commissions and made them known as “licensed robbers.” Tax collection was one of the most despised trades. A tax collector could render a Jewish home spiritually unclean with his presence. Jewish law forbade a beggar from receiving money from a tax collector, and their testimony was also invalid in court, using them as a moral comparison was provocative. Clearly, Jesus sees the source of the love He calls us to as coming from above.
Jesus instructs His followers to look up and see the kindness and love of their heavenly Father, who brings rain and sunshine to all, both just and unjust. In the ancient world, rain and sun were seen as blessings, as both were greatly needed to ensure a good harvest of crops. We should be inspired by and mimic God's love. Loving and praying for our “enemies” doesn’t make us sons but shows that we already are sons. The verb translated “you may be” indicates growth or progress. We are growing up in our sonship, our reflection of our Father. It’s like a son learning the craft of his father. The New Testament often speaks of mimicking the love of God (Matt. 5; Eph. 5; 1 Pet. 1; 1 John 4). This shows us that love does not come from looking at our enemies but from gazing at our heavenly Father. Our enemies haven’t earned our love. We have experienced the Father's love, which leads us to love others.
As we attempt to apply this teaching of Jesus, I asked you to first think of someone who has hurt you personally. Now, I would like you to focus on the abundance of love and forgiveness God has shown you. This is the well you must drink from in order to travel the distance of loving and praying for your enemies.
Conclusion
Jesus ruins your prayer list. He expands it beyond our comfort. He puts people who have caused us great pain on there. This is a heavy calling, and it is not something we do alone. Jesus has done the same, being fully acquainted with the weight of such a burden, and He promises to carry that burden with you. When we respond to such a call, we step into a space of healing and potential revival. Stephen, in Acts 7, prayed for those who were stoning him to death. He prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Stephen prayed for the forgiveness of the crowd killing him. Luke, the writer of Acts, only mentions one man by name in the crowd of killers, Saul. After the account of Stephen's death, Luke recorded the persecution Saul brought against the church and his radical conversion. In Acts 9, Stephen's prayer was answered when Saul turned from his sin and experienced the forgiveness of God. Saul's name was changed to Paul. He became the primary church planter, leader, and New Testament author. Maybe if we started praying more like Stephen, we would see more Pauls.
Steps
We are going to transition into a time of guided prayer. This time consists of two movements: 1. An awareness of our enemy and Jesus ’presence, and 2. An appreciation for the forgiveness you have experienced, along with a request that your enemy experiences that same forgiveness. We will first enter the awareness part as the band plays a song. I will return to the stage and guide us into the next part about experiencing forgiveness. The band will then lead us into another song. Lastly, we will rejoice in God, who can turn these difficult prayers into revival. You may be unable during this time to move all the way through these steps. That’s okay. I hope you will take one step toward Jesus' call of loving and praying for your enemy.
If you are here today and have not yet decided to follow Jesus, I want you to witness this process, contemplating the lyrics we are singing and watching those around you pray for their enemies. Imagine being so filled with love that you can love those who hate you. When you come to Jesus for forgiveness, He will begin to fill you with that kind of love. Come to Him, friend; He has been waiting for you.
Life Level Application
Head: The sermon cites Exodus 23:4-5 and Deuteronomy 22:1-4. How do these passages demonstrate that the Old Testament's instructions regarding enemies didn't inherently promote hatred? How can we avoid misinterpreting Old Testament commands in the same way the Pharisees did?
Heart: The sermon suggests looking “up” to the Father's love as the source for loving enemies. How does focusing on God's love for you empower you to extend love to your enemies? Consider the transformative power of God's grace as described in Ephesians 2:4-10.
Hand: Read Luke 10:25-37. The lawyer answered Jesus' question correctly, yet he still wanted to “justify” himself. What do you think was his motive for asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” How does Jesus' parable (story) answer the lawyer's question?
Habit: The sermon uses the example of Stephen's prayer (Acts 7:60) for his murderers and its surprising outcome, the conversion of Saul (Acts 9:1-31). How does this story illustrate the power of praying for your enemies? How can this story inspire your own approach to intercessory prayer?
Songs from this morning:
He Reigns – David Funk
King of my Heart – Bethel
I Am Not Alone – Kari Jobe
Do It Again - Elevation Worship
Take You At Your Word – Cody Carnes