God’s Standard of Love
Luke has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible and is my favorite gospel. Not only do I like the fact that Luke went to great lengths to study and include historical details into his gospel, I love the fact that this gospel was written to a primarily Gentile audience. In the first verses he specifies that he is writing to someone by the name of Theophilus, which literally translates to âlover of god.â Some even make the case that Theophilus was a pseudonym and maybe even indicates that this gospel was written for all lovers of God.
This idea of loving God and loving others is rampant throughout scripture, but here in Luke 6:27-36, as Jesus is teaching the people, we get a specific look at the standard of love that God has set forth for us. Jesus is laying out examples and directions about what it means to love. In instances like this where weâre given a list of rules, we as humans tend to react in a few different ways. Many of us choose to openly rebel. We see this primarily in teenagers and children, but we as adults are not immune. Iâve once heard of a store clerk that overheard a teenage girl buying a pair of jeans. As she was checking out she asked the cashier, âIf my mom says she likes these jeans, can I return them even if thereâs nothing wrong?â The fact that the standard is set makes us want to rebel against it.
Others see the rules and embrace embrace them. We follow the rule to the letter and make sure that we never deviate from it. If by chance we fail to live up to the law we beat ourselves up and chastise ourselves for our failure to live up to the standard that has been set. Others see the letter of the law and try to find loopholes. When the law is set before us we seek, through the law itself, to exempt ourselves from it. That is why this passage starts with the words, âBut to you who are listening I say.â Back in Luke 6:20 Jesus was speaking to his disciples. If it werenât for these words, many would argue that these words were merely for the disciples, but so that there was no confusion, Jesus specifies, âto you who are listening.â This word is for everybody. If these words fall on your ears, they are for you. âBut to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies.â
Before we can truly embrace and follow this command, we must understand the command. In the Greek language there are many words which are translated in our Bibles as âlove.â There is eros which is a romantic type of love that you feel for your spouse or significant other. There is phileo which is a brotherly type of love. This is the type of love that you hold for your siblings or close friends. Itâs not the touchy feely, I want to kiss you type of love as eros, but it is love none the less. Finally there is agape love. Agape love is typically described as a âGodly love,â but that doesnât really explain anything. What does it mean to have a Godly love?
Agape love describes a positive feeling towards somebody. A feeling in which you only want good for that person. Itâs a feeling of benevolence that, no matter what that person does to you or somebody you love, you will never desire for anything but their benefit. No matter what may happen, you will intentionally go out of our way to be good and kind to them. This type of love is completely different from the other two types. We cannot love our enemies in the same way that we love our spouse or our best friend. It would be unnatural. When speaking of romantic love, we often say that we âfell in loveâ with someone. As my wife and I got to know each other better, it just kind of happened. It wasnât that I tried to or forced myself to love her (and I trust she’d say the same about me). When we develop those close phileo, brotherly friendships, we donât go out of our way to make them happen. Like with âfalling in love,â these kinds of love, as we get to know people, just seem to happen, but agape love is different. It is deliberate.
This love for our enemies is more than just a matter of the heart. Itâs a matter of the will. It says that no matter what the other person does to us, whether they mistreat us, speak against us, or injure us, we will seek nothing but their highest good. Itâs not something that you may always feel like doing. Jesus isnât telling us to have warm fuzzy feelings for every person that does wrong to us. We often canât help how we feel, but we can choose how we act and react to our enemies. Instead itâs something that, through the grace of God, we can will ourselves to do.
Letâs take a look at the examples that Jesus gives that we might have a better understanding of what it means to love our enemies. In verse 29 he states, âIf someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.â Many have used this verse to condone pacifism. Others will argue against this verse saying that if we followed it weâd simply become punching bags for those that wish to mistreat us. As we read the words of Jesus in this passage, we must understand that Jesusâ words here are clothed in the language of Eastern picturesqueness. Suffice it to say that he exaggerated in order to get his point across. Jesus was trying to drive home, to the crowds that had gathered, these great yet novel truths that he was trying to impress upon them. In this era, much like today, a strike on the face was as much of an insult as an injury. The natural reaction when somebody strikes you or insults you is to reciprocate. We want to hurt them back, just as bad or maybe even worse than they hurt us, but Jesusâ command is to turn the other cheek, to look on this person with love and wish only the best for them.
Jesus demonstrates this for us in John 18:22-23. Notice that Jesus doesnât turn to the man who slapped him and say, âOh, you missed one. Try this cheek too.â Instead, he firmly, but with tact and courtesy, rebuked the one that slapped him. Likewise, in Acts 23:2-3 Paul didnât dream of holding to the literal letter of these words. Rather, Jesusâ words are an assertion of a great principle, to love your enemies.
Next Jesus says, âIf someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.â Again, to faithfully cling to the literal words would be to ignore the principle. Jesusâ words are an overstatement intended to heighten the importance. St. Augustine suggested that a look more closely at the words gives us insight into their practical application. When it says, âGive to everyone who asks,â it does not say to give them everything for which they ask. In many cases simply giving somebody what they ask for will not help their situation. In cases like these, words to heal the hurt of the soul would be better suited than physical possessions to fulfill the whims of the flesh. Instead, at its principle we must understand that what belongs to us doesnât actually belong to us. We must be like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. When Jesus called them to himself, they left their boats and their nets and followed him. Likewise, out of love, give generously, even to those that donât deserve it. As Jesus said, âIt is more blessed to give than to receiveâ (Acts 20:35).
Jesus then goes on to summarize all of this with what has become known as The Golden Rule, âDo to others as you would have them to do you.â When we love others, it requires us to treat them in the way that we want to be treated rather than how theyâve treated us. This isnât difficult for those that we love with an eros or phileo kind of love. Itâs not difficult for me to treat my wife the way that I wish to be treated. Jesus expands upon this idea in Luke 6:32-34 when he compares our actions to those of ‘sinners.’
In the book, âReflections of Godâs Glory,â Corrie ten Boom wrote the story of an African man. The man came to a meeting, and his hands were covered in bandages. She asked him what had happened to his hands, and he replied, âMy neighborâs straw roof was on fire; I helped him to put it out and thatâs how my hands were burned.â
She tells how later she was able to hear the rest of the story. The man’s neighbor had hated him. He hated him so much that he had set fire to the roof of his hut while his wife and children were asleep inside. The man managed to get his family out and extinguish the fire without anyone getting hurt, but not before sparks from his roof flew over to the roof of the neighbor that had originally started the fire. The man, being a Christian, didnât hate his neighbor for what he had done. In fact, just as Jesus commanded, he loved his neighbor, his enemy, and did everything within his power to put out the fire on his neighborâs roof. It was during these efforts that his hands were burned. âLove your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.â
On Valentineâs Day we like to focus on love. Love for our spouses, love for that special someone, love for your children, family, or friends, but if we love only those that love us, what credit is that to us? This Valentineâs Day, âLove your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.â