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 “lover of god.” 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 we’re 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. I’ve 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, “If my mom says she likes these jeans, can I return them even if there’s nothing wrong?” 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, “But to you who are listening I say.” Back in Luke 6:20 Jesus was speaking to his disciples. If it weren’t for these words, many would argue that these words were merely for the disciples, but so that there was no confusion, Jesus specifies, “to you who are listening.” This word is for everybody. If these words fall on your ears, they are for you. “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies.”
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 “love.” 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. It’s 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 “Godly love,” but that doesn’t 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. It’s 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 “fell in love” with someone. As my wife and I got to know each other better, it just kind of happened. It wasn’t 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 don’t go out of our way to make them happen. Like with “falling in love,” these kinds of love, as we get to know people, just seem to happen, but agape love is different. It is deliberate.
Let’s 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, “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.” Many have used this verse to condone pacifism. Others will argue against this verse saying that if we followed it we’d 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 Jesus’ 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 Jesus’ 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 doesn’t turn to the man who slapped him and say, “Oh, you missed one. Try this cheek too.” Instead, he firmly, but with tact and courtesy, rebuked the one that slapped him. Likewise, in Acts 23:2-3 Paul didn’t dream of holding to the literal letter of these words. Rather, Jesus’ words are an assertion of a great principle, to love your enemies.
Next Jesus says, “If 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.” Again, to faithfully cling to the literal words would be to ignore the principle. Jesus’ 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, “Give to everyone who asks,” 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 doesn’t 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 don’t deserve it. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
Jesus then goes on to summarize all of this with what has become known as The Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them to do you.” When we love others, it requires us to treat them in the way that we want to be treated rather than how they’ve treated us. This isn’t difficult for those that we love with an eros or phileo kind of love. It’s 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.’
By Corrie ten Boom
In the book, “Reflections of God’s Glory,” 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, “My neighbor’s straw roof was on fire; I helped him to put it out and that’s how my hands were burned.”
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, didn’t 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 neighbor’s roof. It was during these efforts that his hands were burned. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
On Valentine’s 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 Valentine’s Day, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”