“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For it you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:38-48 (NABRE)
Jesus’ words overturned millennia of Middle Eastern thought on love and retribution.
To love an enemy seems wrong on the surface. It pushes back against every instinct we have to want malevolence and misfortune to befall those who hate us and do us wrong. We might even say that Jesus is asking us to go too far or to do something that is beyond our power to do. Yet that is the point: it is beyond our power to love our enemies, but with God, as we know, nothing is impossible.
To love another simply means to want what is best for them. We may not like a particular person, but we must love them. God extends his love and provision to all, causing sunlight and rain to benefit the good and the bad alike. Imagine, though, if God loved selectively. It would be a truly horrifying thing to be among those who God would not love in that (thankfully) made-up scenario. But just as God loves universally, so must we. To wish the good of another is such a general guideline for our relationships, but practically applied, we can see why at least desiring that others experience good is such an important exercise.
Part of this means wanting others to change for the better in their belief and conduct, and this is central to the desire of a missionary. If we don’t love our enemies, then we discount ourselves from being the instruments God wants to use in order to bring about their conversion and ultimately their everlasting salvation. The Church, as inherently missionary as she is, cannot accomplish her important work of evangelization if her members have closed themselves off from reaching out and wanting the better of those who reject the Lord. This is especially so for those who genuinely hate us.
It is also worth remembering that Jesus practiced exactly what He preached here in loving even those who crucified Him and treated Him so maliciously.
Thank you for reading. Peace.
Eat the Scroll 