The Perfection of a Wartime Love Text: Matthew 5:43-48
Introduction: The Christian Counter-Culture
We live in an age that is drowning in sentimentalism, and this sentimentalism has thoroughly infected the church. We have taken the hard, glorious, demanding teachings of Jesus Christ and have domesticated them, turning them into the sort of inspirational fluff you might find on a throw pillow. And nowhere is this more apparent than when we come to the command to love our enemies. For many, this is the central ethic of a neutered Christianity, a call for a universal, smiling niceness that makes no demands and draws no distinctions. It is the anthem of the evangelical squish, who interprets this to mean that we are not supposed to have any enemies at all, except, of course, for those hardline Christians who insist on believing the whole Bible.
But the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are not gentle suggestions for a more peaceable world. They are kingdom declarations. They are the constitution of a new and rival government. Christ is not offering therapeutic advice; He is issuing marching orders. And this command to love our enemies is not a call to pacifism or a retreat from the battle. It is the central strategy for how the battle is to be won. It is a command that distinguishes the children of the kingdom from the children of this world with startling clarity. It is not a call to lay down our arms, but rather to take up the right weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty.
This passage comes at the climax of a series of antitheses where Jesus contrasts the teaching of the scribes with the true meaning of the law. "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you." He is not abolishing the law, but rather fulfilling it, pressing it to its ultimate conclusion, revealing its true heart. And here, He confronts a piece of traditional wisdom that had become a comfortable justification for the old Adam in all of us: love your friends, and hate your enemies. It seems reasonable. It seems natural. It is the operating principle of every pagan society, every political tribe, and every high school clique. And Jesus says that His people will be utterly different.
The world is divided into warring tribes, fueled by resentment and bitterness. Our culture is a seething cauldron of hatreds. But the church is called to be a culture of supernatural, enemy-loving grace. This is not optional. It is the family resemblance of the children of God. It is the path to perfection.
The Text
"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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
(Matthew 5:43-48 LSB)
Correcting the Commentary (v. 43)
Jesus begins by citing a popular distortion of the Old Testament law.
"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'" (Matthew 5:43)
Now, we must be careful here. The first part of that phrase, "You shall love your neighbor," is a direct quote from Leviticus 19:18. That is God's law, and it is good. But the second part, "and hate your enemy," is nowhere to be found in the law of Moses. This was a scribal gloss, a piece of popular commentary that had been tacked on to the end of God's command. It was a man-made tradition that twisted the law into a justification for personal vengeance and tribal animosity. They had defined "neighbor" in the narrowest possible way, to mean "my fellow Israelite who thinks and acts like me." Everyone else, therefore, was an enemy to be hated.
This is what happens when men try to soften the edges of God's law to make it more manageable. They create loopholes. The law says love your neighbor. The scribal tradition added, "and that gives you permission to hate everyone else." It is the spirit of legalism, which is always looking for a way to technically keep the rule while violating its heart. Jesus comes to demolish these man-made hedges and restore the radical demand of true righteousness. He is not setting aside the Old Testament; He is setting aside the faulty commentary on the Old Testament.
The Impossible Command (v. 44)
In direct opposition to the world's wisdom, Jesus issues a command that is sheer impossibility for any man in the flesh.
"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:44 LSB)
This is not a suggestion to feel a vague, warm sentiment toward those who wish you harm. The love spoken of here is agape love. It is not a feeling but a determined act of the will. It is a commitment to seek the highest good of another, regardless of their actions or your feelings toward them. This is a love that gives, that serves, that blesses. And Jesus gets intensely practical. How do you love your enemies? You pray for them. Specifically, you pray for those who are actively making your life miserable, those who persecute you.
Prayer is the engine room of this kind of love. You cannot sincerely pray for someone's salvation, for God to bless them and turn their heart, and continue to harbor bitterness and hatred toward them. Prayer forces you to see your enemy as God sees them: as a creature made in His image, a sinner in need of the same grace that saved you. This command is a direct assault on our pride, our self-pity, and our thirst for vengeance. It is a sheer impossibility for the old Adam. This is a supernatural ethic for a supernatural people.
The Family Resemblance (v. 45)
The reason for this radical command is that it demonstrates our identity as children of God. It is the family resemblance.
"so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:45 LSB)
We are to love our enemies because our Father loves His enemies. This is not speaking of His redemptive, saving love, which is particular to His elect. This is speaking of His common grace. God does not make the sun shine only on the farms of believers. He does not restrict the blessing of rain to the gardens of the righteous. He pours out temporal blessings, common kindnesses, on all His creatures, even those who are in active rebellion against Him. Every breath an atheist takes is a gift from the God he denies. Every meal a blasphemer enjoys is a provision from the Father he curses.
As sons of this extravagantly generous Father, we are to imitate Him. Our love is to reflect His common grace. We are to be agents of blessing in the world, not just to our friends, but to all. When we do good to those who hate us, we are demonstrating to the world what our Father is like. We are showing them the character of the God who is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. This is evangelism in its purest form.
The Low Bar of Pagan Virtue (v. 46-47)
Jesus then drives the point home by showing how unremarkable the world's standard of love really is.
"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" (Matthew 5:46-47 LSB)
This is a devastating critique of a self-centered faith. If your love extends only as far as your own circle of friends, your own political party, your own tribe, you are doing nothing noteworthy. You are simply operating on the principle of reciprocity. The mafia operates on this principle. The most corrupt tax collectors, despised as traitors by the Jews, were good to their friends. The pagans, who worshipped sticks and stones, were friendly to their own kind. This is basic, fallen human nature. It is quid pro quo. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
Jesus is asking, "What more are you doing?" The righteousness of the kingdom must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and it must certainly surpass the common decency of the pagans. The distinguishing mark of a Christian is not that he loves his friends. The distinguishing mark is that he loves his enemies. This is the "more." This is the radical difference. If our love looks just like the world's love, then we have no gospel to offer them. We are just another tribe.
The Call to Maturity (v. 48)
The section concludes with a staggering, seemingly impossible command.
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48 LSB)
This verse has caused no end of trouble for people. Some have used it to fall into despair, knowing they can never achieve sinless perfection. Others have used it to promote a works-based righteousness, a kind of spiritual ladder-climbing. But we must read it in its context. The word for "perfect" here (teleios) means mature, complete, or whole. In this context, the perfection or maturity God requires is a love that is complete, a love that does not make distinctions between friend and foe. It is a whole love, an all-embracing love, just as our Father's common grace is all-embracing.
To be perfect as our Father is perfect is to love the way He loves in this passage: to love without partiality, to extend goodness and kindness to the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous. It is to have a mature, complete love that is not limited by the world's categories of deserving and undeserving. Of course, this is impossible in our own strength. But the one who gives the command is also the one who fulfills it in us. We are declared perfect in Christ through justification. His perfect righteousness is credited to our account. And on that basis, we are then called to grow up into that perfection through sanctification. We are set free from the curse of condemnation in order to begin the joyful, lifelong task of learning to love like our Father.
Conclusion: Grace for Your Enemies
The command to love your enemies is the very heart of the gospel. Why? Because while we were yet enemies, Christ died for us. God did not wait for us to clean up our act. He did not wait for us to become His friends. He loved us in the midst of our rebellion, our treason, our enmity. He sent His Son to die for His enemies, in order to make them His friends.
God's redemptive love for us, His enemies, is the foundation and the power for our love for our enemies. We can love those who persecute us because God in Christ first loved us when we were persecuting Him. We can pray for those who hate us because Christ prayed for us from the cross, "Father, forgive them."
This is not a call to be a doormat. This ethic is for individuals, not for the civil magistrate, who is called to bear the sword against evil. But in our personal dealings, we are to have the heart of our Father. We are to bless, not curse. We are to overcome evil with good. This is spiritual warfare. A genuine act of kindness and prayer toward an enemy is more powerful than a legion of demons. It heaps burning coals on their heads. It is the sweet aroma of Christ in a world choking on the fumes of hatred.
So, who is your enemy? Who is that person whose name makes your stomach tighten? That is your assignment. You are to love them. Not because they deserve it, but because your Father commands it, and because Christ has shown you how. You were the enemy that He loved. Now go, and do likewise. Be perfect, be mature, be complete in your love, just as your heavenly Father is.