Matthew 5:45b-48 45because he causes his sun to rise upon the wicked and good, and he causes the rain upon the righteous and unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles do the same thing? 48Therefore, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In these verses, Jesus gives his illustration of his principle about loving and praying for one’s enemies. The key point is that God’s love provides the model for how we should respond to others. God’s love is impartial because everyone gets it. Verse 45b is a reference to God’s providential grace. Sun and rain are necessary for life. Both the good and bad receive the sun and rain and so receive life from God. If God only loved the righteous, none of us would be here today. God loves everyone the same, both sinners and saints. God does not show preferences.
We must love like God. The problem is that we are not capable of loving on our own. Verses 46-47 show that our human love is usually tainted with the love of self and what we can get out of the situation. Even sinners can love, but it will not be the type of love that God wants people to have. Human nature is to love those who return love. The old saying captures it well: You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. We look for what we can get out of the relationship. Jesus’ rhetorical questions challenge the idea of loving for a reward. Even the highest human love is influenced by self-interest. If we love like this, we are no better than the swindling tax collectors or unbelieving pagans.
The Christian must do more than the world around us. We must rise above politics and even patriotism, and love not only our friends, neighbors, state, and country, but even love our enemies. We cannot live at the world’s level; we must go beyond. This “more” can only come through Jesus. It is the love shown on the cross. There must be something that sets disciples apart from the world. Our love must surpass the world’s love. To love those who love us is no challenge. To love those who hate us is the radical call of the Kingdom.
What is this type of love like? It is not based on friendship or what we can get out of the situation but on what we can put into it. It is self-less, like the love modeled on the cross. The reward is that we are called the children of God (1 John 4:7-12). It is not easy to love with this love. It will be one of the hardest things we do in this life. It is easy to talk about, but it is another thing to actually live it out. It is impossible for us to love without the grace of God filling us and flowing through us. It is the love of Christ that took him to the cross. The cross is the only way we will ever be able to love our enemies.
God sets the standard and provides the strength. As 1 John 4:19 states, “We love because he first loved us.” Verse 48 indicates that God’s people must imitate God. The word perfect (teleioi) is theologically significant in the New Testament and indicates reaching one’s goal or purpose. We have been created in God’s image, and at the focus of this image is love (Ephesians 5:1-2). Perfect love means to love like God, who loves both the righteous and unrighteous. God’s love is inclusive of all. Only when we have God’s love within us can we love our enemy. How we love others is a direct reflection of the condition of our heart. Love has no limits to how far it will go. No matter how far we are on our journey, there is always more we can aim for.
The only way to love others is to die to self. There is no way we can love our enemy unless we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. The way of the cross is the way of love. Loving our enemies is an opportunity for us to grow spiritually. It is not hard to love those we like. It is a test of our faith to love those who give nothing back to us. The call to discipleship is an invitation to live out God’s perfect love in our lives. What would be the result if Christians radically obeyed Jesus’ command?
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