Luke 6:32-34 32If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? And even sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? And even sinners lend to sinners, so that they might get back the same amount.
The next three verses follow the same pattern of a rhetorical question followed by an explanatory response from the world’s perspective. Jesus illustrates Verse 32 describes conditional love that only responds to when good things are received. This is the response of the natural person without Christ. Sinners (hamarōloi) contrasts with credit (charis), which is the same word used for “grace” in the New Testament. It is natural to respond back to when someone else loves us or does something kind. Reciprocity is strongly engrained in some cultures. Loving someone who loves us is good, but Jesus calls his followers to go beyond that. The assumption behind this verse is that disciples love when no love is shown towards them. In fact, we must go beyond even that and love others when they hate us. Love should be shown to everyone without expecting anything in return.
Verse 33 has a similar thought to verse 32. Doing good is one expression of loving one’s neighbor. But Jesus calls his followers to go beyond even that. Basic human manners expect reciprocity: you do good to me, and I will do good to you. What happens when the other person does not do good to us, and perhaps even does evil? What should our response be? How are we experiencing God’s grace (charis) in this situation? It is more likely we are stopping the flow of God’s grace through us to others. When we do good in all situations, even those where the other person is unkind or hurtful, we are instruments of grace. God will also give an extra measure of grace, compassion, and love when we act in his image.
Verse 34 extends the idea to money. This particular statement may be difficult for modern people where credit is part of our daily lives. Few people today do not have some type of debt, either credit card, mobile phone, car, or home. This verse is more difficult to interpret because it is not clear if the load is something that should be paid or if it refers to interest. The proper and just thing is that people pay us what they owe. The unjust thing would be to charge interest, which was forbidden in Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy 23:20). In today’s economy, charging interest just resolves the problem of inflation. These Old Testament verses could be interpreted to mean “excessive” interest, like what is often done with unpaid credit cards. To what extent is verse 34 applicable in our modern economies? Love may require us to give money or good to others who do not have the means to repay it to us. We are stewards of God’s grace and gifts (the same word for “grace”) and must extend these to others. Are we willing to extend love that far?
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