Luke 6:27-28 27But I say to you who are listening, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Jesus next lays out the kingdom lifestyle of love. He calls those listening, his disciples in particular and any gathered crowd, to listen to what he is about to say. His words should be the guide for all his followers and provide the way to begin to live out God’s kingdom on earth. The world of unbelievers around us responds with the instinct of self-preservation and survival of the fittest. To be the fittest requires beating everyone else in the competitions of life. These competitions can be as small as who is first in the grocery store line to international wars. Instead of fighting, belittling, or even ignoring our enemies, Jesus calls his followers to have a different response.
Jesus gives a series of four short commands in grammatical parallelism that call disciples to rise above the selfish ambitions of the people around us. The first is to love (agapate) our enemies. The natural response to people who do something bad in any form to us is to fight back in some way. Our reaction might be external, such as physical fighting or revenge, or internal anger or bitterness, which may lead to subtle ways of getting even. We are good at finding ways to defend our positions in life. Loving another person is more than an emotion but requires a choice, especially when the other person is not kind to us. Love must be what determines all we do. It is our motivation and the evidence we are followers of Jesus. Loving an enemy can only be done when we remove our selfish protection and become vulnerable, trusting the outcome to God even if further harm comes to us. Often, showing love and kindness to our enemies can improve the situation and soften their hearts.
The next three commands give ways to live out love to difficult people. One way to love is to do good things to those who hate us, who may be the enemies mentioned in the first sentence. We can do that by not getting even by hating them back. There will always be people who do mean things to us. Their hatred may not be directed specifically at us, but we may receive their hatred indirectly through political, cultural, or relational forces. Doing good to unkind people does not mean that we let them walk all over us. There are times when we must legally defend ourselves (see Acts 16:37–39; 22:25–29; 25:10–11). But in most cases, we find subtle ways to get even and revenge. To do good like what Jesus calls for here requires unconditional love for the other person. Doing good for that person may plant a seed of the gospel or witness to the love of God in one’s own heart.
Jesus next calls his followers to bless those who speak unkind things about us. Bless (eulogeite) means to speak a good word, just the opposite of cursing, which is saying a bad word. Building others up is one of the best ways to develop relationships. Saying a kind word can neutralize the negative words others say to us. Enemies can even become friends when enough kind words are said about them. Blessing someone does not necessarily guarantee that all relationships with people will be smooth. There will always be people who are difficult to work with or live with. We may even be difficult for others in this regard. The best way to interact with others is to be positive, not because we want something out of the person but because we genuinely love and care for him or her.
The last of the four short commands is to pray for those who are mean to us. This command is just as difficult as all the others, and possibly even more so because the other person has done something to hurt us. Jesus does not specific here how the abuse might happen. It could be verbal or physical. Verbal attacks, belittling, anger, outrage, swearing, or other forms of unkind and mean speech can be just as traumatic and damaging to a person as can physical hitting. Both can leave lifelong damage and scars that may never deeply heal. Pray can do two things. For the one who is mistreated, it can help bring forgiveness and puts one’s trust in God and not anything this mean and cruel world can provide. For the abuser, prayer seeks God’s grace to be at work to soften the person’s attitude and actions and lead them to repentance and restitution. Prayer may be the only way we can express love for our enemies.
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