THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

61But Jesus made such enmity a thing of the past. From now on, He says, the only way toovercome the enemy is by loving him.“But I tell you: Love your enemies” (Mt 5:44).UNIQUE SAYINGThis is the one absolutely unique saying of Jesus on love. His command to love Godand neighbor came from the Old Testament. But there is no precedent anywhere for thecommand to “love your enemies.” There are examples in the Old Testament of kindness toenemies but no command to love them. David spared Saul when ha had Saul in his power(1 Sa 24:7), but his kindness came from his love for God who had anointed him king rather thanlove for Saul, his enemy. Elisha refused to let the king of Israel slay the blinded armies of Syria(2 Ki 6:22), but it was their helplessness not his love that motivated him. The book of Proverbsstates:“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, if he is thirsty, give him waterto drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lordwill reward you” (Pr 25:21-22).But nothing is said of love for enemies either in the Old Testament or in the Talmud, theJewish commentary on sacred Scriptures. With this statement Jesus set the spirit of His followersfree from rabbinic fundamentalism on the one hand and from the natural resentment and hatredof the Gentiles on the other. When Jesus made this challenge His followers’ land was underoccupation by a foreign army: the Romans.ENEMIESDo Christians have enemies? Yes, but they are not people against whom we cherishhostility. Rather, they are the people who harbor hostility and show contempt toward us. Thosewho “persecute” us (Mt 5:44) and those who “hate,” “curse,” and “mistreat” us (Lk 6:27-28) areour enemies.When we begin to live they way God wants us to we find opposition, pain andsuffering. Persecution has always been the lot of God’s people. Cain slew Abel because “hisown works were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 Jn 3:12). Joseph was sold to an Egyptianand thrown into prison for righteousness’ sake (Ge 37,39). Moses was reviled again and again ashe sought to follow God’s directives (Ex 5:21; 14:11; 16:2; 17:2). Samuel was rejected becausehe sought to please God (1 Sa 8:5). Elijah as despised and persecuted by his people for hisfaithfulness to God (1 Ki 18:17; 19:2). Micah was hanged by king Jehoshaphat because herefused to flatter the king but instead always told him the truth (22:8). Nehemiah was oppressedand defamed because of his unswerving obedience to God’s commands (Ne 4).