11  Kingdom Love  (Luke 6:27–38)

“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (6:27–38)

There are many things that mark a true Christian, including repentance (2 Cor. 7:10; 1 John 1:8–10), humility (James 1:21; 4:6, 10; 1 Peter 5:5), living for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), prayer (Luke 18:1; Eph. 6:18; Phil. 4:6), separation from the world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15–17), spiritual growth (Eph. 4:11–15; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:18), bearing spiritual fruit (Matt. 13:23; John 15:5, 8), obedience (Matt. 7:21; John 15:14; 1 Peter 1:1–2; 1 John 2:3–5), hunger for God’s Word (1 Peter 2:1–2), and a transformed life (2 Cor. 5:17).

But the most foundational mark of a genuine believer in Jesus Christ is love. First, Christians love God, which Jesus declared to be the greatest and most important principle in Scripture (Matt. 22:37–38; cf. Deut.6:5; 11:1; Josh. 22:5; Rom.8:28; 1 Cor.2:9; 1 John 5:2). Love for fellow believers also marks Christ’s true disciples (John 13:34–35; cf. 15:12; 1 Thess. 4:9; Heb. 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22;4:8; 1 John 3:11, 14;4:7, 21;2 John 5).

Along with loving God and fellow believers, Christians are also to love unbelievers. While they are forbidden to love the evil, satanic world system (1 John 2:15–17), believers are nevertheless to love the lost sinners trapped within it. By doing so they follow the example of their heavenly Father, who “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45), and the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved even those who rejected Him (Mark 10:21; cf. Luke 23:34).

Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount by describing how the righteous view themselves (6:20–26). He declared blessed those who are spiritually poor, acknowledging their utter lack of any resources by which they might obtain salvation; who are hungry, longing desperately for the righteousness that only God can give; who mourn, consumed with grief and sorrow over their sin; and who are persecuted, yet consider it cause for rejoicing when they are hated, ostracized, and insulted for their loyalty to Jesus Christ.

In this next section of His message, the Lord addressed His genuine disciples (those who hear, understand, and obey God’s word, in contrast to unbelievers, who have no such capacity [1 Cor. 2:14]), instructing them on how they are to view others. They are to be marked not only by hatred of their own sin, but also by love for their enemies.

The command to love one’s enemies provides an important balance against any tendency toward isolation. Some believers, overwhelmed by a sense of sinful inadequacy, might seek to withdraw themselves. Others might want to avoid the influence of and persecution by evil people. Some Christians caught up in politics even view non-believers as the enemy, rather than the mission field. But for Christ’s true followers to isolate themselves, hate or resent the lost and their agenda, violates the church’s mandate to preach the gospel to the lost world (Matt. 28:19–20; cf. Rom. 10:14–15). Besides, as Paul reminded the Corinthians, to avoid all contact with unbelievers is impossible (1 Cor. 5:9–10).

This important portion of our Lord’s kingdom teaching reveals that His true disciples are to be marked by a supernatural love that does good to others—even their enemies. The passage unfolds six aspects of kingdom love: its commands, the reactions to it, the principle behind it, its essence, its benefits, and its goal.

THE COMMANDS OF KINGDOM LOVE

But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (6:27–28)

As noted above, the Lord addressed these four simple yet profound commands to His genuine disciples, those who hear and obey His word. They describe a supernatural love that is vastly different from the world’s love. Vengeance is a virtue to unbelievers, who make heroes out of those who take nothing from anyone, who lash out at those who wrong them and make them pay Joseph Stalin, perhaps the most brutal and vindictive dictator of the twentieth century, captured the essence of the world’s lust for revenge when he said, “To choose one’s victim, to prepare one’s plan minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then to go to bed—there is nothing sweeter in the world” (“Death in the Kremlin: Killer of the Masses” [Time magazine, March 16, 1953; http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,935828-7,00.html; accessed 12 January 2010]). Millions of people tasted the bitterness of Stalin’s “implacable vengeance, “suffering torture, exile, and death.

Attitudes were little different in Jesus’ day not even in Israel. First-century Judaism was narrow, exclusive, intolerant, and hence largely loveless and condemning. Hatred of their enemies, especially Gentiles (and above all their Roman occupiers), was elevated to the status of a spiritual virtue (cf.Matt.5:43). The medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides recorded the Talmud’s maxim that a Jew should not rescue a Gentile who fell into the sea. Some Zealot extremists took that contemptuous disregard for Gentile life one step further by actually murdering Romans. Many Jews thus found Jesus’ command love your enemies to be incomprehensible, shocking, and unacceptable.

But such vengeful hatred of one’s enemies was contrary to the Old Testament law. It is true that the imprecatory Psalms call for God’s promised judgment on His foes. But to arrogate that right to themselves, as some Jews did, contradicted God’s declaration in Deuteronomy 32:35 that vengeance belongs to Him (cf. Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30). Instead of seeking revenge, Proverbs 25:21 commands, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (cf. Ex. 23:4–5). Leviticus 19:18 summarizes the Old Testament teaching on how to view one’s enemies: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The term “neighbor” refers to anyone in need (Luke 10:29–37), not merely to fellow Jews.

Instead of seeking revenge, Christ’s disciples are to do good to those who hate them. Kalos (good) describes what is inherently, not superficially, good. It refers here to doing things that will benefit one’s enemies. When they love like that, believers will “overcome evil with good”(Rom. 12:21; cf.1 Peter 3:9).

Paradoxically, love and hate are linked in connection with the gospel. The Lord’s command to the apostles in John 15:17, “This I command you, that you love one another” was followed immediately by a warning that the world would hate them (vv. 18, 19). Since sinners love darkness rather than light (John 3:19), and believers are children of light (Eph.5:8), who present Jesus Christ as the light of the world (John 8:12), they can expect to be hated by the world.

Surprisingly, the most intense hatred always comes from religious people. Nothing is more precious to religious sinners than the illusion of their virtue and lofty position before God. They in effect erect their own personal tower of Babel, a monument to their own supposed piosity. But the gospel strips away sinners’ religious veneer of self-righteousness and reveals them to be wretched, helpless, blind rebels, facing eternal judgment. In response to being unmasked, they lash out in hatred at those who proclaim the truth to them.

When believers face hatred, they are to respond by seeking the welfare of those who hate them, thereby reinforcing their supernatural message with supernatural love. The credibility of the gospel is at stake and believers must love the lost evangelistically

Christ’s disciples must not only manifest love for their enemies by what they do, but also by what they say Instead of reviling them, they are to bless those who curse them; to say good things in response to their evil words. Many of Christ’s followers were vilified, cursed, and ostracized in an unofficial way just as Jesus had warned would happen (Matt. 10:35–37; Luke 12:51–53). Others were cursed in an official way by being excommunicated from the synagogue, which Jesus had also predicted would be the case (John 16:2; cf.9:22, 34; 12:42).

This command does not preclude warning unbelievers of the consequences of their sin, as the Lord Himself did (cf. 6:24–26; Matt. 23:13–36). Apart from such warnings, there could be no conviction of sin (cf. John 16:7–11). Unbelievers must be confronted with the reality that apart from repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ they are cursed (1 Cor. 16:22). But when Christ’s followers confront sinners they must, like Paul, have an attitude of deep concern and love for them (cf. Rom. 9:1–3; 10:1). And, like Paul, they must be willing to pay whatever price is necessary to take the gospel to the lost (cf. 1 Cor. 9:22; 2 Cor. 11:22–33).

Finally, Jesus commanded His followers to pray for those who mistreat them. Specifically in this context, they are to pray for their salvation, as Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Stephen (Acts 7:59–60) did.

THE REACTIONS OF KINGDOM LOVE

Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. (6:29–30)

Kingdom love is marked not only by how it acts toward others, but also by how it reacts to what others do. Jesus gave four illustrations of how to respond properly to ill treatment from the children of Satan.

The command, whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also does not preclude the self-defense mechanisms God has provided for self-preservation. Jesus was not forbidding His followers to defend themselves if they were dangerously attacked. In Luke 22:36 He instructed the apostles to buy a sword for protection if they did not have one. Governments are in place to protect their citizens with swords, and prevent evil action and anarchy (cf. Rom. 13:3–4, and Luke 3:14, where John the Baptist did not forbid men to be soldiers, but told them not to abuse their authority). When the disciples were put out of the synagogues, as Jesus warned would happen (John 16:2), they would often be beaten (as Paul was five times [2 Cor. 11:24]) or slapped across the face. When dishonored with such insults and unable to defend themselves, they were not to retaliate, but to accept that mistreatment and continue to love their oppressors.

Jesus demonstrated the proper response to being unjustly humiliated during His trial before the high priest. When one of the officers struck Him (John 18:22), He did not turn His head and ask to be struck again. But neither did He lash out in anger and revenge at His mistreatment. Instead, He calmly pointed out the injustice of the act (v. 23). Toturn the other cheek is, like Jesus did, to accept hostility and ill treatment without hatred or retaliation, but to show love in return.

The second illustration is similar to the first one. Whoever takes away your coat (whether by theft or legal action [cf. Matt.5:40]), Jesus said, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Many people owned only one coat, or cloak, which also served as a blanket when they slept. Because of that, the Mosaic law required that any coat taken as a pledge had to be returned before sunset (Ex. 22:26; Deut. 24:13). To keep a person’s cloak would constitute serious abuse. But when that happens, Christ’s disciples are not to retaliate, but rather to continue to lovingly minister to those who persecute them—even if that results in losing their shirt (inner garment) as well.

The third illustration, being willing to give to everyone who asks of you, takes place in the context of borrowing and lending (cf. v. 34; Matt. 5:42).The assumption is that the person asking has a legitimate need, since Scripture condemns laziness and indolence (cf. Prov 6:6–12; 20:4; 24:30–34; 2 Thess. 3:10). That a person may take advantage of a Christian’s generosity and not repay the loan should not keep the believer from graciously, lovingly meeting the need.

The final illustration, when someone takes away what is yours, envisions a situation where someone actually robs a believer. Even in a case of outright theft, Christians are not to descend to retaliation, but to continue showing love and not demand the stolen item back. As R.C.H. Lenski notes, “The disciple loses less by letting his things be taken wrongfully then he would by with a selfish heart clamoring to have them returned” (The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel [Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1946], 364).

No matter what the circumstances, kingdom love does not seek revenge (Prov. 24:29; Rom. 12:17, 19) when wronged. Christ’s true disciples will follow His example, who “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).

THE PRINCIPLE OF KINGDOM LOVE

Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. (6:31)

Versions of this, the so-called Golden Rule, existed in the rabbinic writings, Greek philosophy, and in Hinduism and Buddhism. Those formulations, however, cast the rule in a negative sense; they advocate not doing to others what you would not want them to do to you. The Greek philosopher Isocrates wrote, “Do not do to others that which angers youwhen they do it to you” (Nicocles, 3.60). In his Analects, Confucius counseled, “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself” (XV.24). The apocryphal book of Tobit commands, “Do that to no man which thou hatest”(4:15).The famous Jewish rabbi Hillel summed up the Torah in the statement, “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor” (Talmud; Shabbat 31a).

There is a subtle but significant difference in the way the Lord phrased this principle. The negative versions of the Golden Rule are the epitome of human ethics. Yet they are little more than self-serving expressions of self-love, concerned primarily with obtaining good treatment for oneself in return. Jesus, however, calls for selfless love, love that focuses solely on the well-being of its object. The love He commands seeks to treat others the way it would want to be treated by them—even if they do not love that way in return. That is how God loves, and that supernatural love is impossible on the human level. Only Christians are capable of it, “because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom.5:5).

THE ESSENCE OF KINGDOM LOVE

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. (6:32–34)

The transcendent, supernatural quality of kingdom love becomes most evident when contrasted with the love of the unregenerate. Hamartōloi (sinners) refers to unbelievers, those outside of the kingdom of God (cf.Matt. 26:45; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:7; 18:13; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15).Their love is reciprocal; they love those who love them.

But the love Jesus’ disciples are to exhibit is very different from that of the lost world. If you love those who love you, Jesus told them, what credit is that to you? Such love is indistinguishable from that of the unregenerate. Even sinners—including tax collectors, the dregs of Jewish society (Matt. 5:46)—love those who love them. Similarly, to do good to those who do good to you brings no credit, for again, even sinners do the same. Such a self-serving attitude allows others’ goodness to limit one’s own. It also opens the door for people to justify seeking vengeance on those who fail to do good to them. Finally, Jesus asked, If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what creditis that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. The Lord is not speaking here of lending to someone who will never repay the loan (the word amount is not in the Greek text), since Scripture teaches that everyone should pay his debts (cf.Rom. 13:8).His point is that lending to people to create an obligation, such as expecting that they will in turn lend to you, is another example of the reciprocal, self-serving love of the unregenerate.

Merely to love like sinners do is no gospel witness; that kind of love will not convince anyone that the person manifesting it belongs to God’s kingdom. It gives no evidence of a regenerated, transformed life. But the supernatural love of God demonstrated in the lives of believers is a powerful apologetic for the truth of the gospel.

THE BENEFITS OF KINGDOM LOVE

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (6:35–36)

In a point-by-point contrast to the selfish, quid pro quo love of unbelievers described above, Jesus commanded His disciples to love their enemies, not merely those who love them, do good to all, not only those who do good to them, and lend with no strings attached, expecting nothing in return. Such love is neither natural nor normal by human standards, but the benefit of loving that way, Jesus promised, is that their reward will be great.

The reward in view here is not the eternal, heavenly reward mentioned in 6:23, but one in the world of men. When Christians love with the unconditional, supernatural love God puts in their hearts (Rom. 5:5), sinners will be astounded. This is a love that is foreign to their experience, and shows that those who manifest it are sons of the Most High (a name used fifty times of God that emphasizes His sovereignty). It validates the gospel’s claim to have the power to supernaturally transform those who believe it.

Believers can “adorn the doctrine of God” (Titus 2:10) and be imitators of Him (Eph. 5:1) by showing kindness to others, for He Himself is kind to ungrateful (2 Tim. 3:2) and evil men (Rom. 3:10; 2 Tim. 3:13). In common grace God gives sinners what they do not deserve; He “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt. 5:45; cf.Ps. 145:15–17). Christ’s disciples also demonstrate kingdom love when they are merciful, just astheir Father is merciful. Mercy is the flip side of kindness. God’s mercy causes Him to withhold the judgment that sinners deserve. He is “patient … not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But those who spurn His mercy and ignore His kindness (Rom. 2:4) by refusing to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ in humble faith will face eternal damnation (John 3:36). When believers love like God does, demonstrating kindness and mercy they give evidence to the watching world that He is their Father.

THE GOAL OF KINGDOM LOVE

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. (6:37–38)

Christ closed this section of His sermon by giving four commands, two negative and two positive that, if obeyed, will lead to the ultimate purpose of loving others with kingdom love.

The first command, do not judge, and you will not be judged, does not preclude assessing a person’s spiritual condition and confronting their sin (cf. 6:42–45; 17:3; Matt. 7:6; 1 Cor. 5:5, 11–13; 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:2; James 5:20; 2 John 10). In fact, Christians are commanded to be discerning, to be “shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16; cf.Col.4:5). (I discuss the importance of discernment in the church in my book Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway 1994].) What this command does forbid is harsh, critical, compassionless, vengeful condemnation of one’s enemies as if one was vested with final judgment power (see the discussion of v.28 above).

The second command, do not condemn, and you will not be condemned, is similar to the first. It adds a sense of finality to the idea of judging, of setting oneself up as executioner. Christians need to keep in mind that apart from God’s grace they would be no better than the unregenerate. As Paul reminded Titus,

Instead of judging and condemning others, Christians are called to pardon, and they will be pardoned. They are never more like their heavenly Father than when they forgive others. There is no room in kingdom love for holding grudges or being bitter. Like Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Stephen (Acts 7:59–60), believers are to forgive their enemies no matter how hostile they may be (cf. 17:3–4; Matt. 18:21–22; Mark 11:25).

The final command, give, and it will be given to you, calls for generosity. In return they (i.e., unbelievers) will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The Lord’s illustration, taken from a scene His hearers would be very familiar with, vividly pictures the blessing the disciples will receive. J.Jeremias writes,

The goal of all four commands is to have sinners not judge or condemn believers, but be forgiving and generous. If that is happening, it indicates that unbelievers have accepted them, and they have an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. When believers love non-believers like God does—compassionately, kindly, mercifully, and forgivingly—they demonstrate the transforming power of salvation.