38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, don’t stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. 40 If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42 If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don’t refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45 If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. 46 If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. 47 And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends. 48 So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Read Matthew 5:38-48 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Tucked away in one of Jesus’ most famous sermons, we have an incredible picture of God’s character, and what it means to be like Jesus. Jesus came to show us what God the Father is like and He called us be become His disciples, which is another way of saying to model our lives after His. So with these ideas put together, as we are modeling Jesus, we are actually also modeling God the Father as well.
But what does it mean to be like God or like Jesus?
In our passage, we have a key characteristic that separates Christ-like people from the non-Christ-like ones. Jesus opens this portion of His sermon by framing everyone and comparing it to His ideal: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.’ But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven.” (v. 43-45a)
It is easy to love and like those who are our friends, but it is much more difficult to love and pray for those who hurt us. But while this seems way too challenging for us, Jesus continues by giving us a clear example from God’s perspective: “He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.” (v. 45b)
God is unbelievably fair. He gives opportunity to those who follow Him and to those who reject Him. He has given life and breath to everyone alive today, and it is easy to look out into the world and see people who are His enemies. It would be very easy for God to take His gift back from those who have clearly chosen to reject Him.
Jesus then shares why God has chosen to love everyone: “If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends.” (v. 46-47)
God is modeling true love for us. God’s love is a love that seeks to win hearts over to Him. If we only love those who love us back, nothing will ever change. The world will turn into being a big series of cliques with all sides pointed inwards towards each other, and shunning all those who are outside of their respective circles.
God’s love extends beyond the clique to all races and cliques of humans and every species of animals living on our blue and green planet. He calls us to be like Him and to love those in other cliques. Loving those who are unlike us is the best way we can be an example of God and an example of Jesus in the world today.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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