Mercy and love are the defining characteristics of Christ’s disciples, and they reflect the essential nature of His Father – Matthew 5:43-48.
Jesus exhorted
us to become “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” yet how can we
reflect the perfect righteousness of God? The answer is clear - By
performing acts of mercy, especially to our enemies. Self-sacrificial
love goes to the heart of Christ’s message and demonstrates the merciful nature
of His Father. Was the Nazarene not the Messiah who submitted to an unjust
death for us when we were the “enemies of God”?
Performing acts of kindness is how we, as
disciples of Jesus, “fulfill the Law and the Prophets,” and thus achieve
a level of righteousness that “exceeds that of the Scribes and
Pharisees.”
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| [Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash] |
In the preceding clause, Jesus used a Greek term that means “superabounding, overflowing, overwhelming.” We are summoned not just to do a little “more than” the Scribes and Pharisees, but to engage in a level of righteousness that vastly exceeds that of the strictest religious sects of the Jewish nation. But is this not an impossible goal for imperfect human beings? - (Matthew 5:17-20).
As Christ’s followers, lavishing mercy on opponents
and persecutors is not optional but pivotal. It is what it means to deny our needs
and rights, and to “take up the Cross daily” and follow Jesus “wherever
he leads.”
Despite the extreme difficulty of this
challenge, Jesus declared, “Therefore, you will become perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect.” The conjunction “therefore” connects this
exhortation to what preceded it, namely, Christ’s call for his followers to
love their enemies. That is how we become “perfect as his heavenly Father”
- (Matthew 5:43-48).
This paragraph concludes the larger
literary unit in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew that began with Jesus
declaring that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.
What was germinal under the Law came to fruition in his life and teachings, and
what Christ now requires of his disciples exceeds the requirements of the
Mosaic Law and the “traditions of the elders” of Israel. Unless our “righteousness
superabounds more than the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees” we
cannot hope to enter the Kingdom of God.
Christ’s declaration concerning
the “Law and Prophets” was followed by six examples of how our “righteousness”
surpasses that of the “Scribes and Pharisees.” Jesus did not simply
reaffirm the statutes of the Law - He pierced through to their true
intent, and this comes to the surface in how we treat others, especially
our “enemy.”
In the Law’s prohibition against murder, Jesus
found the principle that we should not even harbor anger toward others. Hatred leads
to bitterness, and bitterness to murder. Instead of just refusing to kill an opponent,
we must seek reconciliation with anyone who offends us, and we must pray for our
enemies and do them good. Evil is overcome by positive actions - (Matthew
5:21-26).
Likewise, we must do more than simply abstain from adultery, lying, or murder. Life in his Kingdom demands something more than conforming to the letter of the Law. It is insufficient not to lie. We must become truth-tellers in every interaction with others.
Jesus turned the idea of an “eye for an
eye” into the moral principle of “turning the other cheek.” He
repudiated the popular interpretation that added the clause “and hates his
enemy” to the original love command.
Since the Law explicitly commanded love for
fellow Israelites but omitted any mention of Gentiles, so the self-serving logic
went, hatred of enemies was permissible under the Mosaic Law. Thus, the Scribes
and Pharisees “transgressed the commandment of God by their
traditions” -
(Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 15:3).
MERCY, NOT RETALIATION
Jesus rejected the wrongheaded and, sad to
say, popular interpretation of his contemporaries. Since the commandment of God
prohibited any act of vengeance, the Law does not allow hatred
for anyone, whether Jew, Gentile, friend, or foe, let alone committing acts of
evil against them.
The man conditioned to think as the world does
chooses to retaliate against anyone who acts against or simply threatens his
interests. In contrast, as Christ’s disciples, we are exhorted to love our enemies,
pray for them, and do them only “good.”
Does God not send His rain on the just and
the unjust? This statement is derived from the final clause of Leviticus
19:18. After commanding Israel not to take vengeance, God stressed His identity:
“I am Yahweh,” the God who shows mercy to the deserving and the
undeserving, “Yahweh,” the One who keeps His promises. He is the God who
“desires mercy, not sacrifice,” indeed, He rejoices in mercy and the
merciful!
If we limit God’s love to friends and family, how are we any better than tax collectors or Gentiles, let alone the outwardly devout “Scribes or Pharisees”? Loving our enemies is foreign to our sin-dominated natures. L0ve is much more than an emotion or abstract concept. It is demonstrated in acts of mercy. As Paul wrote, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him! If he is thirsty, give him something to drink!”
Jesus engaged in the ultimate act of mercy when
he “gave his life as a ransom for many.” Included under the term “many”
are his friends and his “enemies”:
- “For if being enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” – (Matthew 20:25-28, Romans 5:10, 12:20, 1 John 3:18).
Righteousness is not demonstrated by
restraining ourselves from committing sin. It is manifested by the good we do to
others, especially for our opponents and persecutors.
The simple command of Jesus to love our
enemies is profound, and contrary to the practices and beliefs of this fallen
world. His commandment to love our enemies demonstrates eloquently that in his Kingdom
there is no place for hatred, violence, or retaliation.
It is through proactive love and deeds of mercy
that our righteousness superabounds, and our abundance overflows to those
around us.
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SEE ALSO:
- Forgiving Sin - (Jesus healed a paralytic. By doing so, he demonstrated the authority of the Son of Man to discharge the stain of sin – Mark 2:1-12)
- Mercy, not Sacrifice - (Forgiveness links the call of the tax collector to the healing of the paralytic - the Son of Man’s authority to discharge sins and restore men – Mark 2:13-17)