Love your enemies

But Jesus had no room for private revenge.  In place of the law of just revenge, he put the law of love and goodwill: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (NRSV, Matthew 5:43,44).  You notice that Jesus says, “Love your enemies” and not “Like your enemies”.  For by love he means an active goodwill.  We are not expected to like everybody, but we are expected to want what is best for everybody.

The example of Jesus

The true example of Jesus’ teaching, “Love your enemies”, is of course Jesus himself.  You will remember that when Jesus was about to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, St Peter slashed out with a sword and cut off the right ear of a servant of the high priest, called Malchus.  And Jesus touched the wound and healed him.  And a few hours later, when his enemies had got him at last and he was being nailed to the Cross, he prayed for them and said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (NRSV, Luke 23:34).

St Stephen prayed for his enemies

And such an attitude has always been the mark of the true follower of Jesus.  So when Stephen, the first martyr, was being stoned to death, he prayed for his enemies, “”Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (NRSV, Acts 7:60).

Early Christians cared for plague sufferers

Again, in the early days of the Church, when the Christians were being persecuted, it happened that a plague broke out in a certain town.  The pagans left their friends and relations, who had caught the plague, to look after themselves, while they hurried out into the surrounding countryside and camped out there in order to lessen the chance of their catching it.  But the Christians all stayed behind and went round the houses nursing their enemies whose own relations had deserted them.  The reason why these Christians acted like that was that Jesus had told them to love their enemies, which meant doing good to them, and so what the Christians did, they did for Jesus. (3)