In Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus confronts the teaching to love your neighbor but hate your enemy. Perhaps this was a popular understanding similar to the Qumran communities, who taught a hatred of the “sons of darkness”. Perhaps such an attitude was informed by passages in Deuteronomy and Psalms which deal harshly with surrounding nations.

Of course, Jesus is also confronting our natural inclination to “hate” those who oppose us, who are different from us. It’s easy for us to develop an exclusivity around “neighbors” such that we tend to “love” only our neighbors.

Jesus says we cannot love only our neighbors, only those who are brothers or who love in return. Jesus says we must make an on-going effort to love all of our enemies. He takes a singular “enemy” and universalizes it into all “enemies”. Don Carson defines the love we should show as “generous, warm, costly self-sacrifice for another’s good.” We are also to pray for those who persecute us. We return good for evil shown to us. We shower good deeds on those who malign us (Romans 12:20; 1 Peter 2:12).

Jesus, the pioneer of our salvation, showed us how when he prayed for his enemies to be forgiven (Luke 23:34). Stephen, one of the seven chosen to distribute food to the widows, followed Jesus’ example when stoned to death by the mob (Acts 7:60). Our goal in showing this type of love is to be sons and daughters of our Father who is in heaven. Children reflect the character of their father. God’s treatment of the evil and the good, the just and the unjust, provides us with our motive and motivation to love our enemies. Grant Osborne said that we show the mark of God on our lives as we show love to and pray for those hostile to us. “God’s people should be different. It should be obvious that we are extra-ordinary, for our Father is extra-ordinary.” (S. Ferguson)