"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you."
Matthew 5:43-44
Part 1
Today: Beware of Wrong Teaching in God’s Name
“Ye have heard that it hath been said.”
Jesus shows us that just because a person teaches something from the Bible does not mean their teaching is true or accurate. We need to compare what a person teaches with what God’s Word says consistently throughout. He pointed to the fact that the Jews, especially the Pharisees, are sticklers for the law, as they should have been. Their problems came when they added to the law and did not do what it said. Some of the Pharisees assumed that if the law said one thing, then the opposite must also be valid and upheld. They were quick to agree that they needed to love their neighbor. This came from the clear teaching of the law. But then they believed that if this is true, then the opposite must also be true. Their enemies are to be hated. But this is not what the law taught.
“Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy.”
What the law did teach is,
“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
The law was clear here they ought to have loving thoughts and actions toward their neighbor. But in their minds, the question was, “who is my neighbor?” These men interpreted their neighbors to be only their Jewish brethren. And they took this command a step further than God intended. Their idea is that “if my neighbor must be the object of my love, then obviously my enemy God wants me to hate!” To their way of thinking, their enemies were anyone not circumcised or not from the family of Abraham.
The law said nothing of the kind. In fact, the law taught them to be helpful to their enemies.
“If you see a lost bull or donkey, then you must return it to its owner—even if the owner is your enemy. If you see an animal that cannot walk because it has too much to carry, you must stop and help that animal. You must help that animal even if it belongs to one of your enemies” (Exodus 23:4-5, HSB[1]).
At the very least, these were acts of kindness that showed care for another man’s possessions, even if that person was an enemy.
Interestingly, our English word neighbor comes from two English words, “nigh” and “bor,” meaning “one who is nigh, or near” us.[2]
“Literally, it means the one near … indicating a mere outward nearness, proximity. Thus a neighbor might be an enemy”[3] (Vincent).
From God’s point of view, my neighbor is anyone close to me. This idea of who is my neighbor is understood in Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
“But I say unto you.”
Jesus used these words to make a correction and change how the Jews thought about the Old Testament law. Jesus upheld the books of the law, and He also interpreted them so everyone could understand what they mean. For the Pharisees and others felt justified in their hatred of their enemies because of their miss interpretation of the law, Jesus let them know what God thought about His law. Jesus taught to change their thinking (and ours).
Dear believer, “and who is your neighbor?” How does Jesus want us to treat anyone that is called our neighbor? Come back tomorrow as we look further into this idea of what God expects in our treatment of our neighbors.
Quote: “Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ”[4] (Oswald Chambers).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible. From Harvest Ministries, Guam.
[2] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] Chambers’ quote Downloaded: Friday, June 18, 2021. From: https://www.therandomvibez.com/praying-for-others-quotes/.