Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Matthew 5:45ff " ... be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."
FATHERLY LOVE
How we are to love our friends needs little explanation. Because they are our friends we have plenty and ample opportunity to show them our love. But how we are to exercise it towards our enemies is a more pertinent question, for our enemies want none of our love. Since this such a pertinent question, the Lord Jesus answers it for us, and He does so by showing us first how our heavenly Father exercises and practices love toward His enemies (the unbelieving).
Notice now how He does it. Christ takes for granted that we all recognize rain and sunshine as given to us by God, " ... for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Christ tells us that He lets the sun shine on them and lets the rain come upon the unbelievers, even as upon His children, to give them health, food, and all good things which these gifts of sunshine and rain bring with them. Of course, Christ mentions only this one example, although He could have mentioned many more. But let this one example suffice and learn from it how to exercise love toward your enemies.
Just what is God our Father doing here? Well, this, He lets His love for His enemies give them such things which they cannot stop or hinder. Yes, which they would not want to hinder. He lets His love give them things they do not care to be without.
So we also exercise our love toward our enemies. Out of love for them, give them such things they would not care to be without, and which they cannot refuse to take. And what such things are Christ tells us by saying first in our text, "pray for them," and even by saying in Luke 6:27f, " ... do good to them, bless them!" No one can stop you from praying for them, or blessing them, and no one would want to stop you from doing something good for them. Not even your greatest enemy would want that. Therefore, Christ says, show you love for him in such a way.
We know God's love poured out on us through Christ Jesus so that we are children of God. A child of God who wants to please his heavenly Father will want to do that in the way which He suggests. Anyone who claims to be a Christian but does not want to show his love to his enemies, even as God does, is not a mite better than a heathen, a gentile, and even the most despised tax collector.
Because God's love works love, we practice what our Savior has taught us. He says that we are to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. By God's perfect love, given through Christ, you are, in God's eyes, perfect.
