Love your Enemies

VII Ordinary Sunday

  First Reading: Lev 19: 1-2, 17-18

Second Reading: 1 Corth 3: 16-23

Gospel: Mtt h 5: 38-48

Sermon on the Mount (Mtth 5-7) is one of the important didactic activities of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Today’s gospel is an extract from the sermon on the mount.  It is a call to action. The concept of ‘love your enemies,’ is one of the key elements of the Sermon on the mountain.  The commandment to ‘love the enemy’ is Jesus’ fundamental ethical doctrine on personal and communal relationship. It is a carefully designed ethical teaching relating to the enemies, transcending the conventional actions and reactions of daily living.

Jesus’ exhortation to love the enemy is a revolutionary expansion of the great love commandment of the Jewish tradition (Lev 19, 17-18); “you shall love your neighbor (ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου) and you shall hate your enemy (μισήσεις τὸν ἐχθρόν σου).” Jesus extends radically the ‘love of neighbor to love of enemy and urges to manifest this unrestricted love through praying for one’s enemy (ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν διωκόντων ὑμᾶς).

What does Jesus probably mean by loving our enemies? In Greek there are four different words for love and each one has a different meaning:

(i)  storgē   (stergein) – it describes the love in the family, the love of a parent for the children and vice versa.

(ii) erōs  (eran ἐρᾷν) -  it describes the passionate love between a man and a woman, a sexual love that indicates intimacy and longing.

(iii)  philia   (philein. φιλεῖν)  – it describes the real love and trust among the friends.  

(iv)  agapē  (ἀγαπάω)  – it describes the unconquerable benevolence, selfless love and good will towards the other.

The Hebrew word for love is ahab ( (אהב and  it is translated into ἀγαπάω in Greek and hence, the love that Jesus talks about is ἀγαπάω; which does not indicate the passion, warmth and cognate aspects of storgē, erōs and philia  instead it stands for detachment, sacrifice, active interest in the welfare of the other, a love of higher value.

The special beneficiaries of love indicated by Jesus are one’s enemies; who are my enemies (ἐχθροὺς);  the  Greek term ἐχθροὺς  has a wider scope and can designate enemies in socio-religious and political fields. But in one’s life context, it points to difficulties in personal relationships and enmities that occur in our daily life. Therefore, enemy (ἐχθρος) is opposite of a friend, who expresses hostile feelings and the natural impulse is to hate those who hates us.

Therefore, love, here, implies not an emotional affection but a genuine willingness to accept the other and do good to the other, it is not a feeling of heart but a determination of mind. The phrase ‘love your enemies’ would mean, the enemy is a human being, a weak fragile person, just like you (like any one of us), who is longing to be noticed, to be valued, appreciated, accepted and brought into fellowship and communion. We are invited to accept and appreciate the goodness in our enemy no matter if he/she insults or hurts.

The word love implies both attitude and act; one must not only feel love but also act in ways that translate love into concrete deeds. Hence, Jesus urges us to demonstrate the love for enemies tangibly by praying for them. When I begin to pray for my enemy, the person ceases to be my enemy anymore. The Hebrew word for hate is Sänë –( שנא ) , the hatred indicated  by this word is not just an emotional act alone but it implies a mental negative activity and nurturing negative feelings in heart.  Hence, Jesus admonishes to counter this negative activity with the positive activity of love and prayer.

Thus, Jesus redefines the world and provides a guiding principle for an enlightened living marked not by reciprocity but by indiscriminate love and prayer. The exhortation of Jesus counters the basic human tendency of revenge and urges to return hate with a genuine love and prayer.  Let us love everyone, pray for all and celebrate life, for life is beautiful….