Jesus said, “But
what I say to you is: Love your enemies, and pray for those who are persecuting
you, so that you may become children of your heavenly Father, because he causes
his sun to rise on those who are evil as well as on those who are good, and
causes rain to fall on people, whether they do what is right or not.”
—
Matthew 5:44-45
(USC)
What is Jesus saying here?
That’s the question
ushered through my mind; the one pulsating through my heart. Jesus was known to
speak in riddles, or at least it can seem to us that way. Surely he speaks
these ways to pique within us the curiosity to know more; to dig into the
spiritual fissures of the unknown moralities of God.
So, the sun rises
and the rain falls on good and evil people alike.
The first thing that
God reveals in my discerning is the base equality of life. God loves everyone,
without favouritism. Even if I or you would be the most ardent disciple of
Christ, God loves me and you no more than the murderer on death row or the paedophile
who is still at large. Does this seem weird to you?
It’s not weird at
all. Our Lord loves sinners, but hates sin, and we all sin. And in God’s
economy all sin is equally bad, notwithstanding if it’s only thought upon. Not
that we are condemned for our sin; the grace of God, through Jesus’ prevailing
for us on the cross and through his resurrection makes all the difference.
Yes, Jesus died for
the murderer and paedophile as he did for us. He rose again that we might all –
all of us inherent sinners – have new resurrection life due radical obedience
to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
So now comes the
crunch.
We are one as the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one.
As we are the same
in our innate predilection toward and of sin, we are to love the one against us
as we truly would like to be loved. To think we are better is to fall for the
error of self-righteousness. There is only One who is righteous. Let’s not make
that mistake.
God punishes us our
unforgiveness through the bitter resentments we form. We hurt only ourselves in
our choices to defer grace.
We forgive easily
when we understand how similar we are to the sinner who hurt us. Because we,
too, are so readily capable of hurting we forgive them who have hurt us.
***
How do we become
children of our heavenly Father? By loving our enemies and praying for those
who persecute us.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. How are you challenged regarding
humankind’s common disposition to sin? What similarities and differences do you
note between yourself and others regarding sin?
2. Do you find Jesus cuts to the
heart of matters, here, or do you still struggle with his rationale (or do you
struggle with my rationale)? How so? And how might such a struggle help you
plumb your way through?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr. Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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