Loving Your Enemies: A Radical Call to Kingdom Citizenship

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:44-45

When I think about loving our enemies, I'm always reminded of the story of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Whether you know it from Dr. Seuss's original book, the 1966 animation, or one of the more recent film adaptations, you know the Grinch is characterized as the villain. That famous song describes him vividly: "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch... Your heart's an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders, and you've got garlic in your soul."

The Grinch lives alone atop a craggy mountain with his poor dog Max. He hates Christmas and the people of Whoville in the valley below. His problem? His heart is three sizes too small. In his anger and isolation, he devises a plan to steal Christmas.

Whatever you think about the Grinch, you probably do know what it's like to have an enemy. Jesus shows us in Matthew 5:43-48 that how we treat our enemies reveals a lot about ourselves and what we truly believe about God.

Kingdom Citizens Love Their Enemies to Demonstrate Their Citizenship

Jesus begins with the pattern we see throughout the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard it said... but I say to you." He's correcting the distorted teaching that was popular in Jewish culture of His day.

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:43-45)

The Old Testament law never explicitly says "hate your enemies," but it does contain examples of Israel executing God's judgment or the imprecatory psalms where the psalmist asks God to destroy enemies. The religious leaders had taken these examples and twisted them into justification for hating enemies.

Jesus calls their bluff. He exposes how they relied more on their own culture than on the word of God. When Jesus says, "You have heard it said, but I say to you," He's showing that His portrait of a kingdom citizen is the exact image of God, while theirs is poorly drawn.

Only those who are "poor in spirit," who understand that they need the gift of Christ's righteousness, can obey Jesus with the right motivation. As John Piper wisely notes: "Loving your enemies doesn't pay for your birth into God's family. It proves you have been born into God's family."

Kingdom Citizens Reflect God's Indiscriminate Love

Jesus continues His teaching by pointing to God's character: "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

God is indeed a just God. Humans under the curse of sin deserve death. But God is also merciful. In His common grace, He makes the sun shine and the rains fall on the righteous as well as the wicked. His mercy is indiscriminate because His desire is that people will seek Him with all their heart and find Him (Acts 17:27).

Jesus is the culmination of all God's mercy. He is God's provision for sinners to be "transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13). As the good news of what Jesus has done is proclaimed, God's people are drawn to Him and transformed by His word.

God gives mercy because there is a judgment to come. As 2 Peter 3:9-11 reminds us: "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."

Kingdom Citizens Are Made Complete in the Love of Christ

Jesus challenges us with this high standard: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

The Greek word for "perfect" here is "teleios," which means complete, the fullness of growth—like a plant come to maturity, the fullness of what we were created to be. Jesus wants us to be perfect so that we might know the glory of God and share it with Him.

We long for this completeness and we seek it. But because of our sin, we seek it wrongly—in success, good works, people-pleasing, wealth, comfort, escapism, or control. We do all the right moral things and fool ourselves into thinking we have it. But we never do. As Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Just as Jesus called Matthew to leave everything that didn't satisfy, He calls His people to follow Him. When we listen and obey, His Spirit causes us to grow to be like Jesus. Growth hurts (just ask any teenager), but growth is worth it (just ask any teenager). Jesus wants us to grow and to bear fruit, advancing His gospel.

The reward is being complete in Jesus, being made whole in His glory. As Romans 8:29-30 promises, we are being "conformed to the image of his Son."

A Heart That Grows Three Sizes

The Grinch was both cynical and fearful—and so are we, sinners in need of new hearts. Christ died for sinners and invites them to His kingdom feast. Those who receive His saving grace will experience hearts that grow more than three sizes—they'll grow into the likeness of Jesus.

Here's my challenge to you this week: Think of one enemy to pray for. If you don't think you have enemies, ask yourself: Who do I avoid? Who do I blame for my problems? Is it a boss, a co-worker, a spouse, a business competitor, the mean kid at school, the person across the street, or someone with a different ideology?

Begin to pray for them this week and ask God to help you love them in a way that will point them to Jesus. Remember, we were once enemies of God, but through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we are now sons and daughters who can love our enemies to the glory of God.

"How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure."

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