Lesson 10. Be Perfect, as Your Father Is Perfect. The “Foundations of Christ’s Teachings” School. A series of foundational teachings that Jesus Christ taught His disciples on the mountain.
Matthew 5:43–48 You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
The Jewish scholar Montefiore calls these six lines “the central and most important passage” of the Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus gives a lesson on love [agape]—the love with which our Heavenly Father loves each of us.
Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
Interestingly, the Old Testament contains no commandment, “Hate your enemy!” Apparently, the Jews themselves derived it from the commandment to love one’s neighbor, since they considered only those who were close in faith to be their neighbors. But Jesus said:
Matthew 5:44 But I tell you: love [agapate] your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat and persecute you,
In Greek, this verse is somewhat shorter: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” As we see, an enemy must be “loved” and prayed for. Jesus does not merely ask us to love—He commands us to love our enemies and pray for them. Moreover, prayer must proceed from love, not from a desire for revenge.
Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Acts 7:60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
But how can we love our enemies?
In Greek, there are four types of love.
- First, [storge] means family love. The ancient Greeks used this word for familial love, kinship, affection, and the love parents have for their children.
- Second, [eros] is a man's love for a woman; it always conveys passion and is always physical love.
- Then there is [philia]—this love implies affection or friendship on the level of the soul. Philia is based on feelings, mutual interests, and a person's positive qualities.
- And finally, [agape]—this love is not based on feelings and does not require anything in return. [Agape] does not depend on a person's beauty or any other positive qualities. The word includes the following concepts: caring, wishing someone well, feeling affection, and showing favor.
Jesus never required us to love our enemies in the same way we love those closest and dearest to us. The word He used, [agape], has a different meaning. It would be not only impossible but also wrong to love our enemies in the same way we love those closest and dearest to us with [philia], [storge], or [eros].
To love with [agape] means that whatever a person does to you, however he treats you—whether he insults, hurts, or upsets you—you will not feel bitterness or desire revenge against him, but will treat him with favor.
[Agape] – is the ability to love those we dislike and those who dislike us. [Agape] is not a feeling that we should expect to come. [Agape]— it is our decision and the actions that follow.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world [agapao] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life
God the Father did not “feel” that He needed to love and save us—He loved us and saved us. As we can see, agape is love followed by action. We must treat people the same way.
Matthew 5:45 that you may be sons of your Heavenly Father; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
If we are sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, should we not also act as He does? If one of you were given dominion over the earth for a while, what would you do with evil and ungodly people? Bring fire down upon them from heaven.
If it were not for His [agape], most of us would not be alive by now. For the sins many of us committed, we deserved death. It is only because of His love [agape] that we are still alive today. When you sin, His love [agape] restrains His punishment, and He gives us a chance to repent and change.
As His children, we must also think and treat our enemies in such a way that they will not perish but be saved. When they sin against us, our love [agape] must restrain our anger.
Matthew 5:46–47 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
If you love a good person, that is no great achievement. It is not difficult to do even without God. Ungodly people do exactly the same. What reward will you receive, then? Scripture says there will be no reward. For a Christian, higher principles than those of a worldly person should define how they live.
Ungodly people love only good people; Christians must love both good and bad people equally. But why are such high demands placed on us?
Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
At first glance, this seems impossible. Can we be perfect like God? “Perfect” is teleios in Greek, and the word often has a very specific usage in Greek.
A thing is characterized as teleios when it fulfills the purpose for which it was intended. For example, a professional tool. A person is teleios when they fulfill the purpose for which they were created. For example, a professional hairstylist.
And for what purpose was humanity created? Genesis 1:26 says, “Let Us make man in Our image.” People were created to be like God; therefore, Jesus commands us to be perfect just as the Father is. Agape love makes a person like God.
What makes us like God – is love for people and care for them, regardless of how they respond to that love. We attain His perfection when we learn to forgive as God forgives and love as God loves. To love some and hate others is not perfection; perfection consists in loving everyone.
Conclusions
Some of you have enemies. They can be helped only by your love [agape] and prayer. This way, they will have a chance to change, and you will have a chance to get rid of your enemies.
The ability to love your enemies and pray for them does not come in an instant; it is a process. However, it depends on us how quickly or slowly we learn.
We must love our enemies, and if we see that we lack love in a certain situation, we need to strive to have more of it. Love [agape] must reach maturity in us.
1 Cor. 14:1 Pursue [pursue, strive for, seek] love; and desire [spiritual gifts], but especially that you may prophesy.
We already have love, but we need to grow in it, because there will be different situations in life. If someone steals 1 dollar from you, it is easy to show [agape] to that person. But if someone steals everything you had, your previous level of love will not be enough.
We cannot ignore [agape]. We must love our enemies and pray for them. This is Jesus’ commandment. We cannot simply ignore it because we do not want to love or forgive. We must continually abide in love [agape], otherwise we will not abide in God, and God will not abide in us.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love [agape] that God has for us [in us]. God is love [agape], and whoever abides [stands, remains, lives] in love [agape] abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:17 Love [agape] has been perfected among us to such an extent that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love [agape]; but perfect love [agape] casts out fear, because fear involves torment. Whoever fears has not been made perfect in love [agape].
1 John 4:19 We love [agape] Him because He first loved [agape] us.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love [agape] God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love [agape] his brother whom he has seen, how can he love [agape] God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4:21 And we have this commandment from Him: whoever loves [agape] God must love [agape] his brother also.
We all need to read these verses many times in order to discover many truths about loving our enemies, our neighbors, and God.
End of lesson.
Source: Father’s Blessing Church
Teacher: Dmitriy Leo
