Jesus’ Outrageous Doctrine

Tony Khalil

Midland SDA Church

February 12, 2022

Two days from today will be Valentine’s Day.  The origins of this holiday are a bit sketchy, but it has been suggested that Valentine’s Day has roots in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia.  According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Lupercalia was conducted annually on February 15 under the oversight of a group of priests called Luperci. Its name was likely derived from lupus, the Latin for “wolf” suggesting a connection with an ancient deity who protected herds from wolves, and with the legendary she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. As a fertility rite, the festival is also associated with the god Faunus.

Lupercalia began with the ritual sacrifice of goats and a dog, after which two of the young Luperci were led to the altar, their foreheads touched with a bloody knife and wiped off with wool dipped in milk.  The two men would then laugh, and the sacrificial feast would begin.  Following the feast, the Luperci cut thongs from the skins of the sacrificial animals and ran in two bands around the Palatine hill, striking with the thongs at any woman who came near them. A blow from the thong allegedly rendered a woman fertile. In addition to fertility rites, the festival included the pairing off of women with men by lottery.

At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I forbid the celebration of Lupercalia, and is credited to have replaced it with St. Valentine’s Day, a Christian feast day honoring Saint Valentine of Rome who was imprisoned for ministering to third century Christians persecuted by the Roman Empire.  According to tradition, Saint Valentine restored sight to the blind daughter of his jailer, and an 18th-century embellishment to this legend claims he wrote the jailer's daughter a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell before his execution. 

Regardless of its ancestry, today, Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romance.  You have no doubt seen the preponderance of glitter-adorned pink and red heart-shaped decorations, cupids wielding their bows with magic love-dipped arrows, colossal boxes of decadent chocolates, and beautiful bouquets of aromatic roses.  Perhaps you have even purchased some of these items for that special person in your life.  I must confess, my wife has been on the receiving end of some of these gifts down through the years. The greeting card industry has surely made a fortune from this love-based holiday.  I remember as a child in grade school we would buy those packages of Valentine’s Day cards, themed with whatever cartoon character or superhero happened to be popular that year, and deliberately select the best ones for each of our classmates, sign our name to them and exchange them on Valentine’s Day.    They would have little messages on them like “You’re so Sweet” or “Be my Valentine” and there was always a bigger extra special card in those packages for the teacher.  You remember those right? 

But what does an elementary school student know about love anyway? Not much. And Valentine’s Day is more accurately an example of the success of American capitalism than it is a memorial of true love. If you ask someone what love is, you’ll get a variety of answers, everything from an intense feeling of deep emotion to a decision, and everything in between.  In a biblical sense, love is wanting the best for someone else. We see this in God’s love toward us. God’s government including his commandments are based on love, and we even read in our Bibles that God is love.  If you are a parent, you have likely experienced authentic unselfishness motivated by this love.  It is almost innate within us. We want the absolute best for our children.  We protect them, teach them, guide them, support them, and try to equip them with absolutely everything that they will need to succeed.  The love of a parent toward their child is the closest we can come to understanding God’s love for us.  This is just the reason why Jesus’ command to love our enemies is so preposterous.  It’s applying the most tender feelings we have toward another human being to someone we don’t like.  Let’s look at it together in Matthew 5: 43-48

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ^44 [a]But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may 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. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your ^[b]brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the ^[c]tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

I clearly remember being in the car with my parents on a Sunday afternoon.  I don’t recall where we were going but my sister and I were in the back seat and mom and dad were in the front.  We were about a block from home when unprovoked, my dad blurted out “I hate that guy”. With a concerned tone in her voice, my mom exclaimed “Who?” Gesturing to a guy walking down his driveway, my dad responded “That guy”.  Mom’s next question was “do you know him.” “No” was dad’s answer.  “Then why do you hate him” mom inquired.  “Well, just look at him, he’s so arrogant” dad replied.  For the young parents out there, this is probably not the type of conversation you want to have in front of your kids, but my reason for telling it is so you know where I come from.  It is not natural for me to like someone I don’t know, much less love my enemy, which is why this teaching of Jesus seems so absurd to me.  You may very well be a better person than I, but I don’t imagine I am the only one that finds this challenging.  While researching for this sermon I came across a story that was purported to be found in the Christian catacombs of Rome, and it goes like this. 

"A rich man named Proculus had hundreds of slaves. The slave named Paulus was so trustworthy that Proculus made him the steward over his whole household. One day Proculus took Paulus with him to the slave market to buy some new workers. Before the bargaining began, they examined the men to see if they were strong and healthy.

Among the slaves stood a weak, old man. Paulus urged his owner to buy this slave.

Proculus answered, "But he is good for nothing."

"Go ahead, buy him," Paulus insisted.

"He is cheap. And I promise that the work in your household will get done even better than before."

So Proculus agreed and purchased the elderly slave. And Paulus made good on his word. The work went better than ever. But Proculus observed that Paulus now worked for two men. The old slave did no work at all, while Paulus tended to him, gave him the best food, and made him rest.

Proculus was curious, so he confronted Paulus, "Who is this slave? You know I value you. I don't mind your protecting this old man. But tell me who he is. Is he your father who has fallen into slavery?"

Paulus answered, "It is someone to whom I owe more than to my father."

"Your teacher, then?"

"No. Somebody to whom I owe even more."

"Who then?"

"This is my enemy."

"Your enemy!"

"Yes. He is the man who killed my father and sold us, the children, as slaves." Proculus stood speechless. "As for me," said Paulus, "I am a disciple of Christ, who has taught us to love our enemies and to reward evil with good."

I can’t speak to the legitimacy of this story, but it is, I believe, a perfect representation of what Christ meant when he taught that we are to love our enemies, but how does one do it?  Do we just grit our teeth and force ourselves to do nice things for our enemies? We may be able to fool an onlooker into believing we love them, but I think we all would agree that this is not love, and God would be unconvinced.  Before considering the mechanics of this irrational command, it seems there might be some value in contemplating Romans 5:6-11.

⁶ For when we were still without strength, ^[d]in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

When Christ came and died for us, we were his enemies.  God isn’t asking us to do something that he has not already done for us, and He’s not even necessarily asking that we sacrifice our lives for our enemies as he has, He’s simply asking that we show them love, thus demonstrating to whom we belong. If God loved his enemies (us) enough to forfeit His life, with Him living in our hearts we most certainly should be able to replicate that love towards those who hate us. 1 John 4:7-8 confirms this when we read…

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Simply put, if we belong to God (i.e. are Christians) the observable identifying characteristic that permits others to distinguish us as Christians will be love.  I am not a proficient bird watcher, but if you have spent any time trying to distinguish a specific type of bird from another, you know from your field guide that although many varieties of birds look almost identical, there are specific identifying characteristics that you can observe for positive identification.  It may be the length of the beak, or the color of the legs, or perhaps something even more subtle. With the true Christian, it is love, as manifested toward all of mankind, which includes those who don’t love us.  1 John makes it clear that if this love is not present in us, we do not know God, and that is not a condition in which any of us want to find ourselves. 

So how do we do it?  Perhaps a more accurate way to as the question is how do we allow Christ to do it in us? Because short of Christ living out his will in our lives, I don’t believe it to be possible.  Before we go much further, I must stop here and make it clear that I am not an expert at loving my enemies. In fact, I am exceedingly challenged by this command.  I don’t speak to you today out of the experience of my own victory but from study born of a recognition of my own inadequacy.  So, if you are distressed by your seemingly hopeless ability to measure up to this standard, you and I have something in common.  I say this not that you take comfort in it, but rather to be transparent of my own deficiency and encourage you to join me in seeking to do the will of our Father.  I echo the words of Paul when he said in Philippians 3:13-14

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

A couple of realities we can count on as we consider this, or any command of God are as follows:

· He will not require us to do something that is impossible.

· He will not ask us to do something all alone.

· He will not ask us to do something and not give us instruction on how to do it.

If this is true, we should be able to find encouragement in God’s word and instruction on how we can accomplish what he requires. So, let’s see what help he has provided when it comes to the peculiar necessity of loving our enemies.

In most cases, our enemies are our enemies for a reason.  That is to say, they have done something that has hurt us deeply enough that we have concluded they do not have our best interest in mind.  Because of this, we are on guard around them, no longer trust them, and generally assume the worst about them.  Or, perhaps we are the party who caused the initial offense, and the retaliation or withdrawal of the offended has initiated angry feelings within us, and left unchecked, they have grown into hatred within our hearts.  Either way, it is an impossibility to love someone you hate.  Before we can begin to as-much-as think about loving our enemy, we need to seek forgiveness. I like how Colossians 3:12-17 puts it.  In my Bible this passage was given the heading, Character of The New Man.

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

In the midst of encouraging us to “put on” a litany of traits that seem to embody the Fruit of the Spirit, with Christ as our example, we are entreated to forgive those with whom we have a complaint.  It’s interesting to me that this charge to forgive is immediately followed by an invitation to acquire love.  That is not accidental.  The Apostle Paul then wraps up this call with “…whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”.  The things we say and do have a profound impact on our minds.  If we will ever be able to love our enemies, we must first emulate Christ in word and deed and forgive, thus opening our hearts and minds to His power to change us. 

In addition to forgiveness, God suggests other antidotes to hatred in our hearts.  If you are observant, perhaps you noticed that right after Jesus gave the command to love our enemies in Matthew 5:44, he makes three statements that, if read casually, appear just to be expounding on the command, but a closer look reveals He is actually giving us the keys to accomplishing what he is asking.  The first key is “…bless those who curse you.”  This is a prime example of what we just talked about when Paul used the phrase “word and deed” in Colossians 3.  This is the “word” portion of that equation.  Jesus is telling us that one of the secrets to being able to love our enemy is to bless them. What does it mean to bless someone? There are many meanings to the word bless, and although I am not a theologian, I would suggest the following meanings could be applicable to what Jesus is saying here.  Although similar, they each express a slightly different facet of the word

· To invoke divine favor upon.  In this sense, to bless someone is to wish God’s kindness on them.

· To confer prosperity or happiness upon. That is to verbalize that you want the best for them.

· To build up or encourage.  Use affirming words when speaking to them.

All three of these aspects of the word “bless” if practiced on one in which we find offense, have the potential of softening our hearts toward them and restructuring our minds. By beholding we are changed.  If we speak only whatever is good, although we may find it difficult at first, it will begin to erode the negative feelings we have and replace them with positive ones.  Additionally, it is more than likely, that in time our enemy too will begin to respond to our words of blessing and find less resentment toward us.

Paul words it like this in Romans 12: 14-16

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

It’s more than just a simple action of blessing, it’s an entire attitude of oneness.

The second key Jesus gives us to open the door of love toward our enemies in Matthew 5:44 is “…do good to those who hate you”.  This is a close relative to “…bless those who curse you” the primary difference being the transition from speaking to doing.  It is the “deed” portion of the equation spoken about in Colossians 3: 17, and it’s not easy.  It requires an almost lethal dose of humility and feels incredibly awkward, but a simple act of service done toward one with whom we are at odds will have a profound impact on them and us. 

True, depending on the extent of the brokenness of the relationship, our actions may first be met with skepticism, as if we have an ulterior motive, but if continued, they will begin to be perceived as authentic.  Just as speaking blessings will invoke change on both the giver and receiver, similarly, will doing good. It is difficult to stay angry with someone who is constantly doing nice things for you, and as unnatural as it may feel to do something kind for someone you don’t like, it too will have the desired result of grinding down the bitterness in your heart.    

Proverbs 25: 21-22 says it like this:

²¹ If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
²² For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.

Interesting that it comes with a promise of reward.  Sure, there is the ultimate reward for those that surrender their lives to Christ and allow Him to change their characters to match His own, but given the context here, I believe Solomon is also referencing a more immediate prize.  The bonus of a restored relationship as an enemy is transformed into a friend. 

The third key Jesus gives us to help us to accomplish the seemingly outrageous task of loving our enemy is to “…pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”. Although listed third in Matthew 5:44, I would propose that this key is the most important, effective, and essential means by which we can develop true love in our hearts towards our enemy.  The reason it is difficult to love our enemy is because we have wounds, calluses, and even scars caused by past interactions with them. Prayer is the means, by which we may find healing for those past injuries.  We need to pray for this healing and then pray specifically for the one who caused those injuries.  Jesus does not ask us to do something without providing a perfect example.  If we look to the single most painful and injurious time in Jesus’ 33 years on this earth, we see Him living out this principle that He prescribes for us.

³³ And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ^34 [h]Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:33

In the midst of their murderous acts toward Him, Jesus intercedes for them, asking his Father to grant them forgiveness, and he echoes those words on our behalf today, each time we participate in an act that requires His blood. How can we be like the wicked servant, strangling our debtors after being freed from our much greater debt?

Although this prayer for our persecutor will have the outcome of chipping away the animosity we have toward them, making it easier and easier to attain our objective of loving them, that is not the only result.  According to 1 John 5: 14, 15 we can have the assurance that our prayer will have its intended result of a positive impact in the life of the enemy we seek to love. It reads…

¹⁴ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

There is power in prayer to change both your heart and that of your enemy.  Jesus has both promised and demonstrated it.   

My friends, the command to love your enemy is unconventional.  It requires the defiance of cultural reason.  Following it is like turning around and swimming upstream while seemingly everyone else is making more headway in the opposite direction.  And why should that surprise us? Should we expect the ways of God to align with the carnal? Paul explains it well in 1 Corinthians 2: 13-16 when he wrote…

¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the ^[d]Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶ For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

When we allow His Spirit to change us, our thoughts, actions, desires, and goals will be countercultural. By the earthly standard of wisdom, we will most certainly be measured foolish.  It is not easy to swim against the current, but as we release the things that drag us downstream it will become possible, and with Jesus as our back eddy, we will make progress.  Keep in mind, it wasn’t easy for Jesus either, but his victory has assured us ours when we turn our lives over to Him.  Jesus’ example of loving his enemies changed the world.  Imagine what could happen if you and I lived out His command today.

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient^[c] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given^[d] to hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have^[e] regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  – Romans 12:9-21