REFLECTING GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Matthew 5:43-48
43
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and
hate thine enemy.
44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you,
and persecute you;
45
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.
46
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not
even the publicans the same?
47
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do
not even the publicans so?
48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.
Commendable Publicans in the Bible:
1. Matthew (Levi) Matthew 9:9 9 And as Jesus passed forth from
thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of
custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and
followed him.
2. Zacchaeus Luke 19:8 8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the
Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I
have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore
him fourfold.
3. The Praying Publican- Luke 18:13 13 And the publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Generally, Publicans were known for being:
1. Thieves- Luke 18:8 8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord:
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have
taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him
fourfold.
2. Traitors- Publicans were mostly known as tax collecting
contractors in Galilee and Matthew filled that position in
Capernaum. Publicans actually won their positions by bidding for
them at auctions. The person would name the amount of the taxes
he thought he could collect and then he would pay that amount to
Rome. Rome treated the money as a loan and paid interest back to
the publican. If the publican collected more than the original
amount he got to keep it. There was a risk, though. If the publican
collected less than he expected, they he had to pay the balance to
Rome. There were publicans that earned a lot of money this way.
The Jews hated being occupied by the Romans, and they hated the
tax collectors who worked for the Romans.
3. Transgressors-Matthew 9:10 10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat
at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and
sat down with him and his disciples.
Luke 18:11 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God,
I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even as this publican.
In fact, no publican was admitted as witness in courts during their
times.
1 Timothy 6:10 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows.
Luke 16:13 13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Our love for money, our love for material things speaks what kind of love
we have for God and for others.
Now from the very words of Jesus, he has taught the kind of love
that glorifies God.
1 John 4:8 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 3:18 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue;
but in deed and in truth.
I. Consider the Standard
Our standard for LOVE is God not man. Jesus corrected the
Pharisees’ wrong interpretation of Leviticus 19:18. They thought
that if God’s commandment is to love our neighbour then
consequently we must hate our enemies.
Matthew 5:44-45 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.
A. Love your enemies
No one would tell you to love those who loves you. It is not
unusual to love those who loves you, do good unto you, and
or those who are profitable to you. What’s unusual for us
sinners, is to love our enemies, to love the unlovable.
In doing so, the bible says that we may be the children of our
Father which is in heaven. That is, to emulate the love of the
Father.
Illustration: Tracts Distribution on Malvar Cemetery.
I think a biblical example is the story of the Good Samaritan
in Luke 10:29-37
Luke 10
25
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26
He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest
thou?
27
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do,
and thou shalt live.
29
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is
my neighbour? ( He probably asked this to justify their own
interpretation of the law, that they will only love their
neighbor and not their enemies)
The story goes in vs. 29-37
You might argue that this that the man who fell among the
thieves and the Good Samaritan were not enemies.
Samaritans were ex-communicated by the Jews. They think
worst of Samaritans. John 8:48 48 Then answered the
Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art
a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
B. Bless them that curse you
To bless one’s enemies is not just to do them good, but
actually to ask God for their well-being.
C. Do good to them that hate you
Jesus highlighted the significance of showing kindness to
one's enemies in the following verses: turning the other
cheek (Luke 6:29), giving to someone who takes from you
(Luke 6:30), treating others as you wish to be treated (Luke
6:31), lending without expecting anything in return (Luke
6:35), being merciful (Luke 6:36), and forgiving (Luke 6:37)
D. Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
II. Consider the Sincerity
Sincerity means honesty of intention, freedom from hypocrisy or
false pretense
Matthew 5:46-47 46 For if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than
others? do not even the publicans so?
In verses 46 and 47, Jesus basically says that He is thoroughly
not impressed with us only loving those who love us or do good
to us.
Jesus says that anybody can do that, and most people do in fact
live and love that way.
He is calling us to something greater. We should not love like the
pretentious and insincere love of the publicans.
The truth is, loving those who loves us, does not have a
reward.
Verse 48 says 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect.
III. Consider the Savior
Jesus loved those who were outcasts of the society.
He forgave the adulteress John 8:3-11
He healed the lepers. Luke 17:11-19
He spoke with the Samaritan. John 4:7-30
He ate with the publicans and sinners. Matthew 9:10
Romans 5
7
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure
for a good man some would even dare to die.
7
Sapagka't ang isang tao'y bahagya nang mamatay dahil
sa isang taong matuwid: bagama't dahil sa isang taong
mabuti marahil ay may mangangahas mamatay.
8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through him.
10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life.
