How to Eliminate Our Enemies
The kangaroos pictured above illustrate one way to manage our enemies. I can identify with both of them. What about you?
How do we define “enemy”? Is it anyone who disagrees with us, hates us, or tries to harm us? Our country’s polarization dominates politics, protests, and responses to the pandemic, meaning everyone we meet poses a potential threat. Must we consider enemies those who count us as theirs? Are any of us enemy-free?
In Jesus’ day, the law of reciprocity was the unspoken rule of relationships. To your friend and brother, you returned love; to the one who harmed you, you responded in kind. Jesus, however, countered the natural human response. He didn’t quote his source, but the Hebrew Scriptures never commanded Jews to hate their enemies. They were, on the contrary, to be kind to them. Nevertheless, some people justified hatred for enemies.
Rather than eliminating reciprocity, Jesus gave it a new twist.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:43-45
We are to treat people not as they have treated us, but as God has treated us. We’re to reflect his love in our relationships. Not so we can earn the right to be his children but because we are his children.
First-Century Enemies
Most Jews in the first century considered the Romans their enemies. Yet Jesus instructed his followers to overlook insults and give more than requested, relinquishing both their shirt and coat (Matthew 5:38-42). E. Randolph Richards and Richard James observe:
Giving the coat is a gift—a gift to an adversary…. Gifts in his reciprocal world sought to establish friendships. Giving the coat would be a gesture of magnanimity, goodwill, even a desire for relationship.
Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World
In other words, Jesus told his listeners to respond to their foes as if they were friends.
What about Jesus? Did he have enemies? Such as the religious leaders who criticized him and the Romans who crucified him. Since actions, rather than words or feelings, prove the authenticity of love, we can look at Jesus’ life to determine how he treated those who deemed him an enemy.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13
Given that Jesus died for all, we see he treated even those who rejected him as friends.
Yes, Jesus had an enemy—not a human being but the adversary who sought to derail his mission throughout his ministry. The one he overcame on the cross. The one whose defeat he demonstrated when he rose from the dead.
Steps to Enemy Elimination
Most of us would rather not have enemies. So, how can we get rid of them?
- Review our hearts: Get quiet before God. Ask him to reveal how we are contributing to any broken relationships in our lives. Seek his solution for a resolution. Then obey his directions.
- Recognize our real enemy: It’s not the one who dislikes, disagrees, or even hurts us but the evil one who opposes God’s purpose for his creation. A purpose much more significant than the issues that divide us. People weren’t Jesus’ enemies, nor are they ours.
- Recycle our enemies: Attempt to transform them into friends. Perhaps by giving them a gift, helping them, or asking them for assistance or advice.
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.
Romans 12:20; Proverbs 25:21-22
In the ancient world, burning coals were necessary for heating and cooking. To heap hot coals on an enemy’s head was a metaphor for providing for his basic needs. The coals symbolize gifts, deeds of kindness, intended not to inflict retaliation but to inspire reconciliation. Gift-giving can turn enemies into friends. The result depends in no small measure on our attitudes and motives.
Jesus doesn’t ask his disciples to ignore the basic principles of justice. Nevertheless, he calls us to abandon our desire for revenge and retribution, refusing to engage in false honor competitions. When we love our enemies, we strip them of their power over us. Rather than reflecting their attitudes and actions, we exercise our Spirit-given ability to love them as God loves us. And we exemplify God’s message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
How does Jesus’ directive speak to our political divide? How can Jesus-followers live out our responsibility to be ministers of reconciliation, eliminating our enemies by turning them into friends?
Nancy Lucenay
Retired pastor’s wife, Bible teacher, & writer. Communicating biblical truth with cultural awareness.
4 Comments
Sandy Kress
That Jesus may have encountered a few people who taught hating enemies, this was not Jewish thinking in any respect that he was opposing. Proverbs 25:21; Exodus23:4-5; and on and on. It’s a shame Jesus’ words are twisted again and again. He’s teaching his followers to follow the wisdom of the Old Testament, rather than being misled by wrongdoers and misleaders into thinking hatred of enemies was tolerable or taught by their traditions. Here’s a piece I wrote on normative Jewish thinking around the time of Jesus, in which a wife corrects her husband just as Jesus was correcting bad thinking in his day. I know this is not at all true of you, Nancy, but we really must go above and beyond to free ourselves of the hatefulness that has infiltrated the Christian world too much for too long as to Jews and Judaism. For if we must love our enemies, surely we must love our fellows in God (that is, Jews and Christians). Love begins with respect and honest treatment. And that includes ceasing the bad practice of the constant putdown. https://sandykress.wordpress.com/2019/10/24/how-loving-sinners-can-reduce-wickedness/
Nancy Lucenay
Dear Sandy:
Thank you so much for your comments. As I think you know, I have no desire to incite antagonism between Jews and Christians. When Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said…” he didn’t quote the source. Most Christian commentators have assumed he was referring to the Old Testament. Yet as we know, the Hebrew Scriptures never say we should hate our enemies. I tried to make that distinction by attributing the interpretation to certain factions of Judaism and intended putdowns to no one. However, if I understand you correctly, you’re saying hatred for enemies came totally from outside Judaism in Jesus’ day. Despite researching several Jewish sites on Pro 25:21-22, I never saw any reference to the origin of the teaching. It’s certainly a natural human response to hate those who hate us but not a godly one. Please forgive me for rubbing salt in an old wound. I’ve corrected my post, hoping to eliminate any misunderstanding.
Thank you again for your friendship and kindness.
Rachel
I used to wonder as well about whom was Jesus was referring to when He said “You’ve heard it said…”. My research as well as the teachings of my Jewish pastor (I attend a Messianic congregation) have led me to believe that He was talking about some of the Pharisees’ teachings (which will later evolve and become today’s rabbinical Judaism).
PS: Let’s not forget that Paul never denied that he was a Pharisee and that even Jesus told the crowd, “do as they tell you, not what they do”.
My point: not everything the Pharisees said, was wrong but whenever it was egregiously misleading, the Lord Jesus pointed it out to the crowd such as in Matthew 5:43-45
Nancy Lucenay
I agree, Rachel, that not all Pharisees were bad. In fact, Jesus and the Pharisees probably agreed on many points. First-century Judaism included various biblical interpretations just as twenty-first century Christianity does.
The first comment above is from Sandy Kress, a Jewish high school classmate of mine. Although not a rabbi (nor a Christian), he is a well-trained Jewish scholar and Bible teacher.
Christians worship a Jewish Jesus and should have no tolerance for anti-Semitism. I love researching the Jewish background of God’s Word and would love to hear your pastor. Does he blog or has he written any books?