{"id":1980,"date":"2020-10-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancylucenay.com\/staging\/8869\/?p=1980"},"modified":"2025-07-14T17:54:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T21:54:01","slug":"how-to-eliminate-our-enemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancylucenay.com\/staging\/8869\/how-to-eliminate-our-enemies\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Eliminate Our Enemies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The kangaroos pictured above illustrate one way to manage our enemies. I can identify with both of them. What about you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than eliminating reciprocity, Jesus gave it a new twist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>Matthew 5:43-45<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-Century Enemies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>). E. Randolph Richards and Richard James observe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving the coat is a gift\u2014a gift to an adversary\u2026. Gifts in his reciprocal world sought to establish friendships. Giving the coat would be a gesture of magnanimity, goodwill, even a desire for relationship. <\/p>Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, Jesus told his listeners to respond to their foes as if they were friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.<\/p>John 15:13<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Given that Jesus died for all, we see he treated even those who rejected him as friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Jesus had an enemy\u2014not 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steps to Enemy Elimination<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of us would rather not have enemies. So, how can we get rid of them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n