Love Your Enemies

Matthew 5:43-48

Summary
If there was any question up to this point in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount about being able to fulfill the Old Testament law by human effort, the crushing blow comes in this passage: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). As Paul Tripp beautifully summarizes, “The Pharisees’ righteousness was humanly conceived and humanly achievable. Jesus' righteousness will drive you beyond yourself to God.” In today’s sermon we will explore where the Pharisees got the idea to love their friends and hate their enemies, how Jesus corrected this, and how we can love our enemies.

Discussion Questions

1. Where did the idea of hating your enemies come from in the Old Testament?
2. What were the Pharisees missing?
3. What do verses like Revelation 6:10 and 1 Peter 2:23 teach us about the appropriateness of entrusting ourselves to God’s justice? What is the difference between impartial justice and personal vengeance?
4. “A child should be like his father: but where is our likeness to our Father in heaven if we cannot show mercy and kindness to everybody?” – J.C. Ryle. Why do we find it easier to love someone from the same ethnicity, language, economic class, and country?
5. How is God’s kindness or “common grace” demonstrated to you every day?
6. What must we be fixed on when others call us names, when they cut us in line, when they interrupt us mid-sentence, when they cut us off in traffic, or when they crash a plane into our skyscrapers?
7. What more are you doing than others?
8. How do Jesus’ words drive you beyond yourself to God?