Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a sermon Wang Yi, pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, preached on Matthew 5:38-48 before he was imprisoned in 2018. Wang Yi argues in this excerpt that, because all people have been wronged, everyone longs for justice and even vengeance. He then explains that we ourselves cannot determine what vengeance is. Instead, we need someone else to decide on that. The bad news is that often justice is not served in our lives. The good news is that God will handle this — one day. In the meantime, because we trust that vengeance is in God’s hands, Christians are commanded to not only forgive those who harm us, but to take it a step further and love our enemies.
This is the fifth and final installment in this series. (Parts one, two, three and four are linked here.)
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is 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 do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Mt. 5:38-48
Unable to Love
Jesus tells us to love our enemies. He does this to show us our definition of love is wrong. You must acknowledge: you are unable to love your enemies. Jesus wants us to realize that, because we have hatred within, we are God’s enemies.
But the problem is not just that we cannot love our enemies. We cannot even love our brothers and sisters. If you only love those who love you, that is not love.
Do you love your husband? Your wife? Of course, your husband scolds, and your wife has many problems – but are they enemies?
The problem is not just that we cannot love our enemies. We cannot even love our brothers and sisters.
Jesus is telling us that we are enemies to him. The law requires us to love our enemies. I’ll give an example: “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.” If you saw your enemy’s car break down on the road, would you stop and help them fix it, arriving late to the meeting? Jesus wants us to bear our enemies’ burdens. This is the law’s requirement.
But we cannot love our enemies, because we are enemies of God. We don’t understand the way God treats his enemies.
Good News for People Who Need It
Finally, my conclusion: the gospel is God’s good news to his enemies. Although loving your enemies is an impossible task, your heart acknowledges that it is a good thing. Each of us has discovered that we are unable to treat others like this – but still, each of us hopes and dreams that someone else will treat us this way.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus summaries the law and the prophets: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
We are willing to let others love us, even if we are their enemy. Does a person who can do this exist? If so, that person has the right to command us. That person can tell us to love our enemies.
Sometimes we are able to forgive our enemies, because we have no relationship with them. But…the closer the relationship, the more I struggle to love or to want to love.
The saddest thing in life is that we are unable to treat others like this – even those who are not enemies, but with whom we are in very close relationships. Last week, a co-worker in the church shared with me that, because of his close relationship with his wife, he couldn’t forgive her. Have you experienced this?
Sometimes we are able to forgive our enemies, because we have no relationship with them. But a brother in the church, someone who is like family – I cannot forgive him. The closer the relationship, the more I struggle to love or to want to love. This is a sad reality. But forgiving those close to us is the most important thing in our lives.
Who is unable to love their enemies? Me! And who does love his enemies? Jesus!
Loving the Enemies of Love
One day, a brother shared a thought that profoundly impacted me: at a wedding, the bridge and groom say, “Until death do us part.” Of course, when we love someone, we hope to be together forever. But this brother said, “My biggest problem is not that I am afraid my wife won’t be with me forever – it’s that I don’t want to be with myself forever.”
Are you like this? When I look in the mirror and know what kind of person I am, when I fear I won’t change and will always be like this, I’m unwilling to be with myself forever! Are you also unwilling to remain with your own self for all eternity? There is One who is willing to be with you. On the cross, he shed his blood and said, “I want to be with you forever.”
Who can love you with this kind of love? In this world, who has loved his enemies? The One who is holy, righteous, and good. The One who commands us to love those who hate us.
Break down your self-justification. Admit that you are an enemy of love. You cannot love your enemies. You cannot even love your own family!
Who can love you with this kind of love? In this world, who has loved his enemies? The One who is holy, righteous, and good, who commands us to love those who hate us. With his words, he accuses and commands us.
Loving our enemies is the purpose of Jesus’s incarnation. When he uttered the words in this passage, he had already decided to go to the cross for you. Amen!
Lord,
Only you can ask us to give up our desire for revenge, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute and curse us. Your demands are not legalistic, but are filled with the power of your blood. Love is powerful and victorious. Not only does it love the unlovable, but it also has the power to fill the unlovable with love.
In the precious name of Jesus Christ,
Amen!
Wang Yi is a Chengdu pastor who was arrested on December 9, 2018, as part of a crackdown focused on his church, Early Rain. He was sentenced to nine years in December of 2019, and is currently in prison.
Pray for Chinese Christians to rest in God’s love for them. As they realize how God loves them, even while they were his enemies, may they have strength to love those who hate them.
