Hey everybody! Thank you for taking the time to join me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, you can visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Today, we continue Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount! Day 48, Matthew 5:46-48 — The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:46-48 (NASB1995) “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Discussion Jesus has provided further context about how He fulfills the Law and Prophets (5:17-20). Many religious leaders criticized Jesus, claiming He was blaspheming the Law by abolishing or altering it. He rebukes them by confirming the authority of the Law and reestablishing it. Jesus reestablishes the sixth commandment against murder (5:21-22), the seventh commandment against adultery (5:27-28) and divorce (5:31-32), reveals God’s intentions against blasphemy and oathbreaking (5:33-37), teaches about making peace to avoid escalated conflict instead of seeking vengeance (5:38-42), and commands that we love our enemies (5:43-45). The Pharisees knew the Scriptures, but they twisted the truth. Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders is not to reject them, but to correct them. The religious leaders perverted these commandments through their misinterpretations, leading to false teachings and confusion among the Jews. Jesus is revealing God’s truth to the religious leaders and showing how their sinful human interpretations fall short of God’s standard. God cares about our attitudes as much as our actions. Yesterday, we read about how we can love our enemies (5:43-45). The Jews understood the idea of seeking peace and loving their neighbor, but there was a misunderstanding about their enemies. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” The religious leaders taught to revile non-Jews for various reasons (e.g. Roman oppression, Salvation, etc.). The Jews found it confusing to love their enemies, as Jesus commanded. God’s love is not partial but extends to all people, regardless of their character or beliefs or the guilt they carry. God expects His children to have this same love for their neighbors and enemies. Today’s passage piggybacks from yesterday. Jesus questions the authenticity of one's love. For someone to truly love their enemies, they must show it. Of course, it is easy to love those who love us—those with similar backgrounds, beliefs, and political standings. But what about those who differ? Those who combat your beliefs and values? Those who physically and verbally abuse you? Those who do not love you? Matthew likely adds Jesus’ mentioning of tax collectors because Matthew was a tax collector himself. His own people hated and reviled him. There was no lower position than turning on your own people and serving Rome. Scholars say, “The extortion practiced by this class [tax collectors] made them hateful to the community, ranking them among the harlots.” Since people associated tax collectors as disloyal, lacking integrity, greedy, etc., it was easy to hate them. Jesus uses a tax collector as an example, showing that even the most reviled and despicable person can love someone who loves them. He proved to the Jewish audience that loving someone who loves you has no value in the kingdom of God. This teaching convicted the hearts of the selfish and narrow-minded by questioning people’s hearts. He says, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” Loving those who love you is easy and requires nothing. Everybody loves people who love them. But loving those who hate and revile you is another story. This is the love Jesus expects from those who follow Him. He continues, “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” Jesus provides an example of how to put the idea of loving your enemy into action. By greeting someone, you are showing you genuinely care. For context, greeting someone in ancient Israel implied the complete removal of animosity toward that person. Imagine a Jew hearing that they must welcome tax collectors and remove any animosity toward them to enter the kingdom of God. Imagine them hearing they must show this same love to the Romans, who oppressed them. This idea of love went against the culture of that time, especially to those who were actively reviled and persecuted. By loving others this way, Jesus says, “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This perfection does not resemble the perfectness of accolades or seeking the approval of the world—it is perfection found in distinguishing between Jesus’ genuine disciples. Disciples who are counter-culturally set apart from the world. We continue the Sermon on the Mount tomorrow. Application We applied how to love our enemies somewhat yesterday. Today’s passage expands on this thought. Loving our neighbors is easy and provides no effort. Even the world reciprocates love to each other. But what about love for their enemies? Jesus commands us to love our enemies. As explained yesterday, this love does not mean accepting and tolerating sin, but showing peace, patience, compassion, forgiveness, and understanding to those who hate us. We all have failed to show Christlike love in all situations to all people. It is something we must all work on as we labor to bring others to Christ. It is easy to get caught up in the political sects dividing us, but this is not the way of Christ. The political variance in the U.S. has infiltrated American churches, leading to an explosion of hate from professing Jesus followers. The world is going to continue reviling biblical truth and Christlike love and holiness, but professing Christians cannot allow that to change the way we live and love. Showing genuine love to those who differ and hate us is more than debating and arguing online. It is showing you genuinely care for that person, even if they never return you anything. Even if they return with more hate, we should love evermore. This is the love Jesus wants us to have. May we repent of reviling those who revile us. May we repent of idolizing political agendas above showing genuine love for those who differ. May we repent of any animosity we have toward another person. May we show genuine love to our enemies while standing for truth. Some will listen, but most will not. May we brush off our feet and continue in love and truth instead of engaging in harmful banter that will ignite conflict. May we represent Jesus and love others the way He loves us. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Tomorrow, we read Matthew 6:1. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together.
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