20250316 Luke 6:27-36 Radical Love
Sacrificial Love is powerful. It is a theme of many great movies. The sacrificial love in the Titanic, or Armageddon with Bruce Willis, Seven Pounds with Will Smith, Katniss at the beginning of Hunger Games moves us. This love grips our hearts when we witness the beauty of one denying themselves to advance the interests of another. This sacrificial love moves us the most when it involves one laying down their lives for another. John 15:13 reads, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
It is one thing to see this at the cinema, it is another to
personally be the recipient of such love. This love is at the heart of what God
has done for us in Christ. Our hearts are wicked, we are hostile in our minds,
we practice evil deeds (Col 1:21). Our sins make us liable to God’s just
judgment. But, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Now, Luke 6:27-31 describes the Christian life as one that
is radically loving to a fault. Luke 6:32-35 teaches that our love must be
motivated not by earthly rewards by God’s future love. Luke 6:35-36 teaches
that we love because God first loved us. Our lives and our works deserve God’s
wrath, judgment, and condemnation, but God loved us. He caused us to become
born again. He gives us new hearts, a new destiny, a new mind, a church family,
his word, his Spirit to comfort, guide, teach us. God’s love transferred us
from death row to being ambassadors to love the world.
This text is about Love. My three points are Love, Love, and
Love. This text is about love that begets love, that begets more love! We will
look at the Love of God, the Love of Christians, And, back to more love of God.
Love begins with God. God's love moves us to love. When we love, our reward
will be great.
First, we look at the Radical Love of God in
Luke 6:27, 35-36.
Luke
6:27
Loving your enemy when you are in first-century Palestine,
meant loving the Romans. It is like asking the Ukrainians to love invading
Russian soldiers. To consider this radical kind of love, we begin with Luke
6:35-36. If we don’t, the command to love is too idealistic and unsustainable. We
would dismiss this text as an exaggeration.[i]
Luke
6:35
In Luke 6:35, Jesus says “Love your enemies, and do good,
and lend, expecting nothing in return… and you will be sons of the Most High….”
Jesus teaches us that our actions need to make our relationship to God obvious.[ii] A child of God reflects
God’s gracious, merciful, and forgiving character to the world. The idea is
that “moral likeness proves parentage.”[iii] Luke 6:36 puts it this
way, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Luke
6:36
Our tendency is to treat people based on how they act. Luke
6:36 teaches us to treat people based on how God acts. God showed us mercy by
not treating us based on how we act. Titus 3:5 puts it perfectly, “[God] saved
us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” God does
not deal with us according to our works because Jesus already took the judgment
that was rightfully ours.
Application
Now, we are free to not deal with people according to their
works. Luke 6:36 teaches us to be like God. We do not let people determine how
we act. Rather, we let God determine how we act. We can love our enemy because
God loved us when we were his enemies. If we are wronged, instead of
considering the harm done to us, and act, we consider God’s mercy towards us and
then act accordingly! This simple concept alone should bring about world peace!
Second, we turn to the Radical Love of
Christians in Luke 6:27-31.
Following God’s love, we love. Love is at the core of
Christian identity. As the children of the lover in heaven, we love. Love
demonstrates itself in concrete action. It is not tucked away in the person’s
inner thoughts.[iv]
Luke 6:27-31 has commands that sound extreme. We may wonder if we should take
them literally or as figures of speech. My general principle is that if Jesus
or others in the Bible apply it literally then it's literal if not, it is a
figure of speech that still commands radical love.[v]
Luke
6:27-28
In Luke 6:27-28, Jesus teaches us to love, do good, bless,
and pray for enemies.
There is OT precedent for this. Lev 19:18 taught to love
your neighbor as yourself. In Exod 23:4-5, we read, “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.” The Old Testament teaches
us to love our enemy. The kind of love Jesus demands us to extend to enemies
goes beyond helping them when they are in trouble. Jesus demands that we love our
enemy when he causes us trouble. This love involves doing good, blessing, and
praying.
Jesus leads the way in this radical love. When Jesus was on
the cross dying for our sins, he said about those who killed him, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). Jesus applied the command
to love his enemies, literally, so should we.
Peter describes the oppression of Jesus this way, “When he
was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not
threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet
2:23).[vi] In Acts 7:60, Stephen also
prays for those who murdered him. This pattern suggests that we must live the
same as well.
Application
For us, if we understand the depth of our sin and God’s
forgiveness while we were his enemies, we will love, do good, bless, and pray
for those who wrong us.[vii] In Luke 6:29-30, Jesus
teaches us to practice radical love that gives up rights and is generous to a
fault. We read in Luke 6:29, “To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the
other also.” This sounds dangerous and not very practical. Darrel Bock suggests
that in the context of persecution, “offering the cheek means continuing to
minister at the risk of further persecution, as Paul does in Acts 14 and 16.”[viii]
Luke
6:29
Still, in Luke 6:29, we read “And from one who takes away
your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.” The OT law (Exod 22:26-27)
protected against confiscating the more valuable outer garment. Jesus’
disciples are to forgo that right. They are to offer voluntarily more than
their opponent demands. Darrel Bock suggests that in the context of missionary
travel which was potentially dangerous, one should not cease from missionary
work simply because one might be robbed. Jesus patiently endured the cruel
blows of his Roman captors (Luke 22:63-65), he surrendered himself to a process
which eventually deprived him from his clothes (Luke 23:11).
Because of what Jesus ends up doing, we cannot write off his
claim as either rhetorical exaggeration or a hopeless ideal. Jesus practiced
what he taught and expected his disciples to follow suit.”[ix] Paul continually exposed
himself to great danger for the sake of the gospel, there were occasions when
the church sent him away from a dangerous area for his own protection (e.g.,
Acts 16:40; 17:10, 13–14). Sometimes it is prudent to protect oneself from
persecution by moving a ministry elsewhere. On the other hand, Stephen forgave
his enemies who were putting him to death, just as Jesus had done on the cross
(Acts 7:60). Sometimes God calls us to give even our lives.[x]
Luke
6:30
In Luke 6:30, we read “Give to everyone who begs from you,
and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.” This verse
reflects the value of giving to the poor as part of Jewish piety (Deut. 15:7–8;
Ps.37:21, 26; Prov. 19:17; 21:26b). Such compassion represents a fundamental
expression of love.[xi]
Application
For us, what does this mean when someone asks for money on
the metro? Is this saying we must give? We can give money, you can give food. You
can choose to give to an organization that provides food in a more
cost-effective way. There is not one way of obeying this, but we must be
generous.
We need to be the kind of people for whom possession will
not affect our mood, attitudes, and thoughts. If someone gives… give without
questioning… if we lend give as if we will not see it back.
Luke
6:31
In Luke 6:31, we read, “And as you wish that others would do
to you, do so to them.”
It is called the golden rule because in some way it
summarizes the rest of the law. I don’t want to be murdered, so I should not
murder. But an interesting feature is that the golden rule is worded
positively, not negatively. It is not just about not doing what I do not want
other not to do to be. It asks us to positively act towards others as we want
others to act towards us. This is a call to empathy. We need to be aware of the
desires and disappointments of those around us in order to love them well and
meet their needs.
Application
These verses offer us a
manifesto of the church’s identity. These values must be what is true of us. The
stories we tell each in this community can be of the success and failure in
loving our enemy to encourage each other in this pursuit.
R.T. France writes that, “Disciples should reflect the
character of the God they serve” by “absorbing God’s own values and attitudes”
with “uncalculating love that puts the needs and interests of others before our
own.” He concludes that, in a world of sin, where violence produces violence
and evil begets evil, “a community that lives by such principles will stand out
against natural human self-centeredness as an alternative society,
incomprehensible perhaps, but undeniably attractive.”[xii]
Third, we look at the Great Reward that
follows in Luke 6:32-35.
God’s love, leads to Christian love, but this text teaches
also to be motivated by future love. In this way, love begins with God and ends
with God.
Luke
6:32-35
Luke 6:32-35 lists good things, but they don’t quite
demonstrate the radical love of God. Loving those who love you is great. But terrorists
and the mafia do this too. It is not enemy loving love. It's not special. Lending
to those who will give back is great and banks do that too so there is nothing
radical about that.
This text is about radical self-sacrificial love that can
only be motivated by heavenly rewards because it does not reap earthly rewards.
Giving anonymously if you can is an obvious application of
this text. If you give anonymously no one will ever be able to pay you back. Another
way is loving when there is no way it will be paid back. This is love shown to
children and those who cannot provide for themselves.
Luke 6:35 says this kind of love leads to a great reward. In
this life, the reward is our inner satisfaction of helping others. The reward
is knowing that God knows and sees our deeds and we know we have the Father’s
blessing and favor.[xiii] After this life, the
reward is the “sum total of all the blessings of salvation throughout eternity”
that begins with the public acknowledgment by Jesus at his glorious return
(Matt.25:34 f.).[xiv]
Conclusion
1 John 4:8 says God is love. John 15:13 reads, “Greater love
is none other than he who gave his life for his friends.” Rom 13:10 Love does
no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Luke
portrays love as the essence of discipleship to Jesus[xv] and ethical
decision-making.[xvi]
Lest we consider these teachings
as impractical or absurd let's end with how much the 20th century was changed
by love. Ghandi was influenced by the Christian writer Leo Tolstoy in his
peaceful protests that led to Indian independence. The Christian, Martin Luther
King Jr put himself in a defenseless posture toward his aggressors in order to
shame them into repentance. His courage led to massive gains of civil rights
for African Americans in the United States.
The peaceful demonstrations that issued from the
Friedensdekade — a decade-long prayer for peace in Protestant churches in
former East Germany — broke ground not only for the fall of the Berlin Wall in
1989, but for the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. The Truth and
Reconciliation movement played the critical role in dismantling apartheid in
South Africa and in sparing the nation a bloodbath of racial revenge.
Love is powerful and changes the world. Love that forgives
and blesses the enemy and does not return violence for violence has the power
to tear down wicked power structures. It is also that way of Christ for us in our
hardest relationships according to Luke 6:27-30.[xvii] It is love that flows
from God’s love. It is a love so great that it made a way for sinners like us to
have forgiveness and life in Jesus.
[i] R.
T. France, Luke (Teach the Text Commentary Series) , ed. Mark Strauss and John
Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2013). Luke 6:27-38.
[ii]
Alan J. Thompson, Luke EGGNT (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2017). Luke
6:35. Darrell L. Bock, Luke, vol. 1 BECNT 3A (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic,
2008) Luke 6:35.
[iii]
Darrell L. Bock, Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996). Luke 6:17-49.
Original Meaning.
[iv]
Bock, Luke. Luke 6:17-49. Original Meaning.
[v]
Bock, Luke. Luke 6:17-49. Bridging the Gap.
[vi]
France, Luke (Teach the Text Commentary Series). Luke 6:27-38.
[vii]
Nicholas Perrin, ed., Luke: An Introduction and Commentary TNTC 3 (London: IVP,
2022).
[viii]
Bock, Luke. Vol. 1, Luke 6:29.
[ix]
Perrin, Luke.
[x]
Bock, Luke. Luke 6:17-49. Bridging the Gap.
[xi]
Bock, Luke. Luke 6:17-49. Original Meaning.
[xii]
France, Luke (Teach the Text Commentary Series). Luke 6:27-38. Theological
Insights. France, Luke (Teach the Text Commentary Series). Luke 6:27-38.
Teaching the Text.
[xiii] Bock, Luke. Vol. 1, 1:603.
[xiv]
William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke , 3. print.
(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978), 354.
[xv]
James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Luke PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI:
Eerdmans, 2015).
[xvi]
Perrin, Luke.
[xvii] Edwards, The Gospel According to Luke. Luke 6:29-31.
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