What Goes Around Comes Around…Luke 6:27-36
Luke 6:27“But I say to you who are listening, Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who asks of you; and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35Instead love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Background: Today’s passage comes from the midst of Jesus’ profound speech/sermon on the Level Place. In Matthew’s more familiar version, it is called the Sermon on the Mount. In both of these texts, the location of the sermon is more theological than documentary. That by way of saying that we don’t know exactly where he was when he made this speech. Each of the Gospel writers places the speech either on the Mount (where people go to hear from God) or on the plain (where God comes among us) to emphasize that in these words we are meeting God directly. The two versions differ in a number of ways with Luke’s version having a bit broader prophetic flavor. In some ways, this speech serves as a New Testament counterpart to the Ten Commandments. Here Jesus is describing and calling into reality a new kind of community that is marked by dramatically different values from those that rule the secular world.
Today’s text: Perhaps there is not a harder section of the Sermon on the Level Place than the one before us today. Tomes have been written throughout the centuries trying, in one way or another, to make Jesus’ words more palatable. Basically, from the moment these words were spoken, followers have been trying to find a way to get around them by saying in lofty words, “Don’t worry. He didn’t really mean it like it sounds.” The problem is, he did. The Gospel of Luke in its entirety (and the rest of the Bible for that matter) when faced head on, consistently reinforce the words spoken here. As much as we would like to find it, there is really no wiggle room here. We are left with Jesus’ seemingly impossible words and asked to ponder what kind of kingdom functions like this? And even more mind boggling, we must ask, are we willing to follow him into such a way of life?
Word Study
Vs. 27 – love your enemies – This was an astonishing commandment in Jesus’ day, just as it is today. The words here are imperative. This is not a suggestion. It is a prerequisite for living life in the kingdom of God. In Jesus’ day many religious communities and teachers taught that one should hate ones enemies, calling them the sons of darkness. They should be destroyed. We see this thought in many forms of religious fundamentalism even today. Jesus’ message is totally different from that. Totally. Jesus is commanding that we view those we name as enemies with the same eyes with which God sees them, and we respond to them with the same love and forgiveness that God has offered us. That is how we will look like God. That is how God is glorified. The way we treat the enemy is what shows how we really view God.
Do good – actively work for their betterment. The word ‘good’ means moral goodness and attractiveness. In other words, he is saying that we are always to behave in a generous moral way toward enemies, working to lift them up, creating in their lives a winsome attractiveness that elevates their status.
Vs. 28 – Bless – this word in Greek means to make happy or in a good situation. In Jesus’ native language of Aramaic, to be blessed meant to be ripe, as intended, full and fit for the moment.
Curse – means to insult, to reduce status, to denigrate.
Vs. 29 – if anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also – This is another example of non-retaliatory living within the Kingdom. This is the first of three examples of non-retaliation. The Greek verb refers to striking someone on the cheek with the back of the hand that was considered a great insult and merited punishment. This is more about insult than physical harm. Roman soldiers often did this to keep Jews ‘in their place.’
coat – the outer garment. This could not legally be taken in payment for a debt. It was sometimes used as a blanket at night and was a person’s only protection.
Shirt – this referred to the inner tunic. The point is that life in the Kingdom is gracious and does not respond in kind.
Vs. 30 – give to everyone who asks of you – literally ‘be giving.’ This implies an on-going act, or a characteristic, not simply a one-time action of generosity. The point is that no one can be excluded as unworthy of care and concern, just as Jesus excludes no one from care and concern.
Do not ask for it back again – giving cannot have strings attached, otherwise it is not a free gift.
Vs. 31 – This is a positive restatement of the rabbinical teaching that we should not do to anyone what we would find abhorrent if done to ourselves.
Vs. 32-35 – These verses recap the previous teaching.
Vs. 36 – merciful – compassionate, tenderhearted, kind, understanding, generous.
Questions for Personal Reflection
1. Today’s passage seems on the surface to call for the impossible. Why would Jesus command us to do something if it was, indeed, impossible?
2. As you ponder this text, what is the most difficult aspect of it for you?
3. Believing that Jesus’ words, while often hard, are always good news, where is the good news in this passage for you?
4. Are their circumstances that are particularly hard for you in this regard? How would you define an enemy?