Friday 5th April
Read Matthew 5:43-48
“‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (NIVUK)
The key word in these final verses is ‘more’. What ‘more’ do you do? It is easy to grasp the principle Jesus is speaking about with respect to retaliation for bad things done to us, but notice what He has done at the end here. The principle in the positive sense is just as important to consider. Society operates on a ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ principle. If good is done to us, there is a sense in which we want to, are almost obligated to, return the favour. If I am invited over to your house for a meal, at some point I will invite you to my house.
The question Jesus asks you is what ‘more’ do you do? Human-to-human interactions are entirely expected but Christian’s are called to a radical difference. The ‘more’ should be clear. The ‘more’ should be ‘divine-to-human’ in nature. It is self-sacrificial, and indiscriminate. It is entirely undeserved ‘more-ness’.
