The Hard Teachings of Jesus – Love Your Enemies, Do Good to Those Who Hate You
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 24, 2021
This sermon expounds Jesus's teaching on loving enemies in Luke 6:27-36, clarifying that it is not a call to passive acceptance of injustice, but a balance between righteousness and compassion. The pastor guides the congregation to properly understand the image of 'turning the other cheek' as an invitation to reconciliation rather than an acceptance of abuse. The foundation for living out this teaching is a deep awareness of God's love for us while we were still His enemies.
The sermon opens by categorizing three meanings of 'hard teachings' in Scripture: hard to understand (such as Jesus's teaching on being born again to Nicodemus in John 3), hard to believe or hear (such as the declaration 'before Abraham was, I am' in John 8:58), and hard to obey (such as the teaching on forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-22). The command to love enemies falls into all three categories, and the pastor aims to help the congregation understand, believe, and practice the teaching in Luke 6:27-36.
The pastor argues that the commands to 'turn the other cheek' and 'give your cloak also' do not teach passive acceptance of injustice. The theological foundation is drawn from Micah 6:8: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. This balance is exemplified in Jesus's own life — He strongly condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Matthew 23, yet freely forgave the woman caught in adultery in John 8:11 and prayed for His executioners in Luke 23:34.
The pastor explains that 'striking on the cheek' was not a life-threatening attack but an act of shaming and dishonoring. Therefore, 'turning the other cheek' does not mean allowing continued abuse, but rather offering the offender a new opportunity for reconciliation — an invitation to kiss rather than strike again. This requires disciples to speak up for justice boldly, as Jesus did before the high priest (John 18:23) and as Paul asserted his Roman citizenship rights (Acts 16:37), yet without bitterness or a spirit of revenge.
Theologian Eberhard Arnold is quoted: 'Truth without love kills, but love without truth deceives.' The pastor stresses that silence in the face of a loved one's wrongdoing is not true love but complicity. Ephesians 4:14-15 is cited to affirm that believers are called to 'speak the truth in love.' A pastoral illustration of a woman setting loving but firm boundaries with her abusive father in a phone call is used as a practical example of balancing justice and compassion.
Finally, the pastor points out that the capacity to love enemies flows from a deep awareness of God's love for us while we were still His enemies, as affirmed in Romans 5:8 and Romans 5:10. Only when believers truly grasp that they themselves have received forgiveness and repeated opportunities for restoration from God can they become 'rich enough' in mercy to extend the same love to their own enemies.