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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 6:27 - 6:31
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The law of love:
v. 27. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
v. 28. bless them that curse you,. and pray for them which despitefully use you.
v. 29. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
v. 30. Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
v. 31. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
There is a double contrast here: Jesus had Tittered His woes against various classes of people, but that would not give others a right to act in an arbitrary way, according to their own interpretation of the saying; He had addressed His disciples mainly, but now He purposely includes all those that heard His discourse. All that were within reach of His voice at that time, and all that are in a position to hear His words today, should observe the law of love toward their enemies. The contrast throughout emphasizes the point which Jesus wishes to make: To love, not friends, for there no urging is needed, but enemies; to do good, not to those that show us every form of kindness, for there the act of reciprocating is self-evident, but to those that hate us; to bless, not those that wish us well, for there we return the greetings as a matter of course, but those that heap imprecations and curses upon us; to pray, not for those whose kind solicitude surrounds us every day, for there the remembrance is almost matter-of-fact, but those that spread calumnies about us. Needless to say, these ethical precepts of Christ must themselves in turn be explained in the spirit of Christ, for He is the highest and best example. Some practical examples to illustrate the scope of the precepts: To the smiter of one cheek the other should be turned; from him that forcibly takes the tipper garment the lower should not be withheld; to him that asks we should give; what is taken by force we should cheerfully resign. To that extent will Christian meekness in individual cases go, and where no harm is done to others incidentally. For all of these rules must themselves be understood in the light of the Golden Rule: Just as ye wish that the people should act toward you, just so do ye act toward them. "The Savior gives a touchstone into the hands of His disciples, by which they might prove themselves as to whether their demeanor towards neighbors and enemies was in agreement with their duties. His utterance contains no principle, hut the touchstone of morality, since it refers only to an outer form of action. Where it is so used, we shall discover in it a plain, simple, universally applicable precept of the practical wisdom of life, fully fitted for the purpose for which the Savior has given it.