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“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

The Bible is often like a Rorschach ink blot test. It reflects the nature and character of the person looking at it. People who read the Bible can find verses to justify hatred or love. This is why it is important to take the whole counsel of scripture; to read in context; and to allow the words of Jesus to be our guide in understanding what the Bible is trying to say.

Jesus, in Matthew 5:43-48, continues to give a fuller and deeper explanation of the law. Again, he used the formula, you have heard it said…. then He explains the true intent of Torah teaching. The phrase, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, was a paraphrase from the writings of the Essenes.

One mistake modern day readers make when reading the New Testament is to assume that all Jewish people believed and taught the same thing. Jewish society was divided by sects. Scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, Zealots, Sicari, and Essenes. The Essenes were an ascetic community that copied the Jewish scriptures and wrote commentaries on the Prophets. In their Community Rule (also known as the Manual of Discipline) they wrote, that members of the community should be taught to seek God and obey Moses and the Prophets so that “they may love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in God’s design, and hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his guilt in God’s vengeance.” Jesus was familiar with this teaching and interpretation based on Leviticus 19:17-18 and Nahum 1:2)

Jesus rebuked this teaching. The love of enemies is reflected throughout the Old Testament. The words of Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” And in Exodus 23:4-5, we are instructed to help even the donkey of our enemy if we see it struggling.

Jesus continues, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” This echoes the words of Psalms 145:9, “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” Jesus challenges His listeners. We are called to be different. We are called to reflect God. How can we be holy people is we are no better than those who do not know God?

Jesus challenges us to go beyond the natural inclination to love only those who love us. He reminds us of the higher calling we have as children of the Most High.

Finally, Yeshua says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

This concept of perfection, or “tamim” in Hebrew, does not mean flawlessness as we might understand it. Rather, it speaks to wholeness, completeness, and integrity. In Deuteronomy 18:13, we are commanded, “You shall be tamim with the Lord your God.” This means to walk in His ways with wholehearted devotion.

By loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us, we take a step towards this wholeness, this perfection. We transcend our natural inclinations and reflect the unconditional love of our Creator.

May we all strive to walk this path of tamim, of wholeness and integrity, in our service to the Holy One.