[CYM] 5.0 Love Enemies

Yeshua’s command to love one’s enemies stands out as one of His most challenging and revolutionary teachings, emphasizing radical love and forgiveness beyond natural human inclination.

In the book of Matthew, Yeshua explicitly commands, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). This teaching is part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Yeshua contrasts worldly love, which is often limited to friends, with God’s perfect love that extends even to enemies. Loving enemies breaks the cycle of hatred and reflects God’s mercy and grace.

The book of Luke also includes this teaching, where Yeshua tells His followers to love your enemies, do good to them which hate you (Luke 6:27). Luke’s version highlights proactive kindness and blessing toward those who oppose you, underscoring the importance of mercy and generosity. Luke places this command within the broader Sermon on the Plain, stressing love that transcends retaliation.

In the books of Mark and John, this command is not explicitly stated in the same direct wording. However, the themes of forgiveness, humility, and sacrificial love permeate Yeshua’s teachings. For example, John emphasizes love’s self-giving nature with the command to love one another as Yeshua loved. In John 13:34 Yeshua commands ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another, which implies loving even those difficult to love.

Together, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John present loving enemies as a radical call to imitate God’s unconditional love, break cycles of violence, and embody true discipleship through mercy and forgiveness.