Watch the Sunday School video for September 5, 2021
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Outside In: Hospitality to…Enemies?

  • A Letter to the Exiles.  Jeremiah earlier declared that the future of God’s people lies with the exiles, not with those still in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 24). He therefore writes a letter encouraging the exiles to settle down in Babylon in the meantime, recognizing that they will be there for 70 years, not the brief period that Hananiah and other prophets predicted (28:3-4).

Jeremiah 29:4-14
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8 Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.
 
  • 29:4. I carried into exile. The Lord (not the Babylonians) is sovereign over the entire process.
  • 29:5. Build houses…plant gardens. These are long-term activities that would not be worthwhile if the people were coming back to Judah immediately.
  • 29:6. Marry…find wives. They are to look beyond the immediate challenges to the needs of the next generation and the one after that. The Babylonians resettled the Jews in their own communities, so the Jews could still marry other Jews and remain a distinct people.
  • 29:7. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city…Pray…for it. They are used to doing this in Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9). Shockingly, the Lord tells them to transfer their prayers and energies from Jerusalem to Babylon, the pagan capital, because for the next 70 years their “peace and prosperity” (Hebrew shalom) will be connected with Babylon’s “peace and prosperity.” This message is the exact opposite of what the false prophets among them in Babylon are saying: they are falsely predicting a speedy return home to Judah.
  • 29:4-7. Jeremiah wrote to the captives in Babylon instructing them to move ahead with their lives and to pray for the pagan nation that enslaved them. Life cannot grind to a halt during troubled times. In an unpleasant or distressing situation, we must adjust and keep moving. You may find it difficult to pray for those in authority if they are evil, but that is wen your prayers are most needed (1 Timothy 2:1-2). When you enter times of trouble or sudden change, pray diligently and move ahead, doing whatever you can rather than giving up because of fear and uncertainty.

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

  • 29:10-14. The Lord will not abandon the exiles in Babylon forever. After 70 years (25:11), he will fulfill his “good promise” (v. 10) from Deuteronomy 30:3-5 to bring them back to their homeland. God is the ultimate source of blessings and curses. The plans he has for those in exile are for a good future (unlike the plans he has for those in Judah; see vv. 18-19). He is willing to listen to their prayers and allow them to call upon his name (Deuteronomy 4:29).
  • 29:11. We’re all encouraged by a leader who stirs us up to move ahead, someone who believes we can do the task he has given and who will be with us all the way. God is that kind of leader. He knows the future, and his plans for us are good and full of hope. As long as God, who knows the future, provides our agenda and goes with us as we fulfill his mission, we can have boundless hope. This does not mean that we will be spared pain, suffering, or hardship, but that God will see us through to a glorious conclusion.
  • 29:12-14. God did not forget his people, even though they were captives in Babylon. He planned to give them a new beginning with a new purpose—to turn them into new people. In times of dire circumstances, it may appear as though God has forgotten you. But God may be preparing you, as he did the people of Judah, for a new beginning with him at the center.
  • 29:13. You will seek me and find me. In antiquity, gods were typically connected with particular lands, so it is a remarkable encouragement to those in exile in Babylon that they can approach the Lord (cf. Ezekiel 11:16). It is also a profound encouragement to contemporary believers who may feel cut off from God by their sins or by difficult circumstances.
  • 29:13-14. According to God’s wise plan, his people were to have a future and a hope; consequently, they could call upon him in confidence. Although the exiles were in a difficult place and time, they need not despair because they had God’s presence, the privilege of prayer, and God’s grace. If we seek him wholeheartedly, he will be found. Neither a strange land, sorrow, persecution, nor physical problems can break our fellowship with God.
 
Luke 6:27-36
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
 
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

  • Jesus now addresses his disciples in particular, as distinct from the people alluded to in 6:24-26 and those whom he calls “sinners” (vv. 32-34). The Holy Spirit dwells in each of the disciples. As a result they have experienced a new life in the Spirit, and the Spirit has given them a new heart so that they can love even their enemies.
  • Love can easily be misunderstood and reduced to warm sentiment or affection. The Greek language has several words for love. Eros refers to sexual or romantic love, storge to family affection, and philia to affection of friends. But Jesus calls for none of these here. His call is for Christian love (agape), which is the way God loves us and desires us to love others. Agape is an active, gracious, persistent interest in the welfare of others. This dimension of love results from the Spirit’s opening our eyes so that we no longer view people from a worldly standpoint, that is, whether they serve our interests or not (2 Corinthians 5:16). We see them through the light that the Spirit provides to us and as people for whom Christ died. Such love remains viable, even in the fact of hatred, cursing, and abuse.
  • Our supreme example for love is God himself: “God so loved the world that he gave…” (John 3:16). The followers of Christ can share God’s love no better than by doing good to their personal enemies (v. 27). The fundamental requirement of love unfolds in the three commands: “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (vv. 27-28). Love does not call for emotion or feelings but for actions that give back good for evil. Normally enemies hurt us, but love absorbs the hurt. It involves more than not trying to get even; it responds to hate, cursing, and abuse with good, blessing, and prayer. Love demands that we deny ourselves and serve others. We are not to let personal enemies determine our lifestyle.
  • Jesus gives three concrete examples of genuine love. (1) “If someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other also.” The natural reaction is to strike back, but the followers of Christ must not seek revenge. They must minister to others and be willing to expose themselves to further injury. (2) “If someone takes your [outer garment], do not stop him from taking [your inner one].” The point is that the followers of Jesus must resist angry passion against the robber. They have the responsibility of manifesting generosity in all situations. Love must be ready to make great sacrifice and suffer loss if necessary. (3) Love expects nothing in return (v. 30). Jesus wants his followers to avoid ungodly passions and desires. They may suffer the loss of their things at the hands of evil persons, but they must bear no malice toward those who have wrongfully taken their resources. The highest example is the cross, where Jesus gave to those who had taken from him.
  • These three concrete illustrations must be taken seriously, but they are to be applied with wisdom. Love never fosters irresponsibility, abuse, dishonesty, or greed. For example, acting for the good of others at times may not call for turning the other cheek or giving them everything they demand. Christian love, however, does require sacrificial action and far surpasses the world’s standard of love. It is a giving to others with no demands or expectation they will return the favor. Jesus sums up his main point in the so-called Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them to do to you” (v. 31; cf. Leviticus 19:18). How do we want others to treat us? Then treat them the same way, regardless of how they may respond.
  • Most sinners have an ethic of love! They “love those who love [them]” (v. 32). They will return good for good and evil for evil. But Jesus teaches us to return good for both evil and good. After all, what is so honorable about loving those who love us? Even sinners go that far. The children of God must go further. They have been transformed by the Holy Spirit to live in contrast to the way sinners live. Loving only those who love us is selfishness; there is nothing particularly praiseworthy in that. Jesus calls his followers to love enemies and the unlovable as well as lovable, and to expect nothing in return (vv. 34-35). To love like that is totally unlike the love of sinners.
  • We who reflect the love of God to the world are promised: “Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.” God will reward our love, and we will show ourselves to be his children. The Most High delights to reward those who yield to the Holy Spirit and have generous hearts like their heavenly Father. Our likeness to him will reveal that we are his children.
  • This call to radical love includes especially mercy (v. 36). God shows kindness to the unthankful and the evil. His very character is mercy, for he shows compassion toward all. Jesus urges his followers to be the same—merciful to everyone. As members of the heavenly family we must strive to pass on God’s blessings, including mercy, to others.

Questions
  • What are the consequences, and what personal examples can you give, of choosing the unpopular course of loving enemies?
  • How is ministering to our “enemies” an act of obedience to God?
  • What is the difference between loving enemies and being a “doormat” for people to take advantage of?
  • In what ways have you personally experienced your faith deepening through act of compassion? What barriers were broken down by extending such Christian love to others?
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