In verses 24 through 26 the Lord speaks to the multitude of unbelievers present. In verse 24 He says, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” The Greek word for “but” also means however, yet. Verses 24 through 26, at the time of speaking, could apply to the unbelieving Jews, who hardened their hearts to reject the Savior.
In verse 24 the Lord pronounces a woe to those who are rich. He tells them that they have received their consolation. The Greek word for “received” was used in a commercial sense to acknowledge receipt of full payment.
In verses 25 and 26 the Lord went on to say, “Woe to you who are satiated now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same manner their fathers did to the false prophets.” Here we see that those who desire to be praised by others and highly regarded by them will be like false prophets.
In 6:27 the Lord turns from the outsiders to His disciples. Verses 27 and 28 say, “But to you who hear I say, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray concerning those who revile you.” In verse 27 the ones who hear are those who believe, those who receive the Lord’s word.
In verses 27 and 28 we see the highest standard of morality. To love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us is the highest standard of morality. It is also the highest standard of morality to bless those who curse us and to pray concerning those who revile us. Although it is easy for us to read these verses, it is extremely difficult for us to practice them. Actually, in order to fulfill these words, we need to be a God-man, a person saturated with God and mingled with Him.
In verse 29 the Lord says, “To him who beats you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.” To offer the other cheek to the one who beats us proves that we have the power to suffer instead of resisting, and the power to walk neither in the flesh nor in the soul for our own interests, but in the spirit for the kingdom of God.
The “cloak” in verse 29 is an outer garment, and the “tunic” is a garment worn next to the body. Here the Lord says that from him who would take away our outer garment we should not withhold our inner garment. However, to conduct ourselves in this way we need to be saturated with God.
In verse 30 the Lord goes on to say, “To everyone who asks of you, give; and from him who takes away your things, do not require their return.” To give to everyone who asks us and not to require the return of our things proves that we do not care for material things and are not possessed by them.
Verse 31 says, “And even as you want men to do to you, you do to them likewise.” This indicates that what we want others to do to us we should first do to them.
In 6:32-34 the Lord Jesus says, “And if you love those who love you, what thanks is it to you? For even sinners love those who love them. For if also you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks is it to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks is it to you? Even sinners lend to sinners that they may get back an equal amount.” In these verses “thanks” corresponds to reward, and “what” refers to the quality of the reward. Hence, “what thanks” denotes what kind of reward.
To receive thanks is to receive a reward. If you do something good for a person and he gives you his thanks, that “thank you” is a reward to you. In these verses the Lord is asking what kind of thanks, what kind of reward, it is to us if what we do to others is the same as what sinners would do. Even sinners love those who love them, do good to those who do good to them, and lend with the hope of receiving back an equal amount, if not more.
In verse 35 the Lord continues, “But love your enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” In this verse we have the secret of living the kind of life described here. The secret is the life of God. If we would fulfill all these principles, we must have the life of God. We must be born of the Most High, born of God, and thereby become sons of the Most High.
As those who have been born of God, we are able to love our enemies. God loved us even when we were His enemies (Rom. 5:8). We need to be impressed with the fact that God loved us while we were yet His enemies. Now His love has been imparted to us. The love with which we love others, therefore, is the love of God our Father.
The Bible tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8). As Spirit is the nature of God’s Person, and light is the nature of God’s expression, so love is the nature of God’s being. Hence, if we have been born of God, we surely have been born of the nature of God’s being, which is the divine love. As those born of God, we have His life and nature. Spontaneously we are now able to love our enemies even as God our Father loves them. This is the reason the Lord tells us to love our enemies so that we may be the sons of the Most High, the One who is kind to those who are unthankful and evil.
In 6:36 the Lord says, “Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.” Pity surpasses love and mercy. It is possible to show mercy to someone without being full of pity. It is actually easier to love others than it is to be full of pity toward others. The reason for this is that often we love those who are good. Pity, however, goes much farther than love. We need to exercise our mercy in order to reach those who are in a pitiful condition.
According to our natural understanding, we may think that to be full of pity toward someone is to have mercy on a person who is sick or in poverty. But this is not the meaning of pity according to the context in this chapter. The context indicates that a person who hates us and who reviles us is in a pitiful condition. Therefore, toward such a person we should not only have love, but should also be full of pity. We need to pity the one who is evil and who is altogether not lovable. As those who have been born of God, we should be full of pity even as our Father is full of pity.