Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say unto you, 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 5:43-44 KJV)

 It is not always easy being a follower of Yeshua.  The command to love those that hate us and seek to do us harm is not an easy charge.  As if it wasn’t challenging enough to love our brethren now our Master commands us to love those that hate us.  But, if we are serious about being his disciples then we must learn to fulfill even this commandment to love those who do not love us. 

There are two key passages that we must come to terms with if we are to fulfill our Master’s calling.  First, we must see the connection between this commandment to love our enemies and the first and second “great” commandments.

Yeshua said unto him, Thou shalt love YHWH thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 KJV)

 We must understand the relationship between these two “great” commandments.  Yeshua our Master taught us,

 If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15 KJV)

 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21 KJV)

 In the economy of the Creator, obedience has always been the greatest demonstration of love.  We may recall the words that the Prophet Samuel declared to King Saul;

 And Samuel said, Hath YHWH as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of YHWH? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (1 Samuel 15:22 KJV)  

 So, our obedience to the commandments of YHWH is the greatest sign of our love for YHWH.  The Apostle John clearly understood this principle.

 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. (1 John 5:2 KJV)

 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (1 John 5:3 KJV)

 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. (2 John 1:6 KJV)

 We must be careful not to deceive ourselves in this matter.  There are many would-be followers and believers who meticulously keep every jot and tittle of the Torah, but not out of love for the Father, but for themselves.  In other words, if one is keeping the commandments of YHWH because they fear going to hell if they don’t keep the commandments, or if they believe they will gain the blessings of heaven if they do keep the commandments, this obedience is a sign of love of self not love of the Father.  Genuine love for the Father will inspire obedience to the commandments of YHWH without though for the personal cost or benefits of obedience.  Genuine love only seeks to please the Father and accomplish his will.  Yeshua is the perfect example of this reality.

 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:29 KJV)

 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30 KJV)

 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. (John 6:38 KJV)

 Yeshua saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34 KJV)

 If we love the father we will do what he has commanded.  And what has YHWH commanded?  The Father has commanded that we love our neighbor.  It does not really matter whether our neighbor is a family member, a friend, a brother, a sister, or a sworn enemy.  It does not matter whether our neighbor is beautiful or ugly, lovable or loathsome, endearing or endangering.  If we love the Father we fulfill his commandment.  Our eyes and our heart never leave the Father or our Master.  We are accustomed in our flesh to “love” people (and even the Creator) because of what they do for us or how they make us feel.  But what our Master Yeshua is calling for us to do is to keep our eyes on the Father.  We are not even to look at (that is to evaluate whether our neighbor is nice to us, or benevolent to us or not) our neighbor.  We are to be completely focused upon the Father.  Our attitude and action toward our neighbor is only out of love for, and in response to our Father. It really does not matter who, or even what, our neighbor is, or how they treat us.  Our love for our neighbor, regardless of whether they are friend or foe, is simply the obedient response to the Father’s commandment.  If we genuinely love YHWH then we will genuinely love our neighbor because YHWH has asked us to.

 What most often hinders us from fulfilling this calling is our flesh.  The harsh, hurtful, hateful words and actions of those who consider us their enemies, stings our flesh the scourging cords that laid their stripes upon the flesh of our Master.  Our egos and emotions often get the best of us.  We are, after all, human beings, the sons and daughters of Adam, and therefore wrestle with our two natures.  When attacked, whether physically or emotionally, our instinct is to return the attack in kind. Intuitively we want to balance the scales of justice by repaying evil with evil.   But our Master, Yeshua, has asked us to take a different course.

 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. (Matthew 5:39-40 KJV)

 But I say unto you, 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 KJV)

 Yeshua himself demonstrated this for us quite dramatically. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. (Mark 14:65 KJV)

 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. ³⁴ Then said Yeshua, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:33-34 KJV)    

 Like Yeshua our Master, if we are to fulfill the calling and commandments of YHWH then we must also take our flesh to the cross.

 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23 KJV)

 If we are still worried about our personal sense of justice or revenge, we have not yet taken up our cross.  If we are still anxious about the cost of such love inspired obedience we have not yet taken up our cross.  If we are still analyzing the personal benefits of love inspired obedience we have not yet taken up our cross.  The only way for us to genuinely fulfill this calling and commandment is to follow after our Master Yeshua and deny ourselves and take our flesh to the cross.  Our hearts, our minds, our ears, our eyes must be focused upon the Father.  Our calling as the children of Israel is to manifest his presence in the world—to restore the image of God in our world.  Let us recall the words of our Master,

 But I say unto you, 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; ⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45 KJV)

 The Master is not asking us to love those we hate.  He is asking us to love our neighbors, including our enemies, out of love for the Father. Our Father desires us to love those who hate us. Out of love for the Father we love our neighbor in spite of who or what they are.  By this we demonstrate the Creator’s love for ALL of his creation—and not just the lovable.  This is after all, the same love that captured our hearts.

 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. (Romans 5:8 KJV)

 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10 KJV)

 We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 KJV)