Have you ever jumped off a fifty-foot platform with nothing below you except solid ground? Though you may not have done this, thousands of people have and emerged unharmed. How did this happen? They were harnessed to a “bungee cord.” With this specially made elastic cord connected to them, bungee jumpers can enjoy the thrill of jumping off a fifty-foot platform without worrying about being harmed.
When talking to his disciples Jesus challenged them to follow a new set of rules which are as risky as jumping off a fifty-foot platform. In effect he was telling them that he expected the impossible from them (Matthew 5:43-48).
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”
It is common sense to love those who are kind to us and who like us. It is foolish to be kind to those who are out to harm us. In Facing one’s enemy, the natural thing to do is to protect ourselves and even destroy them if our lives are at stake. It is nearly impossible to love one’s enemies. That would be like jumping off a fifty-foot platform unprotected and expecting not to be injured. And, yet, Jesus is saying that children of the heavenly Father have the power to defy common sense and love even those who persecute them.
Our heavenly Father certainly has a ton of enemies. Those who connive to murder His Son and his children on earth are certainly enemies of God. We’d expect that a protective God would do away with these people. Yet, Jesus tells us,
“…he makes his sun to rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.”
God certainly has the power to restrict his blessings in such a way that only his children are blessed with sun and rain. He could curse his enemies by depriving their land of sun and rain, but he doesn’t. His love is without limit; he does not parcel it out to those who deserve it, but lets it flow upon even the worst criminals on earth. Jesus tells us that, as children of the heavenly Father, we are to imitate him.
“For if you love those who love you, what recompense do you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same?”
If we are authentic children of the heavenly Father, then there is something in us that is different from the tax collectors. They are careful to draw a line between their friends and their enemies. Tax collectors give a break to those they like and come down hard on those they don’t like. If we act this way, then we are no greater than tax collectors and other criminals.
When we allow Jesus to take over our lives and fill us with the Holy Spirit we enter into a new level of life. We become children of the Heavenly Father. As such, we have a new power within us. In a way, God has equipped us with a “bungee cord” that allows us to do what others are afraid to do. We can begin to do the things that Jesus did including loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. Isn’t our bungee cord the loving arms of God? Protected by God, we are free from fear of our enemies.
