You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.
In the first week of Lent, the Church calls us to a deliberate return to God through repentance, prayer, and a truer way of living. This passage fits that purpose because it presses beyond outward religion and into the inner conversion Lent is meant to form. It asks whether our love is shaped by God’s own goodness or by the limits of ordinary human reciprocity.
Jesus continues his teaching by recalling what his listeners have heard: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The command to love one’s neighbor comes from Lev 19:18. The added phrase, “hate your enemy,” does not come from the Law itself. It reflects a narrower understanding of love—one limited to one’s own people, and inclined to treat enemies as outside the claims of charity.
Jesus directly corrects that understanding: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” The command is not only to refrain from revenge, but to will the good of the one who opposes you. It even includes prayer. The disciple is to petition God on behalf of the persecutor.
Jesus then explains why: “that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” The reason is not sentiment. It is imitation. God “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Sun and rain sustain life. God gives these gifts without discrimination. His goodness is not limited to those who love him.
To love only those who love us does not reflect that divine pattern. “For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?” Even tax collectors do that. In Jesus’ time, tax collectors were widely regarded as collaborators with Rome and as morally compromised. Yet even they show affection toward those who treat them well. The same is true of pagans. To greet only one’s “brothers” is ordinary behavior. It requires no transformation.
Jesus is not describing an extraordinary spiritual technique. He is describing a standard that exceeds what is usual. Earlier in the Sermon he said that the righteousness of his disciples must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). Here he shows how. The disciple’s love must extend beyond natural reciprocity. Lent is a fitting time to face this honestly, because it exposes the places where we are content with the “minimum” and invites a deeper, quieter conversion of the heart.
The passage concludes with a summary: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The word “perfect” expresses completeness. It does not mean possessing the infinite perfection of God. Rather, it means being whole in one’s response to God’s will. As Lev 19:2 calls Israel to be holy because the Lord is holy, so Jesus calls his disciples to reflect the Father’s character. Luke’s parallel says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). In this context, perfection is shown in mercy—especially toward enemies.
To love one’s enemy is the clearest sign that one has become a child of the Father. The Father acts generously toward all. His children are to act in the same way.
Lord Jesus, teach us to love as you love, and to reflect the mercy of our heavenly Father in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Amen.
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Sources and References
- New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Mt 5:43-48; Lv 19:18; Lv 19:2; Lk 6:36.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, New Testament, commentary on Mt 5:43-48, pp. 16-17.
- Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., ed., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 1990, p. 644, para. 35-36.
- The Navarre Bible: St. Matthew, commentary on Mt 5:43-48, pp. 63-65.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, O.P., and Donald Senior, C.P., eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd fully revised ed., p. 1184.
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, commentary on Mt 5:43-48, p. 921.
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