Verses 27-36 “27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
30Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”Jesus here teaches us that we should have a higher standard than the heathen. We should not hate, curse, nor treat people despitefully just because we are treated that way ourselves. But there is a higher standard than that. As Christians, we should love people who do not find it in themselves to reciprocate; we should give, or at least lend, something to people sometimes who ask for too much; and we should have mercy upon people who do not deserve it. In short, we should (1) treat people the way we want to be treated ourselves, and (2) we should try to model our behavior toward others after God’s treatment of us.
28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
30Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”Jesus here teaches us that we should have a higher standard than the heathen. We should not hate, curse, nor treat people despitefully just because we are treated that way ourselves. But there is a higher standard than that. As Christians, we should love people who do not find it in themselves to reciprocate; we should give, or at least lend, something to people sometimes who ask for too much; and we should have mercy upon people who do not deserve it. In short, we should (1) treat people the way we want to be treated ourselves, and (2) we should try to model our behavior toward others after God’s treatment of us.
Nothing in the passage should be interpreted as encouraging people to steal, to be violent, or to be dishonest or unkind. Obviously, the Lord does not intend for us to go that far to try to prove our love for our neighbor. Ultimately, that would be neither fair nor kind to our neighbor.