Read the transcript of this video below.
For how long has God been expecting people to love their enemies? We’re continuing to work our way through Matthew chapter five, and specifically Jesus’s “You have heard, but I say to you” statements, and we’re in the sixth of those six, where Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said love your neighbor, hate your enemy.” That’s Matthew 5:43.
In our last lesson, I made it very clear, proved it that Jesus didn’t say, “God said.” He said, “You have heard it was said,” and only part of what he quotes did God ever say, that is, “Love your neighbor.” God never said, “Hate your enemies.” Then Jesus of course says, “But I say to you …” So here’s his counterpoint to the false teaching that his followers had previously heard from the scribes and Pharisees, and that becomes obvious as we keep reading here.