The Pharisees lived by law. Jesus lived by love. The law of God - ‘holy
and just and good’ (Romans 7:12) - had been distorted by the religious
hypocrites. They were saying, ‘love your neighbour and hate your enemy’
(Matthew 5:43). ‘Love your neighbour’ is found in Leviticus 19:18. ‘Hate
your enemy’ is not found in the Old Testament. For the Jews,
‘neighbour’ meant their own kind. They wrongly concluded that Gentiles
were to be hated. Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan makes it clear
that we are to love our enemies as well as our friends (Luke 10:25-37).
Jesus’ disagreement is not with the law of God. It is with man’s misuse
of it. Jesus’ teaching is simple - Love is not to be limited. It is
demanding - love is all-embracing. We dare not bring love within our
reach. We always fall short. We can only come to Christ. Confessing our
lack of love and trusting in His perfect love, we learn to love.
God's Word is "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path." He has "wondrous things" to teach us as we pray "Open my eyes that I may see" (Psalm 119:105, 18, 11). "May God's blessing surround you each day, as you trust Him and walk in His way. May His presence within guard and keep you from sin, go in peace, go in joy, go in love." "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy and Your truth" (Psalm 115:1).
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