27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Put together, Jesus says: you will be mistreated, But... I don't want you to react in revenge. Rather, He uses proactive verbs: love, do good, bless, pray for, be prepared to respond in a way that will blow them away. Such actions require a mind set beforehand to do so. Why live that way? How will we ever come out on top? Keep in mind the goal: We're talking the Kingdom of God here. He wants our actions and reactions to reflect His character, so people will see beyond us to Him, so they will recognize where they are: in His world. Jesus is telling us that life will seem like we're going against the flow, on the wrong side of they freeway, when in fact, it's the other traffic heading the wrong way, in danger of a fiery crash ahead. They will be yelling at us, making gestures, and giving us nasty looks, while we are to be waving at them and smiling, helping them change flat tires, giving them picnic lunches along the road. Then we may have a chance to tell them where we're heading and why we can't wait to get there.
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