WE come now to the sixth and last example which Jesus gives of the error of the teaching of the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, and the true teaching which Jesus gives. This last example follows from the previous example. The previous example was the negative side of which this example is the positive. In the previous example Jesus deals with how we should not treat our neighbour. Here he speaks of how we should treat our neighbour.

Again it is helpful to firstly consider where the Pharisees went wrong in their interpretation of the law. Jesus gives us this in verse 43. Although there is no direct teaching in the Law of Moses to hate your enemy, there is a direct instruction to love your enemies, and this can be found in Leviticus 19:18. Why then did the Pharisees teach that you should hate your enemies. Where did they get this from?

The fact is that the Pharisees based their teaching on the Old Testament, but their understanding was misconceived and based on a misconception of their election as a nation by God. This led to them thinking that God only loved them, the Jews, and that he hated everybody else. From this they deduced that they were special, and that the rest of humanity were of a lower order, and so they called Gentiles �dogs�, and felt that they could treat them as dogs.

The fact is that the history of Israel led them to this position because they misunderstood their history and God�s dealings in history. The fact is that God told them to destroy the Canaanites who occupied the promised land before God gave it to Israel. We also read that they were told to treat the Amorites, Midianites, Moabites and Amalekites in the same way. Then there is certain Psalms like Psalm 69 which calls down suffering and pain on certain people. The fact is that we have examples of God destroying people. We have the example of God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. We have the way the Lord Jesus spoke against the Pharisees in his woes against them. The fact is that the Bible from beginning to end speaks of God�s judgement and the punishment of people in hell. How do we reconcile this teaching concerning loving our neighbour with all this.

When we look at Leviticus 19:18 we see it is instruction to individuals as to how they should treat and relate to others. It is dealing with the attitude of a person to others. On the other hand these examples of extermination and judgement are judicial acts. God is judging and executing the just sentence against sin. We find this hard to reconcile with the fact of a loving God. The reason we find it hard is that we can�t see that God�s love and his justice are constant in his character, and are always being revealed, both at the same time.

God�s love is constant, and so we see him causing blessings to fall on the unjust and the just. So we see a farmer, perhaps, that lives an evil life and denies God, but still the sun shines on his farm and the rain falls and he is given conditions that allow him to have a harvest and earn a living and perhaps much more than a living. On the other hand God does not hide the fact that such a person, if he does not repent will have to face God�s holy justice one day. On the one hand God blesses in his love and gives time for repentance. On the other hand God can�t deny his holiness and finally overlook sin.

The fact is that God has written this principle into society by what is known as common grace. On the one hand he gives the earth for all to enjoy, whether they are godly or ungodly. He sent his Son to atone for the sin of all the world so that every one has a chance of salvation. He gives the promise that all who believe on Jesus will be saved. Having done all this, God gives the judiciary and gives authority to the judiciary to execute justice on evil doers. This is another example of his love, because the world would become a hell if this was not so, because of the sinfulness and corruption of the human heart.

There is not time to go into this here, and it would not be appropriate. What we need to understand is that when Jesus is speaking about loving our neighbour and loving our enemies, he speaking to us as individuals. He is telling us how we should behave towards others who treat us badly or do us harm. He is not saying that this must be the attitude of the judiciary against people who commit crimes.

This is where the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law went wrong. They were making their teaching universal at all times for individuals, so each person had a right to hate their enemies, and do them harm.

This stemmed from their false appreciation of themselves and how God viewed them. They thought they were special to God, and Gentiles were not. From this they thought it was alright to retaliate and harm people who were not Jews. What they did not understand is the truth about themselves, which is the same for all of us. We are all sinners before God. We are all unlovely as persons. Because of this we have no right to judge any person. The only person who has the right and the qualifications to judge people is God. For the good of society God has given the authority to judge to the judiciary but calls the judiciary to act under him, and by his revealed will. Individuals have no right to take the law into their own hands. Because we are corrupt both in our action and our thinking we have no right to judge others, because we deserve to be judged. On top of this we need to understand how our judgement is clouded by sin, and we treat people from a sense of personal injury, and not objectively.