Week 46 of the Church year
ശൂനോയോയ്ക്കു ശേഷം നാലാം ഞായർ
Jesus takes the old rule of “an eye for an eye” and goes far beyond it. Turn the other cheek, go the second mile, love your enemies, and be perfect as your Father is perfect.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers not to repay evil for evil, to turn the other cheek, give more than is demanded and go the extra mile. He tells them to love their enemies and pray for persecutors, as the Father sends sun and rain on everyone.
These are some of the hardest words in the Gospels, read in the long season of growing in the Spirit.
Loving enemies is not a feeling. It starts with praying for them.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
Unless you become like little children; do not despise one of these little ones.
The lost sheep, settling wrongs, and forgiving seventy times seven.
The burning bush: take off your sandals; I AM WHO I AM.
Job, blameless and upright, rises early to pray for his children.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow.
Like newborn babies, long for pure spiritual milk; be built as living stones.
You are God’s temple; all things are yours, and you are Christ’s.
Turn the other cheek; love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesGod calls Moses from the burning bush and gives his name. Job prays for his children, and Isaiah says though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. Peter calls us living stones, and Paul says we are God’s temple.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
You have heard: an eye for an eye. But I say, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
“Eye for an eye” was meant to limit revenge, not require it (Exodus 21:24). Jesus goes further and ends revenge altogether.
If someone sues you for your shirt, give your coat too. If someone forces you to go one mile, go two. Give to the one who asks, and do not turn away the borrower.
Roman soldiers could force civilians to carry their gear for a mile. Jesus says: carry it a second mile by choice.
You have heard: love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so you may be children of your Father, who sends sun and rain on good and bad alike.
The Old Testament never says “hate your enemy”. Jesus is correcting a popular saying.
If you love only those who love you, what reward is there? Even tax collectors do that. If you greet only your friends, what more are you doing?
Matthew, who wrote this, was himself a tax collector.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The word means complete or whole. In context, it is about love that leaves no one out.
The verse to keep
“ഞാനോ നിങ്ങളോടു പറയുന്നതു: നിങ്ങളുടെ ശത്രുക്കളെ സ്നേഹിപ്പിൻ; നിങ്ങളെ ഉപദ്രവിക്കുന്നവർക്കു വേണ്ടി പ്രാർത്ഥിപ്പിൻ.”“But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,”
The crowd on the mountainമലയിലെ പുരുഷാരം
Disciples and crowds listening to the Sermon on the Mount.
“—”
ആദ്യം അവർക്കുവേണ്ടി പ്രാർത്ഥിക്കുക
These verses can feel impossible. Turn the other cheek? Love the people who hurt us? Many people read them and quietly decide they are meant for saints. But Jesus said them to ordinary people sitting on a hillside, and he lived them on the cross when he prayed for those killing him.
It helps to notice where Jesus starts. He does not say “feel warmly towards your enemies”. He says pray for them. That is something we can actually do, even through gritted teeth. Praying for someone changes how we see them. It is hard to keep hating someone you bring before God every day.
Most of us do not have enemies in the dramatic sense. We have a difficult relative, a colleague who undermines us, a neighbour who never returns a greeting. This week, start where Jesus starts. Pray for them by name. Then see if the second mile becomes a little easier to walk.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
Who is hardest for you to love right now? Would you be willing to pray for them this week?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Pray every day this week, by name, for one person who has hurt you, and do one kind thing for them if you can.
Father, you send sun and rain on good and bad alike. Give us hearts big enough to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us, and make us your children in truth. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 18 of 18 in Pentecost