The Nugget:
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
My Comment:
Matthew 5:44 is a central passage in the Gospel record that testifies to the Character of Christ. No person, before or since, can lay claim for himself or herself to a character like Christ. Everyone, before or since, falls far short. Jesus Christ is utterly unique. He is unsurpassed. He is unsuperseded.
If we read the New Testament with our eyes open we get a glimpse of the Character of Christ. If you read with a set of questions in mind, you will perhaps be equipped to see more than you would otherwise.
Just a few questions basic to any study of character in literature that may prove helpful are: (1) what does the character say about himself? (2) what do others say about the character? (3) what conflicts does the character encounter, and how are these resolved? (4) what is the character’s reaction to friends? (5) what is the character’s reaction to enemies? (6) what is the climactic event in the character’s life?
There are more questions like these helpful to biographical study of Bible characters to be found under the category “How to Study the Bible” linked on the right hand side of this page.
There have been great works devoted to a study of the life of Christ. One of the very best is a relatively small volume by Philip Schaff titled The Person of Christ. When I asked Pastor Norman Douty many years ago while visiting in his home for a list of what he considered the ten best books to have and be sure to read, this book was on the list. The book was out of print back then, and may be out of print still. But of the books he suggested that I have read, all have been good, but this one surely has been the best.
I suspect that if anyone were to compare the character of Christ with the character of any other founder of a great religion, other religious founders would fall far short by comparison as to their personal moral character. None of them can make the claim to be entirely without sin, but Jesus made that claim (John 8:46).
The morality advocated and exhibited by Jesus Christ has never been matched and has never been superseded.
On my shelves here I have a book by Robert E. Speer, The Finality of Jesus Christ. The second paragraph of the author’s preface is still well worth considering:
To the thought of the early Church Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the full and final revelation of the Father, the One Lord and Saviour. And He was also the most real life of that early Church, a power of joy and purity and love, the bond of a new fellowship, the Head of a new society, the Light of a new day. If, in our own time, we have lost Him in either of these two aspects, as the object of faith or the subject of experience, it is because we have not truly kept Him in the other.
Most significant is the statement that Jesus Christ is “the Son of God, the full and final revelation of the Father, the One Lord and Saviour.”
There are no prophets sent from God who are to come after Jesus Christ who in any way supersede our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:2). All who claim to be such are false prophets and false teachers.
To dig deeper into Matthew 5:44 and Hebrews 1:2 read and carefully consider the cross references for these verses shared below:
Matthew 5:44
But I say. ver. Mt 5:22. Mt 7:29. Ro 7:14. Love your enemies. Ex 23:4, 5. Le 19:18. 2 K 6:22. 2 Ch 28:9-15. *Jb 31:29, 30. *Ps 7:4. 35:12-14. +*Pr 16:7. 25:21, 22. Lk 6:27, 28, 34, 35. *Lk 23:34. *Ac 7:60. Ro 5:8-10. **Ro 12:14, +Ro 12:20, 21. *1 Cor 4:12, 13. 13:4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1 Th 3:12. 5:15. *1 P 2:23. **1 P 3:9. bless. Gr. eulogeō (S#2127g), to speak well of, that is, (religiously) to bless (thank or invoke a benediction upon, prosper (Strong): Rendered (1) bless: Mt 5:44. 14:19. 21:9. 23:39. 25:34. 26:26. Mk 6:41. 8:7. 10:16. 11:9, 10. 14:22. Lk 1:28, 42 (twice). Lk 2:28, 34. 6:28. 9:16. 13:35. 19:38. 24:30, 50, 51, 53. Jn 12:13. Ac 3:26. Ro 12:14 (twice). 1 Cor 4:12. 10:16. 14:16. Ga 3:9. Ep 1:3. He 6:14 (twice). He 7:1, 6, 7. 11:20, 21. James 3:9. 1 P 3:9. (2) praise: Lk 1:64]. ver. %+Mt 5:3. *Mt 18:33. Ge 42:25. 50:21. 2 S 2:6. 9:3. Jb 31:30. Pr 19:11. 24:17. Ob 1:12. Lk 6:28. 17:4. +*Ro 12:14, 20. 1 Cor 4:12. +*1 Cor 13:6. Col 3:13. 1 Th 5:15. them that curse. Je 15:10. James 3:9. do good. Gr. kalōs [S#2573g: Rendered (1) well: Mt 12:12. 15:7. Mk 7:6, 37. 12:28, 32. Lk 6:26. 20:39. Jn 4:17. 8:48. 13:13. 18:23. Ac 10:33. 28:25. Ro 11:20. 1 Cor 7:37, 38. 14:17. 2 Cor 11:4. Ga 4:17. 5:7. Phil 4:14. 1 Tim 3:3, 12, 13. 5:17. James 2:8, 19. 2 P 1:19. 3 J 1:6. (2) good: Mt 5:44. Lk 6:27. (3) full well: Mk 7:9. (4) very well: Ac 25:10. (5) recover (with S#2192g): Mk 16:18. (6) honestly: He 13:18. (7) in a good place: Ja 2:3]. Ge 25:6. Dt 22:4. *1 S 24:6, 7, 17, 18. 30:11. 1 K 2:9n. +Ps 14:3. Pr 25:21. Jn 15:8. Ac 16:28. *Ga 6:10. 1 P 3:11. pray for. T#1473. Ex 8:12. 10:18. Nu 12:13. 16:47. *1 S 12:23. 15:11. 2 S 1:12. 1 K 13:6. Ps 35:13, 14. 141:5. Je 29:7. *Mk 11:25. *Lk 6:27, 28. *Lk 18:1. 23:33, 34. Jn 17:9. Ac 7:59, 60. 16:25. Ro 10:1. 1 Cor 4:12, 13. 1 Tim 2:8. %+*2 Tim 4:14, 16. 1 P 3:9. which despitefully use you. Rather, are cursing, are hating, are despitefully using and persecuting you, i.e. even while in the act, and continuing this treatment of you (De Burgh). Ac 14:5. persecute. T#1639. Je 29:7. *1 Cor 4:12.
Hebrews 1:2
these last days. or, at the end of these days. i.e. at the period closed by the ministry of John (CB). He 2:5. 6:5. 9:26. +Ge 49:1. Nu 24:14. Dt 4:30. 18:15. 31:29. *Is 2:2. Je 30:24. 48:47. Ezk 38:16. Da 2:28. 10:14. Ho 3:5. Mic 4:1. +Mt 12:32. Ac 2:17. 1 C 10:11. **Ga 4:4. +*Ep 1:10. James 5:3. 1 P 1:20. 2 P 3:3. +1 J 2:18. Jude 1:18. spoken. Aorist tense, indicative mood, third person singular verb. This revelation was final because made by one who in all He is and does, reveals the Father (EGT). ver. He 1:5, 8. *He 2:1, 3. *He 5:8. 7:3. =Ex 20:19. =Dt 5:5. 16:1n, Dt 16:6. *Mt 3:17. *Mt 17:5. 26:63. Mk 1:1. 12:6. *Jn 1:14, 17, 18. **Jn 3:16. *Jn 14:10. 15:15, 22-24. Ac 3:22. +*Ro 1:4. by his Son. No article, but its absence only “more emphatically and definitely expresses the exclusive character of His Sonship” (CB). The revelation now consisted not merely in what was said but in what He was (EGT). ver. He 1:8. He 3:6. 4:14. *He 5:8. 6:6. 7:3, 28. 10:29. **Mt 11:27. *+Mt 14:33. 17:5. 21:37. +*Mt 24:36. Mk 1:1. 12:2, 6. +*Lk 1:32. Jn 1:34. **Jn 9:35. 14:10. whom he. Jn 14:28. Ac 2:33. appointed. FS171J8, +Ro 4:17. *He 2:6, 8, 9. *Ps 2:6-9. +*Is 9:6, 7. *Is 53:10-12. *Mt 12:42. 21:38. 28:18. *Jn 3:35. 13:3. 16:15. 17:2. +*Ac 10:36. *Ro 8:17. *1 Cor 8:6. 15:25-27. Ep 1:20-23. **Phil 2:9, 10, 11. *Col 1:17, 18. 1 P 3:22. heir. He 3:6. *Ps 2:8. +*Ps 94:14. Mt 21:28. *+Mt 28:18. Lk 20:14. **Ro 8:17. 2 Cor 8:9. Ep 1:11n. all things. Ge 25:5. Ps 8:6. Jn 1:3. *Jn 3:35. 1 Cor 8:6. 11:12. Col 1:16. by whom. He 2:10. 3:3. Pr 8:22-31. Is 44:24. 45:12, 18. Mt 16:16. *+Jn 1:3. *1 Cor 8:6. *Ep 3:9. +*Col 1:16, 17. made. He 3:3, 4. Ge 1:1. Jb 38:4. *Ps 33:9. +*Ps 93:1. Pr 8:27. Is 42:5. 66:2. Je 27:5. *Je 32:17. 51:15. Jn 1:10. 5:17. Ac 17:24. Ep 3:9. 1 P 4:19. Re 4:11. worlds. Gr. aions, +Mt 6:13. FS121P2, +Mt 13:22. Aiōnes, generally translated “ages,” but used by the Jews for the universe (Grant). He 11:3. +1 Tim 1:17.