“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies…’” ~ Matthew 5:43-44a
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” ~ Romans 5:10
Last week I talked about how we were strangers to God, and how He showed us unimaginable xenia by coming to us. However, to leave it at “strangers” is a bit of an understatement. As Paul says in Romans, “we were enemies” of God.
And yet, we know God loved us.
To love your enemy is counter-cultural in any age, however I can’t help but laugh at what the Romans would have thought of this. After all, hating your enemy was thoroughly ingrained in their very politics…
Enemies in the Mind of the Ancient Romans
To Romans, you were one of two things: amicus or inamicus. Friend or enemy. Rome’s entire political system was built on doing good to their “friends” (i.e. political allies) and sabotaging their “enemies” (i.e. political opponents).[1]
For the Roman elite and their followers, the designation of amici (friends) and inamici (enemies) was based on hereditary family ties. It depended on your blood. It was who you were. You could not change who your friends and enemies were, and it was in your family’s best interest to make sure your inamici never succeeded.
To love them would be laughable, and could cause the downfall of your family from power.
Suddenly, the world of the Capulets and Montagues should make a great deal of sense to us. It was the vestiges of Roman politics. The vestiges of hating your “enemies.”
Jesus’ Inamici
Granted, Jesus was very likely aiming his “love your enemies” speech to Jewish zealots; however, many of the Romans in Israel (especially the soldiers) would have been politically minded, and this counter-cultural command would not have been glanced over. It would have caught their attention.
And for those Romans who weren’t there in person to hear such words? Well, Paul implies the connection of loving your enemies seamlessly. You are to love your enemies. Why? Because we used to be enemies to God.
And it is no accident that he is writing this to the Romans. He, like Jesus, is directly challenging the basis of their political culture.
The fact is, two-thousand odd years ago, a baby was born in Bethlehem who radically and deeply loved His enemies. There is no other explanation for being born in a stable and being laid in a manger, or for living in the Roman era (personally, I would have chosen a time period with better sanitation…).
There is no other explanation for suffering the humiliation of a cross for your enemies. He loved His inamici deeply.
How This Applies To Us
If you want to live out the true Christmas spirit, love your enemies. Believe me, I know how hard this is. I don’t want to love the difficult people in my life. I don’t want to love the person who cut me off in traffic, or the very *needy* person in front of me in line (yes, I am incredibly sinful and in the moment, I do consider them my enemies).
But we’re no better than unbelievers if we only love those who love us (Matt. 5:46-47); and honestly, I’ve met many unbelievers who are kinder than I am.
For shame! We must love our enemies. I must love my enemies.
Keep in mind, this does not mean your inamici will become your amici. After all, Jesus’ did not force us to love him. Rather, He simply loved us. Do not try and force your enemies to become your friends, but rather love them. I’m not sure what that looks like in your life; only you know that.
So go about this Christmas-tide loving your inamici. After all, it’s the reason the babe in Bethlehem came on that long ago night…
Sources
[1] Originally, I learned of this concept from my Latin teacher in college. However, I was unable to find my notes, so I found these sources to substitute: Barbara F. McManus, “Notes on Roman Politics,”Vroma: A Virtual Community for Teaching and Learning Classics, accessed December 9, http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/politics.html OR P. A. Brunt, “‘Amicitia’ in the Late Roman Republic,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 11 (1965): 1–20. doi:10.1017/S0068673500003163, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-classical-journal/article/amicitia-in-the-late-roman-republic1/1C2892DBC0E451C7D5D87CC946AC07C0 OR Anna, “Friendship Roman Style: What the Roman Would Have Thought of Facebook,” Fascinating History, accessed December 9, http://fascinatinghistory.blogspot.com/2008/07/friendship-roman-style-what-romans.html.
