Gospel Reflection on Lk 6:27-38

February 23, 2025

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

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In the Gospel today, Jesus talks about a kind of love that seems impossible. We're to love our enemies, pray for those who hate us, respond well to those who treat us badly, give freely to those who take from us. Is Jesus speaking in the abstract? Surely he doesn't intend us to be able to love in that way. But if we think about it, isn't that exactly the kind of love that we want from the people around us?

We want people to be patient with us, to not respond badly to our bad behavior. Too often we make justice the basis of our actions. We seek justice for ourselves. We defend our space and our rights. We refuse to give something to others unless they give something to us.

If someone behaves badly toward us, we think we're justified in behaving badly in return. Justice focuses on what ought to be done, the balance between rights and obligations. A person fixated on justice spends their entire life making calculations of this sort. To have a person like that in our life can be a source of great unhappiness. We sometimes think that relationships should be symmetrical.

You are you, and the other person is themselves. If the other person is angry, that does not mean that we have to respond with anger. If the other is behaving badly, why do I have to behave badly? It is absolutely not true that our behavior has to correspond to that of others. A person fixated on justice is not a pleasant person to be around.

What parent can raise a child if they seek justice for every fault the child commits? How can two people love each other if they're not willing to forgive? The love that Jesus is talking about is not abstract impossible. Rather, it is the very kind of pardoning and forgiving that we all need desperately every day. The person that defends their space and seeks justice will end up, in the end, isolated and alone.

Ironically, it's justice that is the impossible quantity. It is forgiving love that creates real community. And Jesus is the one who shows us how to love. He forgives us when we crucify and abandon him. He returns our bad treatment with love.

We need to find ways to make Jesus the model for how we should be treating others.