The Meaning of the Recommendation to Love Our Enemies

Introduction

Jesus of Nazareth’s bold invitation to love our enemies is both a challenge and a deconstructive irony of enmity. In that context, the main religious and political groups labelled people with diverse backgrounds, views, or beliefs as enemies. This definition of enemy by identity became popular, with cruel consequences: righteous and noble people were mistreated, unjustly excluded, and sometimes even eliminated.

Jesus of Nazareth’s suggestion to his disciples, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44, NIV), implies a fundamental rethinking of this classification of human beings based on identity rather than on behavior. When people define the enemy by identity, they run the risk of confusing an ally with a predator simply because of the color of their skin, their nationality, their religion, or their political orientation. They might relax their vigilance with in/group members, assuming they are allies when they could actually be threats.

“Love your enemies.”

The expression “You have heard that it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies” (Matthew 5:43-44, NIV) is not found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Jesus may have been evoking apocalyptic Jewish texts or dissident writings from his tradition. The point he is making is the urgency of adopting an ethic, a concrete way of living, characterized by kindness, justice, and humility.

The deconstructive irony of the command appears precisely here: Jesus takes the language of “enemies” seriously, but he does so to show that, under the logic of the Kingdom, such a category becomes untenable when applied simply to those who are different. Enmity based on ethnic or religious identity loses its theological justification. It is a matter of abandoning the claim to superiority—feeling better, purer, closer to God—and instead, treating other people as equals in dignity and rights.

In Jesus’ time, Samaritans, Galileans, foreigners, and those who professed a different faith were considered “enemies.” These destructive prejudices confuse identity with behavior. In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), Jesus suggests that who is one’s neighbor is not determined by identity, but by each person’s ethical decision. The question “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29, NIV) becomes “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” (Luke 10:36, NIV).

The Good Samaritan decides to see the person who is “half dead” and “naked,” unable to reveal his ethnic or religious identity, as his neighbor. This man, free from malicious prejudice, approaches, crosses the street, and enters into communion (koinonia) with a stranger in need. It is likely that the other people who passed by acted out of fear, stereotypes, and an ethic centered on ritual purity rather than compassion.

Enemies by intention and destructive behavior

Individuals with opposing ethical views can exist both within one’s own group and across different cultural or religious backgrounds.  These predatory individuals approach primarily to harm, control, and destroy. They present themselves as sheep, but in reality, they are fierce wolves.

Jesus expresses it clearly: “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are fierce wolves. By their fruits you will know them“ (Matthew 7:15–16a, NIV). The Master suggests staying as far away from such people as possible. In the third letter of John, the figure of Diotrephes embodies this type of predatory leadership that creates dissension, slanders, excludes, and dominates: ”But Diotrephes does not accept our authority because he likes to be in charge. Therefore, when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, since he is spreading gossip and lies about us. Not content with this, he does not welcome the brothers who come, and he forbids those who want to welcome them to do so and expels them from the community” (3 John 9–10, DHH).

Jesus is aware that there are wolves in this world, predatory people who will stop at nothing to destroy: “Be on your guard! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16, NIV). Anyone who finds themselves face to face with a predator knows, in the depths of their being, that their integrity is in danger. Jesus suggests wisdom or prudence (phronimoi) when facing a real enemy.

The serpent metaphor highlights its sharpness, keen senses, and its ability to wait until the right moment before acting. That is the task of critical thinking: careful analysis, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent, recognizing danger, and distinguishing when to protect oneself or when to seek help.

The dove, on the other hand, is “simple” (akéraios), upright, refusing to use the enemy’s tools, to become cynical, or to seek justice through clumsy and unjust means. One must be, at the same time, wise as a serpent—to perceive danger and protect boundaries—and upright as a dove—to avoid becoming just another wolf. It is possible to achieve this balance between nobility (dove) and lucidity (serpent), a way of being that is difficult to deceive and, at the same time, incapable of replicating the violence it denounces. This existential balance allows us to act with justice and kindness even in the face of a predatory person, maintaining the necessary distance and without feeding the thirst for revenge.

Do not confuse love with denial of reality.

Misinterpreting the invitation to love one’s enemies can lead to ignoring the reality of “fierce wolves.” Some individuals and groups act with the intention of abusing their position of power, harming, controlling, exploiting, or destroying. They act with malice, without taking responsibility or showing a genuine desire for change.

This can even be observed in religious settings, where some leaders or structures use the name of God to subjugate, humiliate, or exploit. In these cases, uncritically applying the command to “love your enemies” can become a tool of abuse itself, especially when preaching a form of love that demands endurance, silence, and remaining in life-destroying environments.

Conclusion

A mature hermeneutic of love requires recognizing that protecting the sheep from the wolf is, in itself, a profound form of love. The call to “love our enemies” should not be confused with denial of reality or passive tolerance of abuse or evil. Love involves discerning between otherness and destructive intent and acting justly to preserve the life and dignity of all.

The health of a faith community depends on its ability to open its doors to diversity, but also to set clear boundaries against those who seek to harm, control, or destroy. Authentic love does not require enduring abuse but instead seeks the good of the victims and due process for the perpetrators, which may involve the separation necessary to protect the community.

Following the thinking of Emmanuel Levinas (1969) and Desmond Tutu (1999), the face of the other challenges us ethically. Still, when that face turns toward us with the intention of annihilation, responsibility becomes an obligation of justice. Thus, love for one’s enemies becomes an invitation to lucid compassion: a compassion that does not ignore harm, that does not confuse the predator with the innocent, and that always seeks the restoration and protection of life. Ultimately, loving one’s enemies is a call to ethical courage to reject revenge, act with wisdom and nobility, and build communities where justice and goodness are inseparable.

References

Levinas, E. (1969). Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority. Duquesne University Press.

Tutu, D. (1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. Image Books.