By now, we should be starting to get a sense of where this is going, as Jesus now says, “Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your possessions back from the person who takes them away” (Luke 6:30). For His brethren, talk of “possessions” would be connected to their land. God’s promise and directive to Israel, dating back to the time of Moses and Joshua, was to possess the land. This possessing the land was a part of God’s special blessings upon His people. In their present situation, as has been pointed out, though they living in their promised land, they did not possess the land. Rome possessed their land. Illegitimate rulers (the Herods) possessed their land. On a secondary level, though it may have been the case that individuals were able to own pieces of land, in the legal sense, oppressive taxation would have forced many to either sell or turn over their land, to satisfy the tax obligation. This would be yet another reason to despise their oppressors, their enemies, and those who cursed them, but Jesus follows up on this and says, “Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you” (6:31).
Though the oppression was heavy, and His people had plenty of reasons to complain, to demand more just treatment, or to look to Rome and to their provincial rulers and say, “We’ll begin respecting you when you begin treating us better,” Jesus puts the onus on His hearers. This, of course, is His kingdom model. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you… Give, and it will be given to you… For the measure you use will be the measure you receive” (6:27-28, 38a,c). Did the Romans deserve to be overthrown and driven from their land? Probably so, but that was irrelevant. The point would be driven home and made all the more poignant when we consider that His hearers would have been able to look around them and see some Roman soldiers.
Having talked about treating others in the same way that you desire to be treated, Jesus goes on and says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them” (6:32). This brings up another question. Who is Jesus talking about when He speaks of sinners? This goes back to a consideration of who we can find in His audience. Remember, He had drawn people from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon---Jews and Gentiles. So when “sinners” are mentioned, we are not to take this as a general reference to people who are not “saved,” or who engage in the things that we are so quick to label as sin, as we are likely to do with our modern mindset. “Sinners,” as opposed to “saints,” would be a reference to those that were outside of God’s covenant. At the same time, we have to be careful to not hear this as Jesus passing judgment on those outside the covenant, for Jesus would say that He came to call sinners into His covenant. In that day, “sinner” was another term for Gentile. So when Jesus spoke of sinners, it was a simple matter of His Jewish listeners to look around them and see a number of sinners, with all of them eagerly listening to this Man that might be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.
These are striking statements. Jesus is telling His fellow Jews that, as God’s covenant people, they have a greater obligation to do all of these things of which He has been speaking. They were not justified in waiting around for better treatment from Rome. The idea that they were under no obligation to love until loved was patently dismissed. They were to treat others as they wanted to be treated. Loving those who loved them would not mark them out as God’s covenant people, for this was true of all men, Jew and Gentile (sinners). The higher standard---the true way of the kingdom of God that was the hope of their day---was to love one’s enemies, though you felt them completely undeserving of that love. To that, Jesus adds, “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same” (6:33).
These two questions and statements are neatly tied to what He has already said. Jesus had said to those “who are listening”, who had ears to hear, to love their enemies and to do good to those who hate you. Even the Gentiles, those upon whom His Jewish brethren would look down and dismiss, Jesus says, do good to those who do good to them. There is nothing extraordinary about that. Tying in His directives concerning the person who takes away our coat, to which you add your tunic (6:29), and not asking for one’s possessions back from those who take them away, Jesus says, “And if you lend to those from you hope to be repaid, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may be repaid in full” (6:34). By now, Jesus’ point is made, so He adds, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back” (6:35). Why would they do these things? What would be the point? All of this, it would seem, would only serve to maintain and deepen their subjection to Rome, extending their exile from God’s promises to them. To such a thought, Jesus says, “Then your reward will be great” (6:35).
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