The demands of the Gospel are often deeply challenging, and todayâs passage is arguably one of the most difficult in all of Scripture. Jesus calls his disciples not only to love their neighbourâa command already present in the Old Testamentâbut to go even further: to love their enemies. This radical call transcends anything found in the Hebrew Scriptures and strikes at the very heart of Christian discipleship.
We may be tempted to think this command doesnât really apply to us. After all, many of us might struggle to identify anyone we would truly call an âenemy.â We may have strained relationships, tensions, or people we find difficult, but thatâs not quite the same. Yet, if we reflect honestly, we can likely think of those who have hurt us, betrayed our trust, or caused us distress. Towards such people, warm feelings rarely come naturally. But Jesus isnât speaking about feelings or emotions here. As in so many parts of the New Testament, he is calling us beyond our feelings and into the realm of the will. When he says, âLove your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,â he is inviting us to choose an act of the will: prayer. To pray for those who have wounded us is, in itself, a divine act. Jesus reveals that we, too, are capable of such extraordinary grace.
Our Flemish print by Theodor Galle brings this spiritual struggle vividly to life. It depicts the personified virtues depicted as ladies. Charity (Caritas), Concord (Eendracht), Peace (Pax), and Fear of the Lord (Timor Dei) are being whipped and driven out by the figures of âMeâ (Meum) and âYouâ (Tuum). With whips in hand, âmeâ and âyouâ become aggressors against virtue. Accompanied by inscriptions in Latin and Dutch, this satirical yet sobering image forms part of a series on the abuses committed against the faith. It captures the daily inner conflict we all face: the tension between self-centredness and virtue. It reminds us that whenever we reject love, unity, and peace, we act as enemies of the very virtues we claim to uphold. If we truly embraced those virtues, we would move one step closer to living out Jesusâs final words in todayâs Gospel: âBe perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.â
