Luke 6:27

My Notes

What Does Luke 6:27 Mean?

Jesus addresses those "which hear"—acknowledging that not everyone in the crowd can receive what He's about to say. And then He delivers the command that separates His ethic from every other moral system: "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you." Two commands that overturn the instinct of every human heart: love what hates you, and do good to what harms you.

The word "love" (agapaō) is the highest form of love in Greek—not emotional affection (philia) or romantic passion (eros), but deliberate, chosen, active goodwill directed toward someone regardless of how they treat you. Agape doesn't require feelings. It requires action. You don't have to feel warm toward your enemy. You have to choose their good.

"Do good to them which hate you" makes the love concrete: it's not just an internal disposition. It produces external action. Doing good to the person who hates you means your enemy is the recipient of your best behavior, not your worst. The person who least deserves your kindness receives the most intentional kindness you have to give.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Who is your enemy—the specific person you find hardest to love? What would 'doing good' to them look like?
• 2.Love for enemies isn't natural. It's supernatural. Where do you get the capacity to do what Jesus commands?
• 3.If loving your enemy is the most God-like thing you can do, what does your inability to do it reveal about where you need more of God?
• 4.Jesus says this to 'you which hear.' Can you hear it—really hear it? Or does it bounce off as impractical?

Devotional

"Love your enemies." Three words that demolish every natural instinct, every self-protective impulse, every reasonable calculation of how to treat people who want to destroy you. Love them. Actively. Deliberately. With the same intentional goodwill you'd show a friend.

"Do good to them which hate you." Not just tolerate them. Not just avoid retaliating. Do good. The person who hates you—who would celebrate your failure, who wishes you harm, who has actively worked against you—becomes the recipient of your intentional kindness. Your best behavior, directed at your worst enemy.

This isn't natural. It wasn't meant to be. Jesus isn't describing what comes naturally to the human heart. He's describing what the Spirit produces in a heart that's been transformed. Loving your enemy is the supernatural evidence that something has changed inside you—that the kingdom's values have replaced the world's instincts.

The qualifier "I say unto you which hear" is important: not everyone can receive this. Not because it's too intellectual, but because it requires a transformed heart to even begin. The person operating on natural instincts will hear this and dismiss it as naive. The person operating in the Spirit will hear it and recognize it as the hardest, most beautiful command ever given. Love your enemy. Not because they deserve it. Because Jesus commands it. And because loving the unlovable is the most God-like thing you can do.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture