Luke 6:35

My Notes

What Does Luke 6:35 Mean?

Jesus commands enemy-love with a specific economic dimension: but love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Love ye your enemies, and do good — Luke's version of the enemy-love command parallels Matthew 5:44 but adds a practical, economic dimension. The love is expressed through doing good — concrete, visible action, not just internal disposition.

And lend, hoping for nothing again — the lending is without expectation of return. Hoping for nothing again (meden apelpizontes) means expecting nothing back — no repayment, no interest, no reciprocity. The lending is functionally a gift. The financial transaction becomes an act of generosity with no strings attached.

The instruction undermines the entire logic of transactional relationship: I give to you so you will give to me. Jesus eliminates the expectation of return and replaces it with pure generosity — give to those who cannot or will not repay you.

Your reward shall be great — the reward is not from the recipient (who may never repay). It is from God. The great reward compensates for the earthly loss. The economy of the kingdom operates differently from the economy of the world: what you lose by giving without return, God repays with interest.

Ye shall be the children of the Highest — the behavior identifies you as God's children. The resemblance is the reward. You look like your Father when you love without condition.

For he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil — the theological basis. God himself is kind to people who do not thank him and people who are evil. His kindness is not earned by the recipients. It is given despite their unthankfulness and evil. To love enemies and lend without return is to act like the God who gives sunshine and rain to people who curse him.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How does adding 'lend, hoping for nothing again' make enemy-love practical and economic rather than merely emotional?
• 2.What does 'hoping for nothing again' demand about the way you relate to people who cannot or will not repay you?
• 3.How does God being 'kind to the unthankful and to the evil' function as the model for your own generosity?
• 4.Where is God calling you to give — time, money, help — to someone who will not thank you or repay you?

Devotional

Love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again. Jesus does not leave enemy-love abstract. He makes it financial: lend — give your money, your resources, your practical help — to people who will not repay you. Not as a loan with expectations. As a gift with no strings. Hoping for nothing again means exactly what it says: expect nothing back.

This is where enemy-love gets expensive. Loving enemies in theory costs nothing. Lending to them without expecting return costs you actual money. The command is not just emotional. It is economic. Jesus puts your wallet where your heart should be.

Your reward shall be great. The repayment comes from a different source. The enemy may never repay you. The unthankful will never thank you. But God — who sees the giving no one else notices — rewards greatly. The economy of the kingdom is not this-for-that. It is give-freely-and-God-repays.

Ye shall be the children of the Highest. This is what it looks like to be God's child: generosity without condition, kindness without expectation, lending without return. You look like your Father when you give to people who do not deserve it and will not repay it.

For he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. This is the model. God is kind — genuinely, practically, concretely kind — to people who are unthankful and evil. He gives sunshine to people who curse him. He sends rain on fields owned by people who deny his existence. His kindness is not earned. It is given — lavishly, indiscriminately, to the undeserving.

That is your Father. And when you lend without expecting return, do good without expecting gratitude, and love without expecting love back — you look exactly like him.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture