Luke 6:27-28   An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind

Turn the other cheek; love your enemies; treat others as you would like to be treated.  These words from today’s Gospel are familiar, but they are among the most difficult of Jesus’ sayings.  Can we really be expected to love those who hurt us, to keep giving while receiving nothing in return?

The political landscape, particularly in the West, has shifted in recent years.  We live in a time of upheaval and division.  We are constantly encouraged to pick a side – right or left, liberal or conservative, pro-life or pro-choice.  Every issue is divided into dramatically opposing views, with those on the ‘other side’ labelled as deluded and out to destroy all that is good.  The listening stops, and there is only disdain and vitriol.

Jesus tells us there is another way.  His words invert our usual human ‘wisdom’ about enemies and forgiveness.  In place of arguments and revenge, he proposes a radical new way of engaging with others.  He is not encouraging us to be passive.  Rather, he is inviting us to a ‘third way’: to think of people not as enemies, but as sisters and brothers, and to make a non-violent stand when faced with persecution.  We see the humanity in others, and we invite them to see our humanity in the way we treat them.

This approach can transform the world.  People like Gandhi have shown what can be achieved by choosing a different path.  Instead of meeting violence with violence, he and his followers engaged in peaceful resistance, and over time transformation came.  Gandhi described nonviolent direct action (in Sanskrit Ahimsa) as ‘the greatest force at the disposal of mankind’.  “Loving our enemies” is a call to constantly move towards restoring relationships.

© Triona Doherty & Jane Mellet, 2021.  The Deep End: A Journey with the Sunday Gospels in the Year of Luke  (Dublin: Messenger Publications 2021).

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“I still find myself compelled by Jesus who was always subverting the narrative of ‘friend or foe’ by saying ‘for is friend’ …  ‘Who is right and who is wrong, God?  And God tells a story that makes it all a little bit more grey than comfortable – that challenges all sorts of listening ears.                                                          – Britney Winn Lee