“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6.37)

New Testament Challenge, Day 11 – Luke 4-7

Nothing speaks as clearly as Christ’s warning about how we are to treat others. In Saint Luke’s rendition of the Beatitudes, we are told to love our enemies and be merciful. If we use the logic of Luke 6.37 we can see that Christ is telling us if we love we will be loved and we will have no enemies. In other words, “Love not, and you shall not be loved. Forgive not, and you will not be forgiven.”

In our current political atmosphere of “Party Politics” we are bombarded day after day with hatred for other’s views and opinions. Naturally, this is the nature of politics. We began today’s reading (Luke 4) with Christ being tempted by the devil; “Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.’” (Luke 4.5-6) The Holy Scriptures are clear in their understanding; the devil has control over the powers of the Earth. But we have been called to a different life.

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5.32) The world, being controlled by the devil is administered by sinners, with whom we each share the burden of culpability. In Christ, though, we are challenged to move beyond our fallen world. It is no longer good enough to love those who love us, “for even sinners do the same.” (Luke 6.33) We must love all people.