In Matthew 5:43–48, Jesus says:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
This teaching goes far beyond what most of us think possible. Jesus isn’t giving us poetic advice—He’s commanding us to live like our Father in heaven, who “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good.”
Some interpreters believe the phrase “hate your enemy” was Jesus referring to certain rabbinic or cultural traditions of His day. The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by the Essene community at Qumran, even instructed initiates to “love all the sons of light and hate all the sons of darkness” (1QS 1:9–11). You can read this text at:
https://intertextual.bible/text/1qs.1-matthew-5.43
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