Church Fathers Commentary Luke 6:27-31

"But I say unto you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the [one] cheek offer also the other; and from him that taketh away thy cloak withhold not thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." — Luke 6:27-31 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: Having spoken above of what they might suffer from their enemies, He now points out how they ought to conduct themselves toward their enemies, saying, But I say to you who hear.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He wisely comes to this point last, so that He might teach the people—confirmed by the divine miracles—to march onward in the footsteps of virtue beyond the path of the law. Lastly, among the three greatest (hope, faith, and charity), the greatest is charity, which is commanded in these words: Love your enemies.

St. Basil the Great: It is indeed the nature of an enemy to injure and be treacherous. Therefore, anyone who harms another in any way is called their enemy.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: This way of life was well-suited for the holy teachers who were about to preach the word of salvation throughout the earth. For if they had chosen to take vengeance on their persecutors, they would have failed to call them to the knowledge of salvation.

St. John Chrysostom: But He does not say, "Do not hate," but "love." Nor did He merely command us to love, but also to do good, as it follows: Do good to them which hate you.

St. Basil the Great: Because a person consists of body and soul, we do good to the soul by reproving and admonishing such people, leading them by the hand to conversion. To the body, we do good by providing for them in the necessities of life.

It follows: Bless them that curse you.

St. John Chrysostom: For they who pierce their own souls deserve tears and weeping, not curses. Nothing is more hateful than a cursing heart, or more foul than a tongue that utters curses. O man, do not spit forth the poison of asps, nor be turned into a beast! Your mouth was given to you not to bite with, but to heal the wounds of others.

But He commands us to count our enemies in the rank of our friends—not only in a general way, but as our particular friends for whom we are accustomed to pray. As it follows: Pray for them which persecute you.

On the contrary, many fall down, strike their faces on the ground, and stretch out their hands, praying to God not for their own sins, but against their enemies—which is nothing less than piercing their own selves. When you pray to Him to hear you cursing your enemies—He who has forbidden you to pray against them—how is it possible for you to be heard? You are asking Him to listen while you strike an enemy in the king’s presence, not with your hand, but with your words.

What are you doing, O man? You stand to obtain pardon for your sins, and yet you fill your mouth with bitterness. It is a time for forgiveness, prayer, and mourning, not for rage.

The Venerable Bede: But the question is fairly raised: how is it that many curses against enemies are found in the prophets? To this we must observe that the prophets, in the imprecations they uttered, were foretelling the future. They spoke not with the feelings of one who wishes for harm, but in the spirit of one who foresees it.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Now the old law commanded us not to injure one another; or, if we are injured first, not to extend our wrath beyond the measure of the one who injured us. But the fulfillment of the law is in Christ and in His commands. Hence it follows: And to him that smite you on the one cheek, offer also the other.

St. John Chrysostom: For physicians, when attacked by the mentally ill, have the most compassion on them and exert themselves to restore them. You should have a similar consideration for your persecutors, for it is they who are under the greatest infirmity. Let us not cease until they have exhausted all their bitterness; then they will overwhelm you with thanks, and God Himself will give you a crown, because you have delivered your brother from the worst disease.

St. Basil the Great: But almost all of us offend against this command, especially the powerful and rulers. They do so not only when they have suffered an insult, but even if respect is not paid to them, counting as enemies all those who treat them with less consideration than they think they deserve. It is a great dishonor for a prince to be ready to take revenge. For how shall he teach another to return to no man evil for evil, if he himself is eager to retaliate against one who injures him?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Moreover, the Lord would have us be despisers of property, as it follows: And him that takes away your cloak, forbid not to take your coat also. For this is a virtue of the soul, which is altogether alien to feeling the pleasure of wealth. It becomes the merciful person to forget even his own misfortunes, so that we may confer the same benefits upon our persecutors by which we assist our dear friends.

St. John Chrysostom: Now He did not say, "Bear humbly the rule of your persecutor," but, "Go on wisely, and prepare yourself to suffer what he desires you to do." You are to overcome his insolence by your great prudence, so that he may depart with shame at your excellent endurance.

But someone will say, "How can this be?" When you have seen God made man, suffering so many things for you, do you still ask and doubt how it is possible to pardon the iniquities of your fellow servants? Who has suffered what your God has, when He was bound, scourged, spat upon, and endured death? Here it follows: But to every one who seeks, give.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He does not say, "To him that seeks give all things," but give what you justly and honestly can. This means giving what, as far as one can know or believe, harms neither you nor another. And if you have justly refused someone, the reason must be declared to him (so as not to send him away empty). Sometimes you will confer an even greater benefit when you have corrected someone who seeks what he ought not.

St. John Chrysostom: However, do we not err greatly when we not only refuse to give to those who seek, but also blame them? "Why," you say, "does he not work? Why is the idle man fed?" Tell me, do you possess what you have only by your own labor? And even if you do work, do you work for the purpose of blaming another?

For a single loaf and a coat, do you call a man covetous? If you give nothing, then make no reproaches. Why do you neither take pity yourself, nor refrain from dissuading those who would? If we give to all indifferently, we shall always have compassion, for because Abraham entertained all, he also entertained angels. If a man is a murderer and a robber, do you not think he deserves to have bread? Let us not, then, be severe judges of others, lest we too be judged strictly.

It follows: And of him that takes away your goods ask them not again.

Everything we have, we receive from God. When we speak of "mine and thine," they are only empty words. If you assert a house to be yours, you have uttered an expression that lacks the substance of reality, for the air, the soil, and the moisture all belong to the Creator. You may be the one who built the house, but although its use is yours, ownership is uncertain—not only because of death, but also because of the unpredictable outcomes of life.

Your soul is not your own possession and will be accounted for in the same way as all your goods. God wishes those things to be yours which are entrusted to you for your brethren, and they will truly be yours if you have dispensed them for others. But if you have spent lavishly upon yourself what you call yours, those things have now become another's. Through a wicked desire for wealth, people strive against Christ's words: And of him that takes away your goods, ask them not again.

St. Augustine of Hippo: He says this about garments, houses, farms, beasts of burden, and generally all property. But a Christian ought not to possess a slave in the same way he possesses a horse or money. If a slave is more honorably governed by you than by the one who desires to take him from you, I do not know whether anyone would dare to say that he ought to be disregarded like a garment.

St. John Chrysostom: We have a natural law implanted in us, by which we distinguish between virtue and vice. Hence it follows: And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. He does not say, "Whatever you would not that men should do to you, do not do." For since there are two ways that lead to virtue—namely, abstaining from evil and doing good—He names one, signifying the other by it as well.

Indeed, if He had said, "So that you may be human, love the beasts," the command would be difficult. But if we are commanded to love other people, which is a natural admonition, where is the difficulty? Even wolves and lions observe this, whom a natural relation compels to love one another.

It is clear, then, that Christ has ordained nothing surpassing our nature, but only what He had long before implanted in our conscience, so that your own will becomes the law for you. If you want good done to you, you must do good to others; if you want another to show you mercy, you must show mercy to your neighbor.