Scriptural Interpretation Essay
For my scriptural essay, I chose a passage Luke 6:27-36 (On Love of One’s Enemies), which is also called the law of love. In this passage, Jesus enjoins people to love their neighbor, even if he is an enemy. Also, here it is explained in what this love is manifested.
Of the four Gospels, the content of the three “synoptic” according to St. Matthew’s, St. Mark’s and St. Luke’s are much in common. They are close to each other, both in the narrative material and form of presentation, but there are also some differences. The passage On Love of One’s Enemies is present in Luke’s (6:27-36) and Matthew’s (5:43-48) Gospels. The main idea of both this passages is the humanity, but there are several distinctive nuances in their interpretation. Both in Luke’s and Matthew’s it was used a method based on the canonical tradition and fundamental interpretation, due to which the Word of God is only true and its value should be interpreted literally.
Luke puts an accent on a good attitude towards the enemy. According to Luke no matter the actions, the pious man is a man who responds to all actions of the enemy with good. Luke records that one cannot deny anyone in help, it is necessary to help people without any expectations. There is an ethical principle here: treat others as you would like them to treat you. Luke bases his principle of love to the Lord’s principles. God loves people and treats kindly the good and the bad ones. The main Luke’s appeal is mercy. A religious man to be like God, must reassemble his mercy. (Bible Gateway).
In Matthew’s version a good attitude towards the enemy is also accentuated. Here a pious man is one who treats well both good and bad people. Also, it is said that the Lord blesses all people, the good and the bad, thus, making them equal. Therefore, a religious man who wants to resemble the Lord shall act like the Lord, that is, to love the neighbor, who can be an enemy too. Then the man will be perfect like the Lord. But this perfection does not mean equality, it refers only to the resemblance.
Thus, the requirement of the law, by which we are commanded to love our neighbor, is general in nature. The evil deeds of people are not justified here. Also, here does not say to judge a man for his sins or not, the universal law of love commands to love all the people. So, it is said, if someone commits a bad deed against you, do not return like for like. The law of love excludes the common law of justice. Here, on the contrary, it is said no matter what your neighbor does, you must always return good for evil. In this passage, is meant the community of all people, and it is God who unites them through its laws.
“Love your enemies”, this point includes the entire doctrine mentioned above. This thesis suggests that men who love those that hate them will refrain from any manifestation of hatred and revenge. Thus, they will be free and will not depend on the actions committed by others, as they will have a universal law to always do good. They not only cannot ask God the permission for the revenge, they cannot even assume it in thoughts. Also, they should bless their enemies what is the highest degree of goodness and love. The believers should rely on the fact that everything in the world is the Lord’s will, and he will condemn and punish the wicked, for he is impartial, while people do not have such a right. In Luke’s and Matthew’s passages there are different motivations for this law. Luke’s motivation is mercy, as the main feature of equating with God. Matthew’s motivation is the perfection of God, the one who acts like the Lord, resembles him. Thus, it is the resemblance to God, but only partial. According to this passage, one must resemble God in mercy and goodness, but justice is not mentioned. According to the Bible, one cannot understand the highest, divine will, from that one cannot be true, so he has no right to judge others. Thus, we can conclude that in this passage is said that the children of the Lord are the ones who resembles him in gentleness and kindness. (Calvin).
In Luke’s and Matthew’s interpretation of this passage was used the method of canonical tradition. In light of this fact, there are some discrepancies. For a better interpretation should be used historical-critical method. This method involves a scientific principle which decrypts the text in view of its historical and other aspects for the better understanding. In my opinion, historical-critical principle help to eliminate all sorts of ambiguity in Luke’s and Mattwew’s a passage. First of all, it concerns the point that one must return good for evil. Many people cannot accept this point and do not understand why they have to love their enemy, why they should return him good. Here must be an explanation, that love has nothing in common with justice. Love is above justice, and every person is worthy of love, everyone deserves it. And those who do evil will be punished by God because as he is the only one who can judge a person. (Catholic-resources.org).
My position is similar to that is applied in the passage. Although not always it seems reasonable, but it is necessary to return good for evil. I also believe, that a religious man shall reach the Lord, and try to resemble his best qualities, such as kindness and mercy. But at the same time, one should not follow blindly everything that the Bible enjoins, first man must feel then figure it out and only then, when he realizes it, he has to act consciously, as the Lord commanded.
Thus, we can conclude, that the interpretation of this passage from Luke and Matthew is very similar. The basic principle of both is the law of love and kindness. The main motivation in both cases is the principle of proximity to the Lord by means of assimilation with him in mercy (Luke) and perfection (Matthew). In both cases, it was used the canonical method of interpretation of the text, which creates some confusion while interpreting certain points. For better interpretations of this point it is advised to use historical-critical method.
Works Cited
Bible Gateway,. “Bible Gateway Passage: Luke 6:27-36 - New International Version”. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
Calvin, J. “Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36”.Biblehub.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
Catholic-resources.org,. “Interpretation Of The Bible In The Church: Methods And Approaches”. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2016.
