A few weeks ago, Erika Kirk, the wife of slain political activist Charlie Kirk, forgave the young man who murdered her husband. She illustrated one of the defining teachings of our Lord. Our Lord both demands and makes possible a way of life that exceeds simply being good. One such commandment illustrates this reality: “Love your enemies.”
On a human level this appears irrational and impossible. Irrational because justice requires the restoration of what was lost. If a murderer takes someone’s life, then in justice the murderer’s life is forfeited. Impossible because to love means to work toward the restoration of one’s enemy such that he becomes a friend. Many wonder: “how could I become friends with the person who did that to me or another?”
Of course, our Lord does not command the irrational or the impossible. If he commands it, Christ will give us the power to do it. Loving our enemy does not minimize or negate the evil they have committed. Nor is it a wish for mutual coexistence (at a far distance) leaving the enemy as enemy. Instead, true love acknowledges the great evil committed, while forgiving them and hoping that they will be converted to good. When our Lord cried out from the cross “Father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing.” He was not saying: “Father, I want them to continue crucifying me.” Instead, He was suffering and dying so that they realized like the centurion: “Truly this was the Son of God.”
Loving our enemies is not easy. In fact, that Jesus commands us to do it, proves that He is God and we undergo incredible transformation when following Him.
