“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”

These are the words of Jesus. The first part of the verse describe behavior that is rewarded by God. This is contrary to our nature, and can only be possible with God’s help. The latter part of the verse reveals an aspect of God’s nature. We are told that He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil.

There are few things in scripture that are directly stated to be God’s will. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” It is God’s will that we be thankful to Him regardless of our circumstances. There is much for which we can be thankful. On the other hand, speaking of mankind, Paul wrote in Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful…”. Jesus said in Luke 6:35 that God is kind to the unthankful.

How is He kind to the unthankful? Jesus said in Matthew 5:45, “… for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Sad to say, we have become accustomed to these blessings from God. Of course the sun rises every day! Of course there is rain for the crops! Of course! Jesus said that these things are sent by God and they come on the evil and the good and on the just and the unjust. This is what God promised to Himself. At the end of the flood God said in His heart “… I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake… While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21, 22) By sending His rain God is keeping His promise to all of creation. And it comes on the evil and the good, the just and the unjust.

Jesus also said that God is kind to the evil. This is incredible to think about because all evil is against His law; it is an offense to Him. In Numbers 14:26, 27 we read, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.” The evil was in that the people of Israel murmured against Him. In the context, the LORD had lead them from Egypt to the land that He had promised them. When they got to the border, God told them to go in and take the land. But they refused because they feared the people in the land. God called their refusal to take the land, and their desire to return to Egypt, murmuring. They refused to believe Him.

In any case, in Numbers 14 the LORD called them an evil congregation. And Jesus said in Luke that God is kind to the evil. In what way was God kind to Israel? In Nehemiah 9:19-21 the priests of Nehemiah’s day rehearsed God’s history with Israel, and how they harkened not to His commandments. Then they said, “Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go… and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst… forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” As they wandered in the wilderness, under His judgment, He continued to meet their physical needs, supplying food and water, and sustaining their clothes, and leading them in the way they went. He did not forsake them.

At the beginning of Luke 6:35 Jesus told His disciples, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest…” This came out of His teaching in Luke 6:27, 28, “… Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Solomon used similar words in Proverbs 25:21, 22, “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.” Paul quoted the words of Solomon in Romans 12:20. The teachings of Jesus, Solomon, and Paul, about how we are to treat our enemies, are the same. This is a challenge for anyone. Believers have the Holy Spirit living in them to give help in these things.

The things about God’s personality that were discussed above were used by Jesus in this verse to be the example for us. He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. In other words, God is not expecting of us anything that He Himself is unwilling to do!

Awake, my soul, to joy­ful lays,
And sing thy great Re­deem­er’s praise;
He just­ly claims a song from me;
His lov­ing-kind­ness is so free!

He saw me ru­ined in the fall,
Yet loved me not­with­stand­ing all;
He saved me from my lost es­tate;
His lov­ing-kind­ness, O how great!

Thro’ migh­ty hosts of cru­el foes,
Where earth and hell my way op­pose,
He safe­ly leads my soul along;
His lov­ing-kind­ness is so strong!

Often I feel my sin­ful heart
Prone from my Je­sus to de­part;
And tho’ I have Him oft for­got,
His lov­ing-kind­ness chang­es not!

Then I shall mount and soar away
To the bright world of end­less day;
Then shall I sing with sweet sur­prise
His lov­ing-kind­ness in the skies. (Samuel Medley)