Jesus told the people:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors* do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Matthew 5:43-48 - World English Bible

In the fourth volume of his masterful work on the historical Jesus, "The Marginal Jew", John P. Meier compared the teaching of the Lord on loving enemies with the Golden Rule. The later Rule promoted the wisdom of respect based upon reciprocity: "I won't do 'x' to you, if you don't do it to me." This attitude, for example, formed the basis of the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, a pairing best described as MAD ("Mutually Assured Destruction"). People ascribed to the Golden Rule as a means to an end, to advance another motive, like survival or upward social mobility or shaming one's enemies

To love one's enemies took away any motive, however. Jesus insisted the virtues of charity, hospitality, compassion and empathy as matters of principle, not a means to an end (besides the Kingdom). Sinners lived out the Golden Rule with their family and friends under the umbrella of divine providence. What was the big deal about that? In the end, as Father Meiers implied, the disciple was to love the way God loved him and everyone under the Maker's realm. "Love" for the follower of the Christ was a principle with universal applicatio.

Have you prayed for your enemies this week? Have you blessed them? What happened?