Love Your Neighbour, but Hate Your Enemy

The final teaching that jesus gives in this chapter concerns loving your enemy. Jesus teaches here that we should prevent the development of a cycle of vengeance. Once one person has avenged themselves upon some one else, that other person will seek vengeance in return. And as a result, you have these cycles of vengeance that just cannot be broken. There's no reward for those who merely love those who love them. That's not true love. True love must take the initiative. This is the way in which we truly love our neighbour and rise to perfection. It's that pursuit of righteousness that distinguishes the true people of god from the scribes and the pharisees and their hypocrisy.