FEEDING THE ENEMY

Therefore if your enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head.  Rom 12:20

Some of the verses in the Bible seem too hard to obey. It just seems to be an impossible standard to achieve at times.

Feed your hungry enemy, give your thirsty enemy water! Who could possibly do such a thing? Well, as you would expect, the Lord Jesus is the perfect example of such conduct. In the hours before He suffered He got a towel and girded Himself and washed His disciples' feet. One of those disciples was Judas. In a few hours he would betray the Lord Jesus for the sum of 30 pieces of silver. He was an enemy of the Lord Jesus, yet the Lord washed his feet as an act of selfless humility.

Why shouldn’t we act to destroy our enemy rather than help him? The answer is given in the next part of the verse: "For thou shall heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee". Our response to our enemy is noted by the Lord and He is pleased when we do not return like for like. Vengeance belongs to Him, and in a coming day He will right the wrongs. In the meantime, we are called upon to respond to hostility with peace, to hatred with love, and to meanness with generosity.

The Lord Jesus was faced with incredible hostility throughout His life. When the violence escalated in Gabbatha, Scripture records: "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously" (1Pet 2:23).