Luke 6:35 (LSB)

Passage

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil.

Nearby Context

Luke 6:33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

Luke 6:34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil.

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:37 “And do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "love", "enemies", "good", "lend", "expecting", "nothing", "return", and "reward". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "love" and "enemies", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "And if you lend to those from..." into verse 36's "Be merciful just as your Father is...", so "love" and "enemies" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "love" and "enemies" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.