Agape, Christian love, is love toward the loveless, love toward those who may reject it and treat it contemptuously, but to whom, nevertheless, it must be offered. This is the kind of love Jesus is talking about. Not nice, sugary, romantic love -but absolute, self-giving love, which offers itself to all, regardless of their worth or attractiveness or anything else. (Paul gives us a kind of hymn to agape, in I Cor., ch. 13. Try reading it once again, using the word "agape" instead of the word "love," and see if it doesn't suggest some new things.)
The significant thing about Jesus is that he didn't just talk about agape; he embodied it himself. If you want to know what agape is, don't just look at what Jesus said -- look at what he did. His whole life is a dramatization of agape. He offered himself totally to those in need; he continued to offer himself totally even when people spat upon him and crucified him. The crucifixion is the very pinnacle of agape -- selfless love in action. Here we see how much God loves. He offers himself totally to those who are unworthy.
And that is the kind of love we are to make real in our lives; agape which knows no limits, which gives unstintingly to anyone in need, which is willing to suffer on behalf of anyone else, without thought of reward.
A rather tall order indeed.
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