The enemy gets a seat at the table Christ set for you.

Jesus does not ask us to admire our enemies. He says, "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you." The image is a table. The one who cursed us gets a seat; the one who mistreated us is named in our prayer before the meal. Blessing is not a feeling we manufacture. It is a place we set, a word we speak over the one who would rather see us silenced.

The logic runs deeper than politeness. Love moves toward the hater; doing good meets hatred with provision; blessing answers the curse; prayer interrupts the mistreatment with the Father's name. I confess that my first instinct is to set the table for my friends and bolt the door against my enemies. Jesus hears that confession and does not let me stay there. He takes the door off its hinges and sets another place.

He did not stay there Himself. On the cross, under the curse of our sin, Christ blessed the ones who cursed Him and prayed for the ones who mistreated Him. His resurrection proves that the curse could not hold Him, and His intercession at the Father's right hand is the same prayer still rising for us. The table where I bless my enemy is the same table where Christ blesses me. My place was set by His mercy before I ever sat down.