The Godfather and the Sermon on the Plain

The Bottom Line: To love, to do good, and to lend—even to your enemies—hits at the heart of the social world of the first-century.

Takeaways

1. The Roman world—and the Roman household—is structured around what we call a patron-client relationship. The opening of The Godfather is a perfect example of how this worked.
2. A patron would do favors (in Greek, χάρις or “grace”) for his clients, who, in turn, were expected to be loyal (in Greek πίστις or "faithful").
3. To love (ἀγαπάω) is properly understood as “attachment” to some group: your family, your village, your ethnic group, or to the patron-client relationship. It was not an internal, psychological state as we think of it today. It should always be understood as “group” language. 
4. Likewise, doing “good” or “lending” (in Luke 6:31-36) should also be understood within the context of the patron-client relationship.
5. In Luke 6, Jesus is not just talking about being a “good person” or being “kind” to those you don’t like. Instead, he’s reorienting our entire outlook on life, including how we make our living. It’s a challenge to live our lives in such a way that God is our patron and we completely walk the Way by depending on him.