What is the golden rule all about?
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| Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Kröller-Müller Museum. The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Structurally, the Sermon on the Mount is divisible into three sections. Jesus introduces the sermon in Matthew 5:1–16, describing the characteristics of
true discipleship while calling us to preserve society as the salt of the earth and to show others the Father as the light of the world. He gives final warnings to those who will not heed His teaching in the sermon’s conclusion in
7:13–29.
The second section, or main body, of the Sermon on the Mount is very well-defined (5:17–7:12). In both 5:17 and 7:12, our Lord refers specifically
to “the Law and the Prophets,” bracketing all of the material in between these verses and marking it off as a distinct portion of teaching. Biblical scholars
call this an inclusio, a literary device where the beginning and ending of a
unit of teaching mirror one another. In between the brackets, a line of
thought is developed that fleshes out what the brackets summarize. In this
case, 5:18–7:11 lays out many of the specifics of life in God’s kingdom in
Christ, which fulfills the Law and the Prophets (5:17). But when all is said
and done, living out the kingdom ethic only involves doing unto our neighbors
as we would want to have done to us. This is the end to which the Law and
Prophets direct us (7:12).
This famous “Golden Rule” is not an entirely new teaching from the lips of
Jesus. Similar tenets are found in other religions. There is a story about the
famous first-century rabbi Hillel who verbalized the Golden Rule in its
negative form when a pagan told the rabbi he would convert if he could hear
the Law summarized while he stood on one leg. Hillel said, “What is hurtful to
you, do not do to others. This is the Torah, the rest is commentary. Go and
learn it.”
We can keep the Golden Rule in its negative form without lifting a finger. If
we do not want others to steal from us, for example, we only need to refrain
from theft. But the positive form is unknown prior to Jesus and is much more
demanding. Doing unto others is a call to service. We want others to love us,
and so we must first love them. We want to be prosperous, and thus we must
first share what we have. The Golden Rule reveals that kingdom citizens put
others first, endeavoring to love them as Christ has first loved us (1 John
4:7, 19).
John Calvin says, “All the precepts [of the Mosaic law]…have a reference to
[the Golden Rule].” Even the Old Testament laws that deal more directly with
God teach us to love our neighbor. The law against idolatry, for example,
enjoins us to love others. Clearly, it is not loving to lead others into false
worship and death through our service to idols. As you study a particular
passage of Scripture, ask yourself how it shows you to put others ahead of
yourself.
