What is the golden rule all about?
Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Kröller-Müller Museum. The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 7:12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (v. 12). 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 b