Golden Rule – Matthew 7:12

One of my missionary friends was showing us where his wife was teaching school and her classroom. On the wall was a poster of the Golden Rule. She said it was to be the rule for all behavior in her classroom. The parents were exceptionally impressed with this, thinking she had authored this rule. She sounded like a genius.

The real genius was Jesus.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 ESV)

The “Golden Rule.”  In another place Jesus teaches and agrees with a teacher of the Law that the Law may be summed up under two commands, love Yahweh your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  Elsewhere Paul says loving one’s neighbor as oneself summarizes the Law.  If you are considering the Law in its relationship to how we interact with one another, loving one’s neighbor as oneself is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.

But Jesus puts it in different terms here, in the terms of how you wish others would treat you.  Do you want to be loved unconditionally?  Love others unconditionally and you will fulfill the righteousness of the Law.  Do you want to be treated with perfect justice and fairness?  Treat others with perfect justice and fairness and so fulfill the Law.  Then you will be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.  There have been negative statements of the Golden Rule, don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you.  But Jesus’ positive statement of this takes righteousness to its nth degree.  And only those who ask, seek and knock, those who hunger for righteousness, will be filled with this righteousness.

RationalSkepticism.org argues, “I think that as an ethical principle, the negative version of the Golden Rule is preferable… What humans want varies endlessly, but most humans agree on what we don’t want, like suffering, poverty, being enslaved and so on.” But the negative version would allow you to see someone stranded on the side of the road, or worse, and not be the good Samaritan but pass on by.

No, this positive kind of righteousness takes us out of the sit-back-and-chill mode of righteousness, the do-no-harm righteousness. It requires of us an active role in pursuing the good of other human beings. It is not enough to stay out of the melee, we must enter into the fray and actually do something to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.