It’s called “The Golden Rule” and this week we will examine
it. If you check the etymology of this command you will find many who would
accuse Jesus of plagiarism. In their eyes He’s simply restating the ancient
maxim (proverb) of reciprocity that first appeared two thousand years before
Jesus sits down and teaches on that mountain that day. The ancient proverb stated,
“That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.”
A cursory check of other religions through human history
reveals numerous similar ethics to the one cited above. Each one of them is
cast in negative terms. For instance, several centuries before Christ a man
named Tiruvallur said, “Do not do to others what you know has hurt yourself.”
Additionally, he said “Why does one hurt others knowing what it is to be hurt?”
However, when Jesus issues His command in Matthew 7:12 He’s
not repeating a negative maxim, instead He’s offering a completely different
teaching. It’s all positive. It’s not an admonishment to refrain from doing evil;
it’s a command to do good. Its proactive, rather than reactive. “Whatever you
wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
Now, over the years, there have been many common insights
offered on these words. Taken together these insights enable modern English
readers to find a certain degree of confidence in their understanding of Jesus’
command. We will highlight several such insights on Sunday. But there is one
particular aspect of Jesus’ command that I’ve never seen prior to my recent
study of these familiar words. It’s an insight that links Matthew 7:12 to
Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, as well as II Chronicles 28:1-15 and is
the key to understanding the essence of what Jesus is teaching us here and
later on His earthly ministry. In short, the essence of what Jesus is
commanding is as far away from the law of reciprocity as you can get. Instead
of commanding us to refrain from evil, or promoting some good deed in return
for an act of kindness, the heart of the command is acting out of gratitude for
what the Lord has done for us. That’s what we see The Good Samaritan doing in
Luke 10. That’s what we see the Israelites doing in II Chronicles 28. That’s
what we see the disciples doing thought the Book of Acts. You know why its
golden? Because it is so rarely seen.
In Preparation for Sunday’s message, “For God’s Sake”, you may
wish to consider the following:
1.
Why the “so” at the beginning of verse 12?
2.
How does the “so” enable us to begin to
understand what Jesus is talking about?
3.
How is a sense of community reflected in Jesus’
words in versus 12?
4.
What connection can you find between Matthew
7:12 and Luke 10:27, 28?
5.
What does “love your neighbor as yourself” mean?
How would the first hearers of Jesus
understand those words? (see Leviticus
19:9-18)
6.
What enables us to see ourselves in others?
7.
How does Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan
inform our understanding of the Golden Rule?
8.
Do you think Jesus used II Chronicles 28 as a
guide for constructing this parable?
9.
If so, what is He saying about the actions of
the Samaritan? What motivates him?
10.
How does our understanding of the Golden Rule
grow as a result of these parallel texts?
See You Sunday!!
