Matthew 7:12

F. THE DANGERS FACING THE WISE AND GODLY MAN (Matthew 7:1-27; Luke 6:37-49)

4. THE DANGER OF MISSING GOD'S TRUE STANDARD OF CONDUCT.

TEXT: 7:12

12. All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

Is the Golden Rule a practical ethical principle in this modern, competitive world? What mates you think so?
Can you think of any exceptions that should be taken to this rule? That is, are there any qualifications that you would make to it or any limitations to its practical application?
What is the difference, if any, between the Lord's version of the Golden Rule and this maxim: What you do not want done to you, do not to others?

What is the relationship, if any, between the Golden Rule and the two greatest commandments of the Law? (Cf. Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18)

What is the contextual relationship of this verse to the larger argument on judging one's neighbor?

PARAPHRASE

Therefore, whatever you desire that others do for you, you must do so for them, since this is the teaching of both the Law and the prophets.

SUMMARY

The essence of all OT morality may be summed up thus: as you judge another, put yourself in his place as he stands before you. Decide what course of action would be in your best interest, if he were to do it to you. Then, returning to your own decision toward him, make it on that basis and carry it out.

NOTES

Matthew 7:12 This verse, although often connected and printed with the preceding paragraph (Matthew 7:7-11), is a separate idea and advances Jesus' thought another complete step as He discusses the general subject of right judgment. Here the Lord offers a handy rule for thumb for judgment of our own behavior toward others. This Golden Rule lays the practical groundwork for an intelligent application of the second commandment (Matthew 22:39-40). In fact, Luke (Luke 6:31) records the Golden Rule in connection with the section on loving one's enemies, thus putting it in the middle of Matthew 5:43-48. There is no plausible reason why Jesus could not have repeated the Golden Rule in two separate connections in the Sermon: once, to introduce it as the

practical expression of love (Luke 6:31) and again, to

apply it in the field of judging oneself and others (Matthew 7:12).

NOTE: Both Matthew and Luke record such verbal repetitions. Luke (Luke 6:27; Luke 6:35) repeats: Love your enemies, do good. Matthew (Matthew 7:16; Matthew 7:20) repeats: You will know them by their fruits. Thus, it is not impossible to conceive that Jesus should have repeated the Golden Rule in different applications, although with the same intent to explain the implications of love.

The Golden Rule is but another way, then, of saying Love your neighbor as yourself, and, as such, is but the positive force that acti­vates Jesus' second great commandment. (Cf. Matthew 22:39-40; See notes on Matthew 5:43-48) If so, the Golden Rule, to have any meaning, justification and sufficient motivation, cannot be divorced from the love we hold for God (Matthew 22:37-38), expressed in the first great commandment. Only as the Golden Rule is regarded as the sum­mation of revealed religion, i.e. interpreted and applied as the summary of the ethics of the Law and prophets, does it have real value and power, according to Jesus. (Cf. Romans 12:10; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)

The genius of our Lord is expressed in these simple words of this Rule. To the systematic theologians, the message of Jesus must be frustratingly simple, because He makes no effort to be exhaustive in stating and applying His great propositions. Jesus could have given the last word from heaven on each and every imaginable possibility regarding human relations and individual conduct. The resultant authoritative word of the Lord would be a veritable library of Christian laws which would discourage the potential disciple and exhaust the finest efforts of the most zealous scholars, and no Christian could ever be sure of remembering all that Jesus said on any one single case. But Jesus relieved the necessity for such an exhaustive and exhausting statement of all the intricacies of human behavior by giving this simple, all-inclusive guide to conduct that can be applied in any society and in any era of human history.

It has been noted by many scholars that a maxim similar to the Golden Rule is to be found among the teachings of some of the world's greatest sages. This fact has been interpreted by some to mean that Jesus rule is not so original and unique after all. A closer examination of that maxim, however, reveals its typically human origin because it rises no higher than those reflective men themselves. Among the western philosophers, there was Socrates and Aristotle among the Greeks; among the oriental sages, Buddha and Confucius; among the Jews the great Hillel. Basically, these all had said: What you would not have done to yourself, do -not do to others. But this is merely the dictum of selfishness, the expression of an egotistic prudence that withholds injury from another lest the other return the injury. This negative statement is not so foreign to the calculating done by the selfish, because it is easily arrived at by anyone who must come to terms with his society in order to protect himself out of self-interest.

Another expression of selfishness that sometimes appears in connection with this Golden Rule is that mental calculation which practices Jesus-' words with an ulterior motive: Whatever you would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them, so that they will be kindly disposed to do unto you what you wanted in the first place. This beastly egotism finds no support in Jesus-' meaning, for consideration of others, not self, is His intention.

For all our sincerity and knowledge of human nature, many times we are ignorant and confused as to where our duty lies. But if we would really love and serve our neighbor as ourself, we will have to learn to put ourselves in his place. Or, as Marshall (108) puts it, we must have a sympathetic imagination in order to visualize what we must do for him. This mental changing of places has a way of clearing away our prejudices and selfishness which keep us from seeing our objective duty toward him.

Do unto others. Jesus demands positive social action. He has no use for that self-complacency which is harmless, negative goodness that does nothing wrong,- but never does any good either. To Jesus, omission to be helpful is sin! (Cf. Luke 10:37-39; James 4:17) Jesus can acknowledge no ethic as genuine that does not inspire a man to be useful or of positive benefit to his fellows. Therefore, Jesus-' positive dictum commissions us to get busy! We must express to our neighbor all that good that we would have him express to us.

To us, the final test of our actions and motives is not What would Jesus do? because that test too often devolves into an ignorant hypothesis contrary to fact. The more practical test of our social motivation is our own desire to be treated well. Jesus commands us to exchange positions with our neighbor and do for him in his position what we would have him do for us in ours. And, to our surprise, we have discovered what Jesus would have done in our case. But we arrived at this conclusion, not by supposition of what He might have done, but by application of His Rule which determines what we should do.

This handy little rule is not a mere ethical device which happily resolves all social problems, for later Jesus reveals that we will be judged on this rule alone. (Cf. Matthew 25:31-45; cf. John 5:29; Romans 2:6-11; James 1:22-27; James 2:14-17; 1 John 5:14-17)

FACT QUESTIONS

1.

What is the connection of the Golden Rule to the general contextual topic -of judging one's neighbor, be he afflicted with a mote in the eye, or be he a dog or a swine, or a false prophet, or a self-deceived disciple?

2.

What is the connection of the Golden Rule with the larger context of the entire Sermon on the Mount?

3.

In what connection does Luke bring up the Golden Rule? How does this application of it in that way help us to understand its meaning and application, even as introduced by Matthew?

4.

Is the Golden Rule unique to Christianity as an ethical rule of conduct? What parallels to it are there in other ethical systems or religions?

5.

Are there any significant differences between the Golden Rule, as Jesus stated it, and the parallels seen in these other systems? If so, of what importance are these differences?

6.

In what sense is the Golden Rule the Law and the prophets? What is meant by the phrase the Law and the prophets?

7.

Cite other NT teaching which further illustrates or amplifies Jesus-' rule of conduct given in the Golden Rule.