Sermon on the Mount - The Golden Rule

(Matthew 7:12)

By Mary Jane Chaignot

Categories: Sermon on the Mount

Jesus has been encouraging his disciples to trust in the love of the Father.
Then he gives them what has become known as the Golden Rule.
He says: “So therefore, in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.…”
It begins with “So therefore,” a summary statement.
Many scholars see this as a reference to the previous sentence. God gives freely; treat others freely.
Many cultures have similar sayings.
Confucius (ca. 551-479 BCE) says, “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Isocrates (ca. 436–338 BCE) quotes his king, “Do not do to others the things which make you angry when you experience them at the hands of other people.”
Epictetus (ca. 55-135 CE), a stoic Greek philosopher, states, “What you avoid in suffering, do not inflict on another.”
Leviticus 19:18 states: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
An apocryphal book, Tobit, states: “Do to no one what you yourself dislike.”
Legend has it that a Gentile approached Rabbi Hillel (ca 110-10 BCE) and demanded to be taught the whole of the Torah while he stood on one leg.
The rabbi responded with, “Whatever is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole of Torah.” He added, “The rest is commentary. Go learn.”
This phrase is not found, per se, in the Old Testament, but is commonly referred to as the Jewish version.
Many scholars have pointed out that Jesus’ account is positive, while others are negative.
Surely, the intent is the same.
In reality, however, the negative form only requires not doing bad things to someone else.
A person might fulfill this saying by doing nothing with anyone. In that sense, a person isn’t hurting anyone, but not helping either.
So he/she would be “good” by not doing anything.
The positive form, which Jesus iterates, requires more.
It states that one should do good, go out of his/her way to be helpful.
It isn’t enough to avoid harming someone; disciples have to actively engage and help others.
Do unto others what “you” would have them do unto to you.
That “you” is again emphatic.
It stresses the challenge of discipleship. Everything that is given by God is to be done for others.
How are we going to do this? We have to enter the other person’s shoes.
We have to decide from that viewpoint, a Christian viewpoint, what we would want there, and then do it.
Everything is rooted in God’s love for us and our response is to “pay it forward” to others.
If this would be the core value for everyone, evil would be dismantled.
People wouldn’t have to wonder about what to do, seek the counsel of others, use the courts, or be frozen in fear.
They generally know how they want to be treated in any given situation.
That knowledge tells them what they should be doing for someone else.
The possibilities are deceptively overwhelming.
The only question to be answered is “How do I want to be treated?”
Experts don’t need to be consulted; appointments don’t have to be set up.
The Golden Rule is the core of ethical behavior and it, essentially, requires service to others.
This can only be done because the disciple loves God above all else.
Jesus concludes his stunning statement by adding “for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
The “Law and the Prophets” is another reference to the whole of Scripture.
Again, there is some discussion as to the word, “this.”
Is he referring to the Sermon as a whole, or this single sentence?
Either way, it is a dramatic statement.
He could be saying that this Sermon sums up the Law and the Prophets. Think of it! This sermon is the summation of Scripture. What an incredible claim!
On the other hand, perhaps he is saying that this one sentence is all you need to know to fulfill the demands of Scripture!
Either way, this in no way means that Matthew intends to nullify the rest of Scripture. Rather, he is pointing out that everything is based on this one premise.
If you can implement the Golden Rule, the rest of Scripture will fall into place.
Disciples will know what to do; disciples will trust in God’s love.
Furthermore, the repetition of “the Law and the Prophets” provides another example of a much larger inclusio, that literary framework, which repeats the same phrase at the beginning and again at the end of a section.
At 5:17 he states, “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
His initial goal for the Sermon was to “fulfill” the Law and the Prophets, now he is “summarizing” them.
Now if the Sermon really stopped here, it would be perfect. We would all have arrived at this point, challenged but encouraged.
However, this is not the end.
The Sermon keeps on going. Just as the blessings and the call to witness stood as a prologue to the sermon, a series of warnings will serve as its epilogue.
Jesus begins this sermon with unqualified tenderness; he will end it with unqualified toughness.
This sermon is not an intellectual exercise, a take it or leave it proposition.
It is not one among many options.
It is the exclusive way to life.

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