The Golden Rule
In A Nutshell • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-36
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-36
According to tradition:
The Emperor of Rome from 222 to 235 AD, Alexander Severus…
Was extremely impressed with one of the teachings of Jesus…
Even though he himself was not a Christian
He was so impressed that he decided…
To have it inscribed in gold on the wall of his chamber
Some believe this is why we still call this teaching:
“The Golden Rule”
12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
More likely though, it was first considered the Golden Rule…
By Christians in the 1600s…
Because, like gold…
It was considered the greatest & most valuable teaching of Jesus
David & I are co-preaching a series titled:
“In A Nutshell”
“In A Nutshell”
In this series, we are looking at passages of Scripture…
That seem to sum it all up
The Golden Rule is our Nutshell passage…
That we will be studying today
The Golden Rule is the final ethical teaching of Jesus…
In the Sermon on the Mount
It is the climax of all the teachings
And, as the NLT puts it:
12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
Or as the NIV puts it:
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Or, to go along with our series:
“This is the Law & the Prophets in a Nutshell”
The Golden Rule captures the heart…
Of everything the OT teaches about how to live
God’s standard of living for His people has always been:
“Treat others the way you want to be treated”
“Do to others what you would want them to do to you”
Rabbi Hillel (75 BC - 10 AD) was once approached by a Gentile with a challenge:
“Teach me the whole law while standing on one leg.”
Rabbi Hillel Said:
“Whatever you do not want someone to do to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Law; the rest of it is just explanation”
Hillel & Jesus were on the same page
The Golden Rule sums up the whole Law…
And all the rest is just commentary/expounding upon it
To obey God & live the way He wants us to live…
We must simply treat others the way we want to be treated
Doing this will cover every aspect of life
We’ll zoom in a little bit & get more specific in a minute
But first, let’s take a closer look at Matthew 7:12:
12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
When you see the word “therefore”…
Ask yourself what it’s there for
It’s always pointing us back to the previous context…
And connecting our present text with that context
So, to gain a deeper understanding of this text…
We need to understand what Jesus was previously talking about
In verses 7 & 8, Jesus was telling us to:
Ask, seek, & knock…
And God will not leave us empty-handed
Then in verses 9-11, He gives a parable-like analogy…
Of a father knowing how to give good gifts to his son
His point:
11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Jesus is making a point about God’s goodness
Because our Father is loving, gracious, and compassionate…
He provides for His children when they ask
“Therefore” we are to be like our Father
We are to turn around & do the same to others:
Be loving, gracious, and compassionate
Treat others the way we want to be treated
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
In all situations, we are to be like our Father
Toward all people, we are to be like our Father
In everything, we are to be like our Father
The Sermon on the Mount isn’t the only place the Golden Rule is found
It’s also found in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s account
In the immediate context of the Golden Rule in this sermon…
Jesus goes into much greater detail…
On what it looks like to treat others the way you want to be treated
Ultimately, it all points back to being like our Father:
36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
But the specifics on what that looks like…
Are worth taking a look at
In Luke’s Sermon on the Plain…
The golden rule is found within the context…
Of how we ought to treat our enemies
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 “Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Including the Golden Rule…
There are 8 different imperatives (commands) in this passage:
“Love” (Repeated in verse 35)
“Do Good” (Repeated in verse 35)
“Bless”
“Pray”
“Offer”
“Give” and “Do Not Demand Back” (Repeated in verse 35)
“Treat”
“Be Merciful”
I believe when we look at these imperative commands…
We see a detailed example of what it looks like to:
Treat others the way we want to be treated
To treat others the way you want to be treated looks like:
Loving Them
This comes back to the Second Great Command:
To love others as we love ourselves
This is where it all must begin
If you don’t love others:
Truly desire what is best for them…
Then the rest of this list is impossible
I want others to love me & desire what is best for me…
So I should do the same for them
And what goes hand in hand with loving others is:
Doing Good for Them
This is where true love for others will always lead
Doing good is not a specific action
It will look different depending on the situation
But the idea is simple:
What does this person need in this moment?
How can I help meet that need?
I want others to do good for me…
So I should do the same for them
Bless Them
The idea here is to praise/speak well of them
How much of our time is spent tearing the reputation of others down…
Compared to how much is spent building their reputation up?
It’s easy to speak ill of others
And let’s face it…
We are all way too good at it
But in order to follow & obey Jesus…
We’ve got to reverse that
Let’s stop tearing down & let’s start building up
I want others to bless, praise, & speak well of me…
So I should do the same for them
Pray for Them
One of the most wonderful & beautiful thing a person can do for another…
Is to pray that God would bless them
One person going to the King on behalf of another
That’s love, humility, & compassion
I want others to pray for me…
So I should do the same for them
I’m going to combine 5 & 6 on this next one:
Offer to Them
Give to Them, & Do Not Demand Back
There is some more nuance to these in our text…
But I think they are connected enough in principle
The worldly mindset offers & gives…
But it always demands back
Followers of Jesus are not to be that way
We are not to seek retaliation or recompense
We are to offer without expecting an offer in return
We are to give without expecting anything given back
We are to sacrifice & lose for the betterment of another
I want others to offer & give to me without expecting anything in return…
So I should do the same for them
Be Merciful to Them
Jesus tells us of our Father’s character
He loves, does good, and gives generously…
Even to those who are ungrateful & evil
Then He tells us to be just like our Father
And though we didn’t read it…
He then goes on in verse 37 to say:
“Do not judge or condemn”
Instead, “Pardon/set free/forgive”
I recognize my weaknesses, shortcomings, & faults
And I can only hope that others will be merciful to me…
And not judge or condemn me…
But instead, pardon & forgive me
So I should do the same for others
This is what it looks like to treat others the way we want to be treated
These are some of Jesus’ most difficult commands & expectations
The commands themselves aren’t necessarily hard to obey
It isn’t hard to love those who love me back
It isn’t hard to do good to those who do good to me
It isn’t hard to bless (speak well of) those who bless me
It isn’t hard to pray for those who pray for me
It isn’t hard to offer my cheek to those who would never strike me
It isn’t hard to give & expect nothing in return from those who do the same to me
It isn’t hard to treat others the way I want to be treated when they do the same to me
It isn’t hard to be merciful to those who are merciful to me
But those aren’t the people Jesus is talking about
He’s talking about the very opposite type of people
Jesus is commanding us to do all of these things to our enemies
Do all these things to those who won’t return the favor
The Golden Rule is about treating others the way we want them to treat us
It says nothing about the favor being returned…
Or our obedience being contingent on the favor being returned
We are to treat others the way we want to be treated…
Regardless of what they have previously done to us…
And regardless of what they will do afterward
We are to be like our Father:
Loving
Compassionate
Merciful
We are to treat others the way we want to be treated. Period
Let’s Pray for God to Help Us Do Exactly That
