Can you envision a world where only good is done to other people? Can you imagine what Earth would look like if God’s will was done on Earth like it’s being done in Heaven?
The next statement by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount challenges us to fulfill the central purpose of God and to bring about the vision of a world where good is the only thing that people encounter in life.
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7.12).
This statement is both a summary of Jesus’ ethical teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and what is taught by the Old Testament instruction (the law).
You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:18).
Paul emphasizes this truth.
Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13.8 and 10).
James highly recommends self-giving love and calls it the “royal law.”
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well” (James 2.8).
How?
Major world religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all share a core principle: treating others as we’d wish to be treated. The tragedy lies in the gap between this ideal and reality.
Christians fight Christians in Ukraine, Jews and Muslims clash in the Middle East, and American Christians struggle with deep political divisions.
We acknowledge the truth of Jesus’s teaching, yet struggle to put it into practice. How can we bridge this gap?
If we read the next section not as an independent, stand-alone saying, but as part of Jesus’ message, it may help us understand how we can fulfill the royal law of love.
Jesus tells us it’s not easy and to paraphrase Frank Laubach, it’s the hardest thing I do, but it makes everything else easier.
“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.
“For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7.13-14).
Dallas Willard states that the road of discipleship is difficult, but he goes on to say that the pathway of non-discipleship is even harder.
I think he’s right. The narrow gate and the narrow path lead to life, whereas the broad gate and the broad path lead to destruction.
Consider the narrow gate as denying ourselves and pursuing love with all people, as opposed to serving ourselves and only being interested in people insofar as they can help us.
One leads to life and the other leads to misery.
The most difficult choice we may make is the one of self-giving love, where we always consider how we can benefit other people like we would like to be benefited ourselves.
While we do this, we are not alone in the effort. God promises that the Holy Spirit will give us the power we need to fulfill what is His revealed will.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 