The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)

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Yomelijah

3 min readMay 18, 2022

“All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them; this, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean” (Matthew 7:12).
Jesus Christ states the commandment that upholds all of the Law and the Prophets, that is the royal law of love because he repeats the same expression in conclusion: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.”” (Matthew 22: 36–40; James 2:8).
Still on the same theme of love of neighbour, he was asked the question about what the word “neighbor” actually means. Jesus Christ gave by an illustration to give the definition: “But, wanting to prove himself righteous, the man said to Jesus: “Who really is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jerʹi·cho and fell among robbers, who both stripped him and inflicted blows, and went off, leaving him half-dead. Now, by coincidence, a certain priest was going down over that road, but, when he saw him, he went by on the opposite side. Likewise, a Levite also, when he got down to the place and saw him, went by on the opposite side. But a certain Sa·marʹi·tan traveling the road came upon him and, at seeing him, he was moved with pity. So he approached him and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine upon them. Then he mounted him upon his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two de·narʹi·i, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend besides this, I will repay you when I come back here.’ Who of these three seems to you to have made himself neighbor to the man that fell among the robbers?” He said: “The one that acted mercifully toward him.” Jesus then said to him: “Go your way and be doing the same yourself.”” (Luke 10:29–37).
Thus, as Jesus Christ pointed out, the golden rule must apply indiscriminately to all the humans, including also our enemies according to what is written in Matthew 5:43–48.

The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)

Written by Yomelijah Yomelijah