Read: Matthew 7

The seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew reads like it is coming straight out of the Book of Proverbs. There are several short, pithy statements that center around wisdom and discernment, yet, unlike how a chapter in Proverbs has a series of verses without any direct relationship to each other, the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount has a central theme with a profound exhortation.

THE GOLDEN RULE

At the center of this text is the Golden Rule, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This is the second commandment, but why did Jesus leave out the first commandment? That will become clear as we work through the broader text.

During Jesus' final week, the Pharisees sent a lawyer in an attempt to trap Jesus by asking Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” To this, Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:34-40). 

Jesus also references this commandment in another encounter with a rich young man, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus tells him to keep the commandments, but when the young man asks, “Which ones?” Jesus only references the commandments that pertain to his interpersonal relationships: “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” When the young man responds that he has faithfully obeyed these commandments, but still feels like something is lacking, Jesus offers further instruction, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:16-22ff). 

Notice the pattern here. After asking him to give himself a grade on keeping the second commandment, He then presses on what is at the heart of the first commandment: Loving God with all our heart, because, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). This reveals a grave misunderstanding of the order of priorities in the Law. The rich young man only thought he was perfect in keeping the second commandment because he had not rightly discerned the first commandment. 

THE GOSPEL RULE

The Golden Rule is a direct parallel with how this chapter opens, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2). The sentiment of this text expounds on the idea of treating others the way that we want to be treated by adding to it, how we want to be treated by God. 

This point is directly responding to the only line in the Lord’s Prayer in which Jesus gives specific commentary. He says, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” And then, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:12, 14-15). 

Often when we think of the Golden Rule, our reference is in showing kindness in the manner that we feel appreciated. This can get a bit messy when one person would rather be left alone and another would prefer the company of others. Something done with good intentions, then, can be received as an offense simply based on preference. But what Jesus is communicating in the broader context here is that the Golden Rule actually pertains to how we approach judgment and forgiveness. 

This is what I like to call the Gospel Rule: We are to love others as Christ has loved us, and therefore we ought to forgive others as we have been forgiven by God. This is where we acknowledge that we cannot satisfy the requirements of the second commandment without fully understanding the first commandment: To love God with all of our heart. How can we judge others when our judgement has been suspended by Christ? 

Jesus expounds on this in greater detail in Matthew 18 where He talks about how we should approach a fellow believer who has sinned against us, and how many times we should be willing to forgive an offense. He then launches into a parable to illustrate this point. 

A servant who owed a great debt to his master was forgiven and absolved of his obligation. However, the pardoned man went to a fellow servant who owed him a lesser amount of money and showed him no mercy. He threw him into prison until the debt could be paid. This infuriated the master who in turn punished his servant. To this, Jesus offers a concluding remark, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:23-35). 

We need to recognize that whenever we sin, God is always the most offended party. We have offended God far more than anyone could possibly offend us. If we cannot forgive others, then we clearly do not understand how much we have been forgiven by God. Therefore, we must live by the Gospel Rule and treat others by the standard by which God has treated us. 

A GLARING WARNING

Throughout the Gospel of Matthew the Pharisees are portrayed as being incapable of seeing their need for forgiveness. John the Baptist called them a brood of vipers who lacked the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:7-8). They were self-righteous and thought they were without fault concerning the Law, yet Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Jesus would go on to explain that keeping the Law is not about external obedience but a matter of the heart. On that standard, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. 

The Pharisees practiced their righteousness to be seen by men, and thus they had missed out on their eternal reward (Matthew 6:1). They were false prophets, wolves in sheeps clothing, their fruit was rotten, and even though they performed good deeds in the name of the LORD, Jesus disowned them and called them workers of lawlessness (Matthew 7:15-23). Jesus would later go on to expound on all of His grievances against the Pharisees, “...They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger…” (Matthew 23:4). 

Jesus warns us about the false teachers so that we would recognize how easy it is to fall into a pattern of self-righteousness. A true Christian denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Jesus (Matthew 16:24), they wrestle with the beam in their own eye and treat others with the gentleness, grace, mercy, and love that Christ has demonstrated towards them (Matthew 7:3-5), they don’t get entangled in pointless arguments by throwing their pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6), they ask, seek, and knock to determine the will of God so that they would remain on the narrow path that leads to righteousness (Matthew 7:7-11, 13-14), and they anchor themselves on the foundation of Christ and His righteousness so that they are not tossed around or beaten down by the storms of life (Matthew 7:24-27). 

At the very least, we ought to consider the Golden Rule and treat others the way that we want to be treated. But as Christians, we need to go even further and practice the Gospel Rule where we love others as we have been loved by Christ. However, we should consider Christ’s warning, and our gentleness and graciousness to others should not leave us vulnerable to the manipulation of false teachers.

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