All the rules. All the warnings. All the cautionary tales. All the words. Everything that his audience had been learning since birth, Jesus said, could be summed up in one phrase. We call it the golden rule. We make it a wall plaque. We teach it to little children to train them to share.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

This is a summary sentence, not just of the Law and the Prophets, but of everything Jesus has been saying for the past three chapters.

You really don’t want people to hate you, right? (murder). You really don’t want people to pick out one thing about you and desire that thing rather than you, do you? (lust). You really don’t want people taking your clothing or making you serve them.

What you want is to be loved. What you want is to be respected. What you want is be a person, to matter. And when we don’t want those things, it is often because they have been, one way or another, beaten from our souls.

And, Jesus says, “That standard? Use it.”

But there is something missing from this sentence. We think that it needs a little incentive clause: “and they will treat you the same”. Because we want to know that if we respect, we’ll be respected. If we love, we will be loved. If we listen, we will be listened to.

That clause isn’t here. Because Jesus doesn’t make any claims about what they will do if we do this. He doesn’t offer any manipulation principles. He just invites obedience.

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From Learning a new routine. Reading the Sermon on the Mount a little bit at a time