The Golden Rule

Luke 6:27-38


In Greek there are three words for "to love." There is "eran", which describes passionate love, the love between the sexes. There is "philein", which describes our love for our nearest and dearest, the warm affection of the heart. Neither of these two words is used here; the word used here is "agapan", which needs a whole paragraph to translate it.


"Agapan" describes an active feeling of benevolence towards other people; it means that no matter what others do to us we will never allow ourselves to desire anything but their highest good; and we will deliberately and of set purpose go out of our way to be good and kind to them. This is most suggestive. We cannot love our enemies as we love our nearest and dearest. To do so would be unnatural, impossible and even wrong. But we can see to it that, no mater what others do to us, even if they insult, ill-treat and injure us, we will seek nothing but their highest good.


This passage has in it two great facts about the Christian ethic.


The Christian ethic is positive. It does not consist in not doing things but in doing them. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, which bids us do to others as we would have them do to us. That rule exists in many writers of many creeds in its negative form. It is not unduly difficult to keep yourself from such action; but it is a very different thing to go our of your way to do to others what you would want them to do to you. The very essence of Christian conduct is that it consists, not in refraining from bad things, but in actively doing good things.


The Christian ethic is based on the extra thing. Jesus described the common ways of sensible conduct and then dismissed them with the question,"What special grace is in that?" So often people claim to be just as good as their neighbors. Very likely they are. But the question of Jesus is, "How much better are you than the ordinary person?" It is not our neighbor with whom we must compare ourselves; we may well stand that comparison very adequately; it is God with whom we must compare ourselves; and in that comparison we are all in default.


~William Barclay~  - "Daily Devotions"