Sermon on the Mount: The law, the prophets and Jesus’ teachings

(One Perfect Life Chapters 54-55) The final portion of the sermon on the Mount can be summarized by “the Golden Rule:” In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12).

This passage is often misunderstood. It is not saying that we determine by our human judgement how to act towards others and in turn how we want them to treat us. The Bible warns us against doing what is right in our own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:8). It tells us that “Every person’s way is right in his own eyes, But Yehovah examines the hearts (Proverbs 21:2). It warns us that “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 12:15).

The way we are to treat others and the way we should want to be treated IS the Law and the prophets. The Greek word used for the verb “is” means, “the same as.” The commandments of the Law and the teachings of the Prophets should be our guide to how we should treat others. Can you think of a better source to define how you want others to treat you?

Jesus applies this principle to judging others. We are allowed to judge behavior – are our action and the actions of others in keeping with the Law and the Prophets? We are not permitted to judge their spiritual condition. This is why He contrasts the speck in our neighbor’s eye with the plank in ours. We tend to minimize the sin in our lives and magnify the sin in the lives of others. James 2:10 instructs us that, “whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” God does not grade on a curve.

The sermon ends with Jesus’ call to us to keep His teachings in the same way we are to keep the Law and the Prophets. His teachings are the firm foundation that will firmly establish us in this life and prepare us for eternity with Him. His teachings define the “narrow gate” that we must pass through to reach our reward in heaven. Again the alternative is to follow false teachings – what is right in the eyes of man. False teachers are likened to wolves and bad trees that bring forth bad fruit.

If we do not keep the teachings of Jesus, He will not acknowledge when we come to heaven’s gate. While we may proclaim to have known His and to have acted on His behalf, He will deny knowing us if we have not kept His teachings.

Just as John the Baptist called on his disciples to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8), Jesus calls on us to bring forth good fruit by following His teachings. By following the Law, the Prophets and the teachings of Jesus we will “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Being like the Father by following the example of the Son is our goal.