This week, we will look at the first lessons Jesus taught his disciples after they had chosen to follow him. You and I have chosen to follow Jesus, right? Well, he has a few lessons for us!
Now, picture the setting. Jesus had gone up on top of a mountain and prayed all night. At daybreak, he called together his followers and chose 12 of them to be his personal students to work with him. Now, Jesus and his disciples come down from the mountain where there is a massive crowd waiting. This crowd hadn’t gathered to know the truth about Jesus, they had gathered to get their own miracle.
The news of Jesus’ healing power had spread and they had traveled long distances to seek healing. But if you were sick, wouldn’t you do the same? Wouldn’t you take your baby? Wouldn’t you bring your mama? Wouldn’t you call up your BFF who has been suffering? Wouldn’t you seek this man Jesus for his mysterious healing powers?
Jesus wanted to do more than offer healing for their bodies, he wanted to heal their souls. And to do that, he would teach them a few important lessons. This was a big moment for Jesus. This massive crowd is gathered, what would he say to them?
You can read Jesus’ teaching to the crowd in Luke 6: 20-49. For today, we will focus on verse 31. “Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”
Jesus isn’t telling them to do something mysterious or incredibly hard. He’s telling them to simply think about what they would want others to do for them, then go do it for others on purpose. So simple. There’s really no twisted confusion in this because you know yourself. You know how you wish others would treat you. You know what would make you feel included, loved and important … so do that for others.
You’ve heard this teaching before. It was given a clever name that you likely know. It’s the Golden Rule. Golden because of it’s tremendous value. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Yeah, Jesus said that.
When Jesus taught this lesson to the large crowd gathered to seek his healing powers, they had likely heard it before. In fact, this teaching had been around for thousands of years before Jesus, but with a slight difference. These people had grown up hearing the teaching, “That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another.” Another version of the teaching they had grown up hearing was, “What is hateful to you, don’t do to anyone else.”
Valuable indeed. But do you notice what’s different about Jesus’ teaching? Jesus turns a negative statement into a positive. Instead of focusing on what you hate to be done to you, he focuses on what you would like them to do to you. And with this slight change from negative to positive, Jesus teaches us to go beyond the old rules of don’t treat people bad, but actually treat them good.
There’s a difference. I can easily not treat you bad. I can just walk on by, I can not engage, I can look the other way. But in order to treat you good, I must engage. It takes intentional effort to do good to you. And Jesus says, “Yes, make the effort to do good!”
We can’t walk around just trying to not do harm to anyone … Jesus wants us to do good to everyone.
So simple, so valuable, but radically different than what we have been doing.
Jesus says to the crowd in verses 27 & 28, “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
Now think about that for a minute. How hard is that for you to do? Honestly, that’s really hard for me. Yet, I can’t ignore how clear Jesus is making it. Jesus is showing us how he loves and he’s calling us to love like him.
Did Jesus love his enemies? Yes, he knew Judas would betray him, yet he washed his feet with love moments before his known betrayal.
Did Jesus bless those who cursed him? Understand cursing means to wish harm and blessing means to wish well. Absolutely Jesus wanted good things for those who did nothing but wish him harm. He willingly died for them.
Did Jesus pray for those who hurt him? Yes, remember when he’s hanging on the cross and he looks out at the crowd cheering for his crucifixion along with the ones who had put the nails in his hands and he said, “forgive them Father, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Now Jesus says, love like me. How? Read it again, Luke 6: 25-26, “Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”
- Do good to them.
- Wish them well.
- Pray for them.
Yes, to your enemies. Why? Because this is the pattern of Jesus’ love and you and I are called to love like him.
Who is it that has been against you? Who has been making your life so darn hard? Who is it that has talked bad about you, done you harm, and hurt your heart? Go ahead and get a picture of that person in your head right now.
Jesus is telling you how to handle this. And while it’s simple, it’s not going to make a whole lot of sense. You’re not going to feel like doing this, but God’s girls don’t wait for warm fuzzy feelings to take action. We respond in obedience to the Spirit of God prompting us. And oh yes, he’s prompting.
Live by the Golden Rule, but not the world’s golden rule, Jesus’ Golden Rule. Jesus says go beyond not doing anything bad, and step into intentionally doing good. Do it on purpose. Set your mind to it. Decide right now you will do what Jesus is saying so clearly.
Do good to them. Wish them well. Pray for them.
You, with your own power, may really struggle to do that. But here’s the good news, as God’s girl, you can love like other’s can’t because you have what they don’t. You have the power of God within you. And that power enables you to love like Jesus. That power reminds you that God is indeed working all things together for your good and he is taking every ounce of intended harm and using it for something unbelievably good in your future. Remember that, and your love is unchained.
One of my closest friends had gone through a nasty divorce, and although I only had one side of the story, it certainly sounded like he was a world class jackwagon. And this friend of mine who had been deeply hurt by the intentional negative actions of her ex-husband, made a commitment to pray for him daily. Every day, she would bring his name to the throne of God and ask blessings for him. Every day for a full year.
I’ve never been through a divorce and I’ve never been hurt by someone like that, so I can’t even imagine how hard that was. But she kept praying through the hard. Why? Because it’s what Jesus told her to do. Miraculous things happened as a result. No, he didn’t change, but she healed. She no longer needed him to change. She was filled with peace and truth and strength, and her happiness was no longer his to play with.
If I were being a world-class jackwagon, gosh, I hope someone would pray for me. GOLDEN RULE. Do it for them.
If you’re really struggling with this, God gave me a simple first step to share with you. Try this … For those who are cursing you and saying bad things about you, you start speaking well of them.
Start there. There’s something good about them, right? There was at one time something they did right. Maybe you will have to dig deep, so get your shovel and dig until you find something good … then talk about that.
Why? Because Jesus says bless those who curse you. It’s not my rule, it’s his.
Jesus knows the words you speak have power over your life. If you’re speaking negatively about the person who is talking bad about you, you’re just wallowing in the curse. You’re spreading it. Don’t spread it, stop it.
Why do you have to be the one to stop it? Because you’re the one who has the power of God in them that enables you to love in a way they can’t. You can love like Jesus.
When you do this, Jesus says in verse 35, “Your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.”
There’s a reward for you when you follow Jesus’ Golden Rule. That Golden Rule doesn’t just say don’t be hateful and don’t do harm, but it says do good to them, wish them well, and pray for them.
What would Jesus do? He would love them, on purpose, intentionally, even when they didn’t deserve it. Now, do what Jesus would do today.
Jesus for sure wouldn’t be hateful. He would love, and he’s given you the power to love like him.
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