In a famous Jewish story a pagan came to the well known Jewish Rabbi Shammai and said he would convert to Judaism if the Rabbi could teach him everything that was in the Torah while standing on one leg. Angered Rabbi Shammai sent him away without answering his question. But when the pagan came to Rabbi Hillel he simply said:
That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”
Does that sound familiar? Jesus said something similar when He said in Matthew 7:12
“do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
But while this statement is similar there is a difference. What is that difference?
Jesus states His summary of the law in a positive while Hillel stated it in a negative. We call Jesus’ statement the golden rule while we call Hillel’s statement the silver rule. It is always better to do something for others than it is to avoid doing something to someone.
In Hillel’s rule you would avoid saying something hurtful while in Christ’s rule you would intentionally say something kind. Jesus didn’t just want us to avoid hurting others, He wanted us to intentionally love others. Jesus took a well known saying in His day and turned it around. For this reason and many others the Jewish people said about Jesus:
Never man spake like this man...John 7:46
And...
And...
....and they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. Mark 1:22
The words of Jesus are truly amazing. I would encourage you to go back and study Jesus words. Start with the sermon on the mount and really study His words because no one has ever spoken like Jesus. No one.
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