Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. Today’s Gospel passage is a collection of three sayings that, although appearing to be unrelated, were intended by Jesus for our ears. While the golden rule (doing to others what you would have them do to you) does appear quite straightforward and easy to understand, Jesus’ might have intended it to be understood anew in the context of his teaching (in the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus uses the golden rule in his teaching on the love of enemies). Jesus was aware that the majority of his audience were familiar with the golden rule or some form of its variance. He was also aware that those in the audience, whether of Jewish or Gentile background, had no difficulty in applying the golden rule. Since the law allowed for loving one’s kin while “hating” those perceived as enemies (cf. Matthew 5:43), applying the golden rule posed no challenge at all. Jews loved fellow Jews and Gentiles loved fellow Gentiles. But this is not how Jesus wanted the golden rule to be applied or understood.
In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus invokes the golden rule in his teaching on the love of enemies. The kingdom of God which he had come to usher in could be said to be fully inaugurated only when love had conquered the world. But it cannot be said that love has conquered the world if the law still provides room for hate. Jesus wanted the love that was expected to be shown to one’s kin to be extended to everybody. There was no room for hate or for enmity in the kingdom whose good news he was proclaiming.