THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
God and Neighbour, Mt 7,1-12
If the theme of the second part of chapter 6, 6,19-35, was about priorities and earthly wealth, here in 7,1-12 the theme is more about relating to the neighbour.
The theme of not judging in 7,1-5 is found in both the letter of James and the letter to the Romans. It is also typical of the attitude of the book of Proverbs - "a soft word turns away wrath..." (Prov 15,1). Judging ultimately belongs to God, verse 2.
In Leviticus, (Lev 19) the neighbour would be a fellow Israelite whereas for Jesus the neighbour is everybody.
The way Nathan got David to indict himself for his adultery with Bathsheeba (2 Sam 12,1-5) would be a good example of the failure to see the plank in the saying of verses 4 and 5.
Verse 6 is a contrast to this because it is so harsh. Even soft words have their limits in persuasion.
The next teaching, 7,7-11, is similar to that of 6,25-34 because both stress our dependency on God (6,32 and 7,11)
The Golden Rule, 7,12, forms a conclusion. Curiously, many translations (NABRE,NRSV) omit "therefore". This link however confirms the place of the Golden Rule as concluding the second part of the Sermon on the Mount.
The Golden Rule itself exists in many different forms, both positive and negative.
Jesus makes the saying more specific to his teaching by adding "This is the Law and the Prophets". The effect of this as we have seen is to form a bracket between 5,17 and 7,12.
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