Holy Boldness

The true mark of genius is when someone simplifies profound truths and observations so that anyone can understand them. Jesus made truth accessible to all. That is why He would repeatedly say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29 etc.) The truth was (and is) not out of reach of anyone eager to learn. But the religious and the proud were too busy being offended by Him to actually hear what He was saying. When Jesus was “ fulfilling the law and the prophets” He was unveiling the essence of the laws, simplifying and condensing them into their most basic elements. And yet often, Jesus’ teaching was so simple that it alluded the understanding of the wise and intelligent but made itself very plain and evident to those with a child-like heart. It has been rightly observed that Jesus was not the first person to say something similar to the Golden Rule . Other notable spiritual leaders have said similar things. But until Jesus, such wise encouragement received little notice from most people. But Jesus caused the golden rule, treating others the way you want to be treated , to become a true and universal standard of righteousness for He lived out and demonstrated what He taught and He expected His disciples to do the same. There was no ambiguity in Him. Never has anyone so epitomized the essence of the Golden Rule like Jesus. He bore in His person and all his interactions the intrinsic nature and indispensable quality of the ideal He declared. That is why the Golden rule is attributed to Jesus! No one ever “said it” like He did because He spoke it as one having authority. In Him, “…the word became flesh.” (John 1:14)

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