theophilus on Nostr: Sinclair Ferguson on what we should understand from Jesus' washing of the disciples' ...
Sinclair Ferguson on what we should understand from Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet:
People often equate being a Christian with "living by the Golden Rule." Jesus did in fact, teach a positive version of it: "As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them" (Luke 6:31). We should love our neighbors as ourselves. But Jesus is not giving us a lecture on ethics here. His Golden Rule is not a piece of moral advice disconnected from himself. It is modeled by him, and the power to follow it is found only in him.
[...]
So, the issue for me as a Christian is not: "How would I like them to treat me? Then I should try to do the same for them." Instead it is: "How has the Lord Jesus treated me? Then that is the model for the way I will treat others. With his help, I will display the same grace he has shown to me!"
{Ferguson, Lessons from the Upper Room, 24-25}
People often equate being a Christian with "living by the Golden Rule." Jesus did in fact, teach a positive version of it: "As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them" (Luke 6:31). We should love our neighbors as ourselves. But Jesus is not giving us a lecture on ethics here. His Golden Rule is not a piece of moral advice disconnected from himself. It is modeled by him, and the power to follow it is found only in him.
[...]
So, the issue for me as a Christian is not: "How would I like them to treat me? Then I should try to do the same for them." Instead it is: "How has the Lord Jesus treated me? Then that is the model for the way I will treat others. With his help, I will display the same grace he has shown to me!"
{Ferguson, Lessons from the Upper Room, 24-25}