Matthew 7:7-12
Chapter 7
7
Perseverance in Prayer
Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.8
For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9
Would any of you give a stone to your son when he asks for bread?
10
Or give him a snake when he asks for a fish?
11
No matter how flawed you are, you know how to give good things to your children. So, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12
The Golden Rule
So, do to others whatever you would want them to do to you: there you have the law and the prophets.
Commentaries
Perseverance in Prayer – The Golden Rule.
At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ disciple-listener might feel overwhelmed by the radical challenges posed by the kingdom of God, challenges that seem utopian, bordering on the absurd, and beyond our human ability to understand and accomplish.
The “golden rule” (12) is not a new concept; it appears in the ethical codes of all religions and cultures in some form. What is new is the radically different perspective from which it is now presented: the presence of the kingdom of God among us, which changes our behavior toward each other and unleashes a love that knows no limits.