The most celebrated social teaching of both Judaism and Christianity—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—is sometimes referred to as ‘The Golden Rule’. But this can be confusing, because many religions and philosophies have a concept of reciprocity, returning kindness to others, two-way relationships and thinking beyond oneself. In fact, all communities depend on such a concept, be they families, churches, sports clubs or orchestras.

The ancient Greeks taught that you shouldn’t do ill to your neighbour. Confucius taught that we should not impose burdens on others that we ourselves wouldn’t carry. But Jesus took things further.

The Christian command—the one that Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:12 and elsewhere, and is picked up in many other places in the New Testament—makes more demands than any other faith. Jesus and the apostles stretch the ‘love thy neighbour’ command in a number of challenging directions: we are to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek when confronted, to give people the coats off our backs, to consider others better than ourselves, to treat inferiors as superiors. Husbands are even to lay down their lives for their wives: how rarely is that lived out in contemporary married life? Usually the reverse is the case.

Australians in general seem to like the Golden Rule. Being “roughly Christian”, we “scratch the other cheek”, according to our great poet, Les Murray. However, we also have a tendency to twist Jesus’ difficult command into a less demanding shape.

For example, Tim Wilson, Australia’s new Human Rights Commissioner has a unique spin on the Golden Rule, which he uses in his Twitter bio: “Receive people as they treat me”. Without casting aspersions on Mr Wilson, his sounds like the opposite of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ Twitter bio might be, “Receive people as you would have them receive you, even more so”, but Wilson’s approach seems to indicate he would respond to others in the way they treat him. This only works if everyone is on your side!

But Wilson is not alone. I recall seeing a book title in the Australian War Memorial shop in Canberra with the title, Do Unto Others: Counter Bombardment in Australia’s Military Campaigns. Either the author is destined for a career in comedy, or has grasped completely the wrong end of the rifle when it comes to understanding the gist of Jesus’ commandment!

The Battle of Gallipoli

The Golden Rule, Jesus style, is extraordinarily difficult to live. It requires constant attention to the needs of others, resisting the narcissistic urge to see the world through our own eyes first and foremost. It asks of us to think of the very best way we might hope to be treated, and then to file that under “Unimportant and non-urgent” for ourselves, but “Important, urgent and essential” for all of those around us. Let’s not pretend this is an easy request! But it is a holy one.

In short, the Christian idea is not reciprocity, but extravagant self-sacrifice. We are given our role model in Jesus.

Easter is the ultimate expression of the Christian version of the Golden Rule. We recognise this on Anzac Day, by reading the famous verse from the Gospel of John at the ceremony marking the sacrifice made by soldiers for their country. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). This inspiring verse, spoken by Jesus to his disciples before his crucifixion, is perhaps the high-water mark of all religion.

Human beings made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of their friends, family and nation; Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for their sake, and for mine, and for yours. May both Easter and Anzac Day be wonderful commemorations of this enduring truth.