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Passage: Mt 7:1-6
In Mt 7:1 we learn there was a ban on
judging, but it was pertaining to a prohibition on habitual criticism and
condemnation prejudiced by self-righteousness like the unjust Pharisees who
possessed a proclivity to prejudge people who did not think and act like they
did (We don’t know anyone or group like that do we?). We see the stunning
hypocrisy of the Pharisees in their treatment of Jesus in the four Gospels. The
verb “judge” (Gk, krino) here means to separate, distinguish,
discriminate, determine, discern, and make a decision (judgment) based on the
facts. Common sense would tell the intellectually honest person here that Jesus
in giving this command to “judge not” is not making a pronouncement against
true discernment (cf. Mt 7:6) but against hypocrisy and a condemning spirit.
The tense and mood of the verb
(present imperative with a negative (“not”) means to stop an action that is going
on and to continually, habitually follow this command. Having stopped, this is
to be a continual way of life of not judging others hypocritically. The
principles of Scripture are obviously the standard of what is right or wrong
(not a Jdg 21:25 mindset, man making that determination). The command was to
stop judging hypocritically like the Pharisees. To make it mean more than that
is to say that Jesus commanded us to stop judging rightly (using the truth of
Scripture as the basis for moral and ethical clarity and the pattern in all
matters of faith and practice).
Insisting that Christians stop
judging rightly as a way of life is an absurd proposition. Of course, the
world demands that we quit judging them from that “outdated” Book called the
Bible. There is an intense hatred and resentment for God’s authority intruding
into the life of the lost. This is what all the fuss is about, the intrusion.
We shouldn’t be surprised of being considered an intruder by those outside of
Christ (cf. Jn 15:18); after all, it is spiritual warfare.
The warning against prejudging was
“that you be not judged.” Jesus is saying to stop judging now and continue to
do so to avoid being judged. “Judged” in the latter part of verse one is in the
aorist (tense) passive (voice) subjunctive (mood). Recall the first verb
“judge” was in the present (tense) active (voice) imperative (mood). Ugh,
grammar, right? I know this is a little confusing but necessary in the more
highly controversial and abused passages, and Mt 7:1 fits the bill. Of course, you realize, even if I pleased the grammarians and the contextualists, someone
is going to pull out the “Well, this is your interpretation” card! You be the
judge of that….
The tense of the verb “judged”
signifies that this judgment for failing to stop judging wrongly is not
continuous or habitual (unlike the present tense in Greek) but a once for all
final judgment (Rom 14:10, 12; 2 Cor 5:10). The voice is passive meaning that
the judgment is produced by a source outside of the recipient (the one judging
hypocritically), and the mood is subjective indicating some eventuality –
judged for failing to obey the command. Ultimately, this final
judgment is at the BEMA, but this does not preclude the law of the harvest of
reaping what is sown in the here and now.
What is contained in the subordinate
clause “that you be not judged?”
“For with what
judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will
be measured back to you” (Mt 7:2).
The parallel
passage in Lk 6:37-38 will help to illustrate verse two.
Lk 6:37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged.
Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven.”
Lk 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure,
pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.
For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
We experience the
reap what we sow principle in the here and now. It’s called the law of the harvest.
How we are treated in this life is due in large part to how we treat others.
This is the profoundness of what is known as the golden rule,
“Treat others the same way
you want them to treat you” (Lk 6:31, NASB).
Not all of the
blessings from God are waiting in eternity. God wants to pour out His blessing
on us right now! Disobedience robs us of the blessings of God in the here and
now and in the there and thereafter. We should judge others the same way we want
them to judge us. How we treat others has a boomerang effect. If we judge
others unfairly we will be judged unfairly by others. If we condemn others we
will be condemned by others. If we do not forgive others, we will not be
forgiven by others. If we do not give we can expect zero in return. These are
some examples of wood, hay, and straw works.
Not only is there a law of the harvest on this side of eternity, but on the other side of
eternity as well. If we sow temporal things on earth (things out of the will of
God) those works will not survive the fire of judgment. If we sow eternal
things on earth (things in the will of God) those works will survive for all
eternity. Gold, silver, and precious stones are the rewards for service that glorifies Yahweh on this side of eternity.
With verses 1b-2, we got the warning;
in verses 3-6, we see in the immediate context of Mt 7:1 that “judge not” does not
exclude all judging: Jesus’ accusation of hypocrisy, “Hypocrite,” “first take
and then...take” (v5), and “do not give” and “do not throw” (v6). In the
passage below Jesus illustrates the problem and solution to judging
hypocritically. The problem is in verses 3-4,
Mt 7:3, “And why do
you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in
your own eye?”
Mt 7:4, “Or how can
you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a
plank is in your own eye?”
The problem here is typical of
hypocritical judging; the judger does not see or “consider” (v3), literally
ignoring his own fault but seeing it in others. These types of people are
considered “in-speck-tors.” He sees a piece of sawdust in others but does not
perceive the spiritual condition of his own heart that there is a plank in his
own eye!
Jesus is being
hyperbolic or exaggeratory to press home a point. Personal sin impairs good
judgment. The judge (or the concerned brother) has a 4x4 post (“plank”) in his
eye, and he is evaluating (“look”) the piece of sawdust (“speck”) in another
brother’s eye! The word “speck” could suggest nick-picking or fault-finding. This is a predominant characteristic of self-righteousness – “do not
consider,” a common trait among the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, considering others
but not themselves.
There is a wise
principle found in 1 Cor 11 that if we would judge ourselves, we would not be
judged (1 Cor 11:31; cf. Psa 26:2; 139:23-24). The Pharisees didn’t perceive
themselves as sinners. So this kind of introspection was considered
unnecessary; hence, what flowed from their heart was a hefty portion of
habitual criticism and condemnation. Plank eyes not only fail to judge
themselves, but because of their fault they are unable to truly help others.
The Pharisees, practically synonymous with hypocrisy, had lost their sense of
proportion and majored in the minutiae and minored on the massive. Plank eye
Pharisees were blinded to enormous sins like hypocrisy. They should have dealt
with the plank and then the sawdust, but instead, they only stayed fixated on
the sawdust or the minutiae. They strained a gnat and ignored the camel in so
many things.
It is easy to put anyone under a
microscope and find flaws and faults galore. By putting our own lives under the
microscope, in a healthy kind of way, and looking through the only objective
optics, the Scriptures, we might discover that we may be guilty of some form of
dishonesty, deception, insincerity, phoniness, legalism, dissimulation,
sanctimoniousness, imposture, disingenuous, false profession, et al, at one
time or another. Failure to maintain personal holiness will inevitably lead
down the offensive path of self-righteous judging on one side of the coin and
on the other, a defensive path of “How dare you to judge me!” Don't you just love the tone coming from that rebuke!
Unfortunately, it is much easier to spot hypocrisy in others than to look in the mirror of God’s Word at
ourselves. Have you ever known anybody who only saw others having spiritual
issues other than themselves? I think we have all known at least one person
like that. Put them all together and that is a lot of Pharisees running around!
We have become hypocrisy hunters that have honed fa hurtful and harassing skill
of looking at others through a subjective prism of our own making in order to track
down the faults in others with precision. We tend not to overlook anything less
than perfection, and we don’t apply that same unreasonably high standard to us
(consider the boomerang effect of hypocritical judging).
When we are living
in sin, good judgment is not only impaired but how can we help others
(“remove”) when we are guilty of the same thing or worse? Personal
sin robs us of the ability to help others struggling with sin. If we can’t get
the victory how do we help others to be victorious? There is a spiritual axiom
in living the way, the truth, and the life; if we walk in the Spirit, we will
not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5:16). Now, that is definitely
Christ-like! Well, Jesus is about to get rough from the Mount.
Mt 7:5, “Hypocrite!
First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
Could a God of love do that? Uh,
yeah! It’s called holy indignation. Judging rightly does not come from those
who masquerade. Some people wear multiple hats, but hypocrites wear different
masks, pretending to be someone or something they are not. We don’t want to
overwork this verse, but there has to be recognition of the spiritual problem.
Hypocrites do not consider their own spiritual condition before calling others
out on it. Jesus called this kind of spiritual error “hypocrisy.” Was He too
direct, “un-Christlike!?” Hah! If Jesus was living here in Cleveland today I
suspect that some would probably say “Yes” to that question! If we want to hear Jesus speaking, we desperately
need to get into the Word or listen to a godly believer who will tell us
the truth about us without sugarcoating it.
Notice that verse 5 does not say
since we are all sinners, therefore, it’s hypocritical for a sinner to judge a
sinner. This reminds me of another abused verse of Scripture when Jesus spoke
to the accusers of the woman caught in adultery, “He
who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at
her” (Jn 8:7). This verse is not excusing sin, but condemns those who think
they are innocent because they had never been caught.
Let me put it
another way in this matter of judging. It is a general principle in judging
others. If there is something in our eyes (sin), our vision will be cloudy and
our discernment impaired. We must be certain our eyes “see clearly,” before
attempting “to remove the speck” from another. The best spiritual eyewash is
looking into the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to flush out foreign
matter. We need to always judge with clear eyes (in purity), having the eyes of Christ.
What’s the
objective – removal of sin impacting fellowship and restoration, not merely
pointing the accusative finger! If we are not right with God, our judgment is
compromised, and our ability to see is impaired by the cloudiness of personal
sin, and then, oh, plank eye, the boomerang cometh! <><
PS: We will pick up Mt 7:6 in part 3 and “wrap up” this overview on judging others. I am not ruling out a part 4 when I go to meddling...
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