Matthew 7:1 ( ESV )
· One of the most misquoted passages in all of the Word of God.
· Today’s standard-Don’t judge period. 1. Bible says not to. 2. Be tolerant of everything and everyone. 3. The age of that’s your opinion but I have mine. Relativism. (Certain truths and no other way to believe it. Ex. Theory of gravity.)
· G2919κρίνωkrinōkree'-noProperly to distinguish, that is, decide (mentally or judicially); by implication to try, condemn, punish:—avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think. Strong's concordance
· Reason why he says not to judge in this passage is because you will be judged by God.
· Wait a second though what about the passages that deals with judging? We know that the ultimate judgment of all mankind will be done by God. Rom. 2:16 Judge the secrets of the heart. (Motives, something we cannot do.) II Tim. 4:1 He will judge the quick (Living ones) and the dead II Tim. 4:8 He will judge as the RIGHTEOUS judge.
· Yet, God also has allowed men to act as judges. He established courts and laws by which man would be judged here on earth. (Exodus-Deut.) Romans 13 Laws and rulers over us.
· Paul tells the church @ Corinth to judge the brother who has fallen into sin. I Cor. 5:12, I Cor. 6:1-8 Judge over things in church matters.
· I John 4:1 We are to test (try) the spirits whether they are of God or not. We are to confront our brothers when they are in sin. (This will take an act of Judgment. ) Matthew 18:15-20 (Another verse often badly taken out of context is found in Matthew 18:20) We are called to be fruit inspectors in Matthew 7:15-20.
· So does the Bible contradict itself or is it more than likely that something else is going on in this passage? I believe the answer is found in the context of the following verses. Don’t just take one verse and run with it.
Matthew 7:2 ( ESV )
2For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
· We know one thing from this verse for sure. Whatever type of judgment is going on here God says we will receive the same or like kind of judgment to be placed upon us.
· Be careful how you look upon someone. (Longhair of the 60s and 70s, Goth look, Tats or even a high pitch voice.)
· When we put someone up against the ruler know that the ruler will be used upon us as well.
· The only true standard of judgment will be the Word of God, not my opinion about something.
· So my question will be in the context what kind of judgment is going on in Matthew 7:1 and following? The answer I believe is found in verses 3-4.
Matthew 7:3-4 ( ESV )
3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
· I believe that what is going on in the context of these verses is that of judging a brother hypocritically. God wants us to know that this type of judgment will always be evil and He the Righteous Judge will condemn it.
· Two key words in the passage are that of speck and beam. The word for speck means like a piece of a dry twig or straw that is in someone’s eye. It is painful and will lead to much misery in your life if it is not taken care of. Yet, the word for beam is that of a stick of timber or a log.
· The first idea is that you have a person who has a speck of sin in his life that is noticeable and needs to be taken care of. Yet, the individual who sees this sin cannot see his own sin in his life which is even huger than the person who he wants to make sure that he gets things right in.
· Secondly, the one brother who notices the sin in his companion’s life wants to make sure that he can point it out. Literally the idea would be that of, “You have sinned. I need you to know that and I will help you to take care of it.” At the heart of the issue is a proud person not seeing his own sins and wants to make sure he takes care of his brothers and that all may know. This is hypocritical judgment at its worst. (It was also one of the Pharisees greatest sins. As well as the Pharisees of today.)
Matthew 7:5 ( ESV )
5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
· Jesus spares no words as He calls this kind of person a Hypocrite. (One who wears a mask. He always wants everyone to know how right or spiritual he is. When in reality he is struggling with even greater sins in his own life.)
· It’s at this moment that many will use the excuse, “Well, I can’t talk to so and so because, well you know I have some issues in my life as well.” What a cop out!! Look at what Jesus expects us to do if this is true in our lives. Which at many times it will be. Who has not acted hypocritically in their lives?
· What are we to do? Well first of all according to Jesus He does not want us to have excuses for our own sins and hypocrisy. We are to take the beam out of our own eye. Deal with our own sins daily and first of all before our Lord. Our main concern should not be the dreadful sins of others but of our own wickedness. Be cleansed of your sin, confess it and repent, relying upon the Holy Spirit of God to strengthen us. Only then can we see clearly again and be the blessing that God has called us to be.
· Note though what happens next. We can then come to our brother and help him with his own sin that has entered his life.
Matthew 7:6 ( ESV )
6“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
· Now here comes an unusual verse. I believe that in light of the context what Jesus is trying to teach his followers is that when you and I give advice or help to some they will not hear us. This will especially be true of those who do not know the Lord. They will act like animals when given advice or pearls of wisdom from the Word of God. They may even use your words against you and attack you personally.
In light of all of the above I believe that we must always use wisdom when we must judge certain matters. We are to be careful as we will be judged by the righteous judge for what we say or do. Yet, there will be times where we must judge. When those times come I believe that we are to keep the principles of Matthew 6:1-6 in mind. Here are some other principles that we should heed to as well.
1. At all times we are to judge righteously and not as the hypocrite. Proverbs 31:9.
2. We are to act in the spirit of humility and gentleness, knowing that we are all prone to fall. Gal. 6:1-5
3. Our main goal is not to point out the sin but to restore our brother. Otherwise it is nothing but GOSSIP and PRIDE. Thus it becomes hypocritical in nature. Matthew 18
4. We cannot, nor should we ever try to judge a person’s motives. This is only something that the righteous judge can do alone.
5. Gather all sides of the story. This is always hard as it involves work, honesty and integrity to get at the bottom of something but this should above all be our goal. The Truth alone.
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