During my
senior year of high school, I worked at a Mr. Goodcents restaurant for several
months, and one day I had an experience that helped me learn a good lesson. I
was standing at the counter waiting on some customers, and I had one of those
moments when I just knew I was about to be robbed (if you’ve ever worked at a
place with a cash register, you know what I’m talking about).
I looked
out in the parking lot, and a man was coming in to the store, and he was huge!
He had tattoos all over his arms and several piercings, and I was sure he was
going to rob the store. After he came in, he placed his order and I started
making his sandwich, and at that time I used to wear a gold cross on a
necklace. When I started making his sandwich, he said to me, “Hey, I like your
cross.” I was thinking, “Here! You can have it—just don’t kill me!”
But after
he said that, he turned and walked down to the other end of the counter, and on
the back of his shirt was Matthew 7:1—“Judge not, that you be not judged.” He
started talking to one of my co-workers who was a Christian and I found out
that this guy was a new Christian and actually attended my co-worker’s church!
Now, I am
quite certain that every person in this room knows Matthew 7:1—even if you
didn’t know it was Matthew 7:1, you’ve heard the verse, “judge not, that you be
not judged.” Surveys have shown that in our country this verse is the most
widely-known verse of the entire Bible. However, I don’t think its any
exaggeration to say that this verse is also the most widely misunderstood verse
of the entire Bible.
Today,
we’re going to learn what Jesus actually meant when He said, “judge not, that
you be not judged.” It turns out that if we simply read the verses that come
after Matthew 7:1, we get a great commentary on what Jesus is trying to tell us
(imagine that—if we keep a statement in context, it helps us make sense of
it!). The points of my outline are going to serve as a paraphrase or commentary
on these words, so hopefully these points themselves will give you a better
idea of what Jesus is telling us. Let’s first read the whole section for today
so we can get a sense of where we are going [READ Matt
7:1-6].
I. There is a Judge, and you are
not Him. (v. 1)
Verse one
contains the famous statement, “judge not, that you be not judged.” When most
people in our country today hear those words, they hear them in light of the
popular idea that standards of what is right and what is wrong are simply
matters of opinion. I may have very strong opinions about right and wrong, but
according to this popular idea, they are nothing more than just my opinion—they
are not standards that other people are obligated to live by.
So with
that idea in the background, when people in our country today hear these words
from Jesus, they interpret Him to be saying, “Don’t evaluate the behavior of
others, and certainly don’t ever tell them that they are wrong.” If there is
one universal standard of right and wrong that our society buys in to, it is
“don’t ever tell others that they are wrong.” Of course, no one ever stops to
think about how that could always be wrong if there are no such things as
universal standards of right and wrong!
Jesus
certainly did not buy in to this idea that statements about right and wrong are
simply matters of opinion. Somehow, it escapes people’s notice that Jesus is
giving us a command with these words—in other words, He is presuming to tell us
what is right and what is wrong. In Jesus’ worldview, standards of right and
wrong come from God. His commands show us the dividing line between right and
wrong.
With that
idea in mind, we’re “getting warmer” in our search for what Jesus is talking
about. God is the final judge of right and wrong, and ultimately, the only
perfect judge of right and wrong. That is His position, His role, so Jesus is
telling us not to take upon ourselves a role that rightfully belongs to God. We
see this same thought expressed in commands that tell us not to take revenge.
For
example, Romans 12:19 says, “Beloved, never avenge
yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine,
I will repay, says the Lord.’” When I take revenge against someone else,
I am trying to administer justice, but that is not my role. That is not the
proper part for me to play in this world—that role belongs to God.
That
thought also helps us clarify what Jesus means when He says, “do not judge.” It
is very important to realize that Jesus is not saying, “do not evaluate someone
else’s behavior.” If that were the case, there would be many other biblical
commands that we couldn’t possibly carry out—including the command of v. 6, as
we’ll see in a moment.
I think the illustration of a trial-by-jury is very
helpful for us in clarifying what Jesus is saying here. In a trial-by-jury, the
jury’s role is to consider all the evidence presented in a case and then
determine if the defendant broke the law. It is the judge’s role, then, to
administer justice—to determine the appropriate sentence and see that it is
carried out.
In our
lives, the Bible does call us to play the role of the jury. We can observe behavior,
look at the evidence of God’s word, and determine whether the behavior violates
the standards of God’s Word. What Jesus does not leave open to us is trying to
play the role of the judge—in others words, acting like we know what someone
else deserves and trying to make sure that they get it. We are to have a
different response, as we’ll see in a moment.
The Lord then goes on in v. 2 to mention a strong deterrent
against judging others.
II. If you try to be the Judge,
He will use your own standards against you. (v. 2)
Let’s read
v. 2 again [READ v. 2]. It seems that God’s
attitude toward us is, “Okay, if you think you are fit to be a judge, then
let’s see how you measure up to your own standards.” I think if we’re honest
with ourselves, we really don’t want God to deal with us in the same way that
we often deal with other people.
When we try
to act like we know what other people deserve, we do so with such a pitifully
small amount of information. We may not know how hard someone fought against a
temptation, or what the circumstances were that made a temptation look so
appealing. It is far better for us to extend mercy to other people than attempt
to take justice into our own hands. As Jesus had already stated that day, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (Matt
5:7).” And after giving us His model prayer, the Lord said, “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt 6:14-15).”
So this is
the third time that Jesus has mentioned this same idea in this sermon—and He’s
not bluffing about this. When we stand before Jesus to answer for our lives, He
will adopt the same posture toward us that we adopted toward others. If that’s
the case, my friends, then I don’t know about you, but I want to be very
merciful and forgiving rather than judgmental.
Jesus then goes on to criticize the hypocrisy that feeds a
critical, judgmental spirit.
III. Focus on and deal with your
own sins first, then help your brother (vv. 3-5)
We really
get a glimpse of Jesus’ sense-of-humor in these next verses [READ vv. 3-5]. Let’s allow the full weight of this
comparison to sink in. Think about how invasive you
have to be to find a speck of dust or a tiny splinter in someone else’s eye.
You really have to invade their personal space! The point is that you
really have to put out effort to see a speck in someone else’s eye; you have to
be looking for it.
I hate to say it, but we’ve all known people like
that—people who are always on the lookout to find fault with others. Their life
verse is Luke 17:3—“if your brother sins, rebuke him!” They’re the
self-appointed fruit inspectors who are always looking for tiny bruises on
everyone else’s spiritual fruit.
To them and
us all Jesus says, “Why do you look so closely for a tiny fault in someone else
and look right past the log that’s in your own eye? And what makes you think
you’re qualified to help someone else with their minor problem when you have a
major problem that you’re not paying any attention to?” That’s the irony of a
judgmental spirit—it puts our attention on everyone’s business but our own. We
also end up applying standards to everyone else that we do not apply to ourselves.
That’s why Jesus calls this attitude hypocrisy.
We’re
supposed to attend to our own business first. We should root out our own faults
and be on the lookout for our own failures. Notice the situation that results
if we will do that: “then you will see clearly to take
the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Remember—Jesus is not telling us
that its wrong to assess the behavior of others. If I notice a fault in someone
else, after I have assessed myself, then I will be in a position to help them.
Notice that Jesus is talking about help, not condemnation.
This is where we find an unusual twist on the
trial-by-jury illustration that I used earlier. We can play the part of the
jury, but after we’ve determined guilt or innocence, we’re supposed to step out
of the jury box and offer help to the defendant. We’re like a brother or sister
helping a sibling fix something before Mom and Dad get home.
As v. 6 tells us however, we do have to use wisdom when we
seek to help others.
IV. Use wisdom when deciding how
to interact with others (v. 6)
Let’s read
v. 6 again [READ v. 6]. Let’s get a few things
straight as we think about this verse. First of all, Jesus wasn’t hurling
insults at anyone—he wasn’t calling a particular person or group of people
“dogs” and “pigs.” He was simply using those animals as an illustration to
teach a lesson.
Second,
when you hear the word “dog,” don’t think of a cute, cuddly house pet. Dogs
were not common house pets in Israel at that time—they were wild animals. When
Jesus said, “do not give dogs what is holy,” he was probably making a reference
to the meat that the Jewish people received from their sacrifices in the
Temple. With certain sacrifices, the person who offered it would receive some
of the meat and take it home to eat it. This was very special meat; it wasn’t
something you would just give to a wild dog roaming around the streets—it wasn’t
appropriate for them.
Likewise,
no one would think about tossing pearls out to pigs (this is probably another
example of humor from Jesus). Pearls are not appropriate for pigs, and they
might be angry that you tossed them something they couldn’t eat.
When we
consider this statement in its context, its clear that Jesus is telling us that
we have to use some wisdom when we consider how to help others. He has just
told us that after we remove the log from our own eye, then we are in a
position to help others—but even then we must not rush into a situation without
using wisdom. I love what one commentator had to say about this verse: “Since
we’ve just been told to love our enemies and not to judge, we might fail to
consider the subtleties of the argument and become undiscerning simpletons.
This verse guards against such a possibility.”1
Many verses
of Scripture tell us about the need to exercise wisdom as we seek to help
others. For example, Proverbs 9:7-8 says, “He who
corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man
gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a
wise man, and he will love you.” Before we approach someone with the
intent to help them, we have to consider if they are likely to receive it
graciously. We might be wasting our efforts and inviting trouble for ourselves
if the person has given a clear indication that they don’t want to hear what we
have to say.
In the New
Testament, we find verses like 1 Thessalonians
5:14—“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted,
help the weak, be patient with them all.” Before we can carry out those
commands, we have to determine which of those categories a person falls in. Are
they idle—are they not doing someone they can do and know they should do? Are
they fainthearted—are they capable of overcoming something, but just wearied by
the struggle? Are they weak—are they incapable at the moment of bearing some
burden by themselves? You can see that this requires wisdom; otherwise we might
help someone who is just being idle or we might admonish someone who truly is
weak.
As Jesus
once told His disciples before He sent them along to minister without Him, we
must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).” Our passage
today has taught the same lesson in reverse order. Verses 1-5 tell us to be
innocent as doves. We must not take upon ourselves a role that rightfully
belongs to God. When it comes to obeying God, our attention must be given to
rooting out the sins from our own lives. Then, if we happen to notice an
opportunity to help a brother, we can pursue that opportunity.
Verse 6
then tells us to be wise as serpents. Jesus is not calling us to be naïve or
careless about our interactions with other people. Instead, they should be
properly motivated and properly thought out—then we will be prepared to act
with wisdom and innocence.
Notes:
1. Paraphrase from a statement by D. A. Carson in Matthew, The Expositor’s Bible
Commentary, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 185.
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