...no judging others...

“1 Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you” Matthew 7:1-6.

The issue in these verses above is the relational breakdown caused by people turning against one another with a critical and unmerciful spirit. Jesus urges the disciples — and all Christians — to rise above this destructive behavior with humility and charity. Jesus first warns against judging others. Not that it is wrong to judge whether an action is sinful according to the law of God, for such a form of moral evaluation is simply an exercise of the Christian conscience. Rather, Jesus forbids us to judge and condemn the heart. No one has access to the hidden intentions of another’s actions, nor can we know another’s level of guilt. Judgementalism of this sort is unacceptable behavior. It is not the business of a Christian to be the confident moralist who passes judgment on those who stumble. We are not to assume this role either publicly in the presence of others or even privately in the silence of our hearts and minds. Judging others for their faults is not only harmful to human relationships; it is also harmful to our relationship with the Lord. Jesus says as much when he adds, that you may not be judged.

What Jesus is saying is that God will judge the one who goes around criticizing and condemning others. The person who judges others will face an equally severe judgment in return: For as you judge, so will you be judged. Earlier we heard that disciples will receive the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness as long as they extend mercy and forgiveness to others (5:7; 6:14–15).

When Jesus says, the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, He is making the point that God will apportion to us the same amount of severity or leniency that we have dealt out to others. If we wish the Lord to be merciful rather than harsh in evaluating our lives, we must be understanding and forgiving in our relationships with other people (see James 2:13).  Jesus adds a comical parable about the need for self-examination when He challenges us to consider what it is like to get a splinter in the eye. Here He cautions the faultfinder in all of us against the tendency to overlook our own shortcomings. Many of us think we have 20/20 vision when it comes to seeing the mistakes of others; afterall, the splinter in our brother’s eye seems so obvious. Yet we can be oblivious to the giant plank of lumber jutting out from our own eye! What is worse, we sometimes think ourselves qualified to solve other people’s problems as though we had none of our own.

Jesus’ comment in verse 6 is a puzzling statement. For one thing, we have to identify what is holy and what is meant by pearls. Pearls were highly prized in the ancient world and were sold on the commercial market as women’s finery (1 Tim. 2:9). Next we have to interpret Jesus’ reference to dogs and swine. Dogs were generally despised in the world of Palestinian Judaism. Only rarely—and not in the land of Israel—do we see them as domesticated pets (Tobit 6:2; 11:4). Dogs normally lived as scavengers; they were wild, dirty, unloved, and dangerous. Pigs, in the Jewish mind, were even worse. Quite apart from their filthy habits, they were unclean animals in a religious sense, for the dietary laws of the Torah declared pork unfit for Jewish consumption (Lev. 11:6–7; Deut. 14:8).

Jesus is saying that the good news of the kingdom is so sacred and so valuable that it must not be subjected to those who have no interest in faith or repentance. If people show open disdain for the holy gifts of God, then it is prudent to withdraw and to take the good news elsewhere. So Jesus is urging us to look to ourselves with critical scrutiny.  Getting our own life in order entails subjecting our habits and behavior to a process of moral evaluation and judgment.

So today in prayer, be honest about yourself before God. Where you have sinned, pray for God’s mercy. But above all, stop judging others. Move on and love others as God loves others.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

From the Bible:

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” Luke 6:37.

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers” James 4:11.

“There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor” James 4:12?