Judge Not (Matthew 7)

Introduction

One of if not the most important things to understand while reading the bible is this; Read everything in the proper context! Many bible verses are slapped on bumpers, tshirts, and on laptops. I have no problem with this! However, it makes it very easy to read them out of context.

Context Matters

In order to read bible passages in the correct context, you have to make sure you understand the culture of which it was written, who wrote it, who it was written for, and what happened before / after it was written. You should never just cherry pick bible verses, because that strips them of any intended meaning and leaving people to make up what they think the text means.

Judge Not

One of the most egregious examples of this would be with the bible passage on “Judge not”. I’ve heard this passage used by mostly non-christians saying that the bible says don’t judge others. This passage is in Matthew 7. Here’s what the passage says:

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?

You 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. “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

In this passage, we see Jesus preaching to Jews located in Galilee. You can see Jesus starting his ministry in Chapter 4, then in Chapter 5, he started preaching is famous sermon ‘The Beatitudes’. His sermons are incredibly diverse and range in topics.

Passage Breakdown

Let’s break down this passage verse by verse now knowing the context surrounding the speech.

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

The first thing I want to address with this passage is the term “Judge”. A lot of people use this term differently. Some people think ‘judge’ means condemn; to put themselves above others and put others down. Some thinks it means not to confront wrong doing in general.

What Jesus is actually saying here is a warning against the wrong kinds of judgement. He’s not saying judging of any kind is wrong. That’s very important to understand. He is saying ‘don’t pronounce or declare another person guilty before God’. The amount of judgement you use against others will be used against you by God. An example of bad judgement could be found in Jonah. Many people know this story.

A prophet of God in the old testament is told by God himself to go to the city of Nineveh and warn them of the forthcoming wrath of God due to their own wickedness. God’s intent with this was to have Nineveh turn from their evil ways and join in fellowship and worship of Yahweh. God was pleading with them. The bible says this about God in the book of Lamentations Chapter 3:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

But Jonah wasn’t as merciful. Jonah wanted Nineveh to suffer for their sins. He wanted God’s fire of judgement to rain down on them. But that’s not what happened. The people of Nineveh responded to God’s warning of love; they repented to God! It was a miracle. But Jonah wanted to pronounce Judgement on them in his own hatred and hard-heartedness.

This is exactly what God is warning us (and the Jews of Galilee) about. Let’s keep reading.

3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, 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 brother’s eye.

These next verses reveal the kind of judgement Jesus is really talking about. Jesus says that hypocritical judgement is wrong. For example, if there was a father who smokes who tells his son not to smoke, what good is that? The son would see his father and respond, “Why shouldn’t I smoke? You smoke all the time!”. Of course the father told his son not to smoke out of love, but it’s hard to hear that advice while he’s doing the same thing.

So if you have your own issues, you should first deal with them, then confront your brothers sin or wrongdoing. It’s not wrong to confront it, it just has to be in the right context. Because you having sin in your own life oftentimes blinds you to a certain extent. That’s what Jesus is saying here in verse 5. Correct judgement and correction happens when you are above reproach. This doesn’t mean you have to be a perfect human being, just to be sure your heart right before God. And always remember to be gracious with people.

So that’s it. Jesus says that we should confront sin! But it has to be in the right motives, and we then have to make sure we’re above reproach when doing so.