Sermon on the Mount
“The Case of Judging”
Matthew 7:1-5
While waiting for a plane a woman entered a gift shop to buy herself a magazine. While she was there she also bought a package of cookies. She then sat down to wait for her plane.
A gentleman came and sat one seat away. He soon opened a package of cookies that was in the seat between them and took out one and began to eat it.
Shocked that this stranger would do such a thing she immediately reached over and took one and ate it. Not saying anything the man then took another cookie and ate it. This prompted the woman to do so as well.
This scenario continued to play itself out until there was only one cookie left. The man then picked up the cookie and broke it in two, giving her half. He then stood up and walked away.
By now the woman was completely beside herself, but before she could do anything they announced that boarding would begin. After boarding she was still upset until she reached in her purse and found a package of cookies.
With this in mind let’s look at tonight’s passage.
Read Matthew 7:1-5
When Jesus said, “Judge not,” it’s important to understand what He meant.
This is not a prohibition against all judging, nor is it against rightfully discerning between right and wrong or making critical assessment.
Instead it’s a prohibition against being God’s censors. A censor was a magistrate who had the job of supervising the morals of the community. In that position they were to find other people’s faults and be harsh in their criticism of them. If someone fell short of their expectations then they would be censored or condemned.
Today we’d call these people faultfinders. These are people who always seek out other people’s faults becoming both negative and destructive in their critique. These are people who always put the worst twist on every situation.
This type of person reminds me of a minor league baseball coach who became so enraged with his center fielder’s play that he benched him. After ridiculing his play the coach took his position.
The first ball that was hit towards him was a grounder that took a bad hop and hit him in the mouth and he began to bleed. Then next ball was a high fly that he lost in the sun and hit him on the forehead. The third ball that came his direction was a hard line drive that he missed of the end of his glove and hit him in the eye.
Angrily he threw down his glove and ran back to the dug out. He grabbed the center fielder and said, “You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it.”
A censorious person is someone who claims both the competence and authority to sit in judgment. When we do this we cast ourselves as lord and masters and those we’re judging as our servants.
The Apostle Paul saw this danger and effectively deals with it.
“Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4 NKJV)
Paul makes it clear that God is the Lord, our Master and Judge, and it’s before Him that we must stand. In fact being a servant of God, Paul didn’t even want to judge himself, because he knew that it was the Lord who would bring to light hidden things.
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.” (1 Corinthians 4:5 NKJV)
We must be careful then not to judge someone else, because we do not know what goes on inside them, nor to we know what they have been through, or for that matter, what they’re going through.
The following poem illustrates this.
Pray don’t find fault with the man who limps or stumbles along the road,
Unless you have worn the shoes he wears or struggled beneath his load.
There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt, though hidden away from view,
Or the burden he bears, placed on your back might cause you to stumble too.
Don’t sneer at the man who’s down today unless you have felt the blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame that only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows that were his if dealt to you,
In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time, might cause you to stagger too.
Don’t be too harsh with the man who sins or pelt him with word or stone,
Unless you are sure, yea, doubly sure, that you have no sins of your own
For you know perhaps if the tempter’s voice should whisper as softly to you
As it did to him when he went astray, it might cause you to stumble too.
To take unto ourselves the position of judge is to take on the position of God, and usurp the authority that’s His alone. Only God knows what is truly in the heart and mind of man.
Notice in Matthew 7:2 Jesus said, “In the measure you give it will be measured back to you.” In the same way we judge others, we’ll be judged. If we enjoy siting in the judge’s chair, then we shouldn’t be too surprised to find ourselves accused and sitting in the defendant’s chair.
The Apostle Paul said,
“Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.” (Romans 2:1 NKJV)
In the next three verses Jesus reveals the hypocrisy of this type of judging.
“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 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? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5 NKJV)
Jesus is saying we have a tendency to exaggerate the faults of others while at the same time minimizing our own.
The word “speck” is interesting. It can mean a chip or something that is small and insignificant. Jesus grew up as a carpenter’s son, and so this “speck” probably means a piece of sawdust, which can be extremely irritating when it gets into the eye.
Even more, a speck and plank are made of the same common element, wood. The only difference between the two is their size. What this means is that we often see our own faults in others, therefore, let’s stop being so quick to judge someone else because it’s usually a huge thing in our lives while it’s a minor offence in the lives of others.
Back in the 20th century an astronomer, Sir Percival Lowell, mapped the landscape of Mars from a giant telescope in Arizona. In his maps he charted what he saw as channels and canals. From what he saw he concluded that there was intelligent life on Mars that may be even older than the human race, and was widely held for decades.
But since space probes have now landed on Mars, it’s been proven that no such channels or canals exist. How could Sir Percival have seen what wasn’t there?
What was later found that Sir Percival suffered from a rare eye disease where he literally saw his own blood vessels in his eyes. The canals were his eye’s blood vessels. Today the disease in known as “Lowell’s syndrome.
This is like what Jesus says we see in others. We see our own faults, and our vision is distorted by our sins.
Jesus also isn’t saying to mind our own business, although it really isn’t a bad idea. Rather Jesus is saying we need to deal with our own sin first, and then we’ll be able to see more clearly to help others with their problems.
It doesn’t matter how small the speck might be. Any speck in the eye is dangerous and painful. Such a speck doesn’t belong in the eye and it can do great damage if left alone. So it is with sin, no matter how insignificant it may seem. To leave it there and make no attempt to help remove it is inconsistent with the love we’re supposed to have for others.
Jesus’ plea, therefore is not a prohibition against all judging or discerning between right and wrong. In fact, such judging is presupposed in the Bible.
Matthew 7:15-20 – Jesus says we’re to critically look at the fruit in the lives of those who say they’re prophets.
Matthew 10:5-15 – Jesus told his disciples to judge those homes and towns by their acceptance of the message, and if found unworthy they were to shake the dust from off their feet, thus pronouncing judgment.
Matthew 18:15-20 – Jesus gives us the method by which believers are to judge other believers who sin and refuse to repent even in the face of many witnesses.
Question: How will we know when we’re judging rightly? Answer: By checking the attitude of our hearts.
Is the judging done out of spite or malice? Is our judging based upon self-justification?
Is the judging done out of a sense of vindictiveness? They got me so I’ll get them back?
Is the judging done with a self-righteous or superior attitude? Is it done from an attitude of love?
To judge rightly is to lift up God’s word rather than our opinion.
Only God’s word can penetrate and has the power to discern what’s going on inside a person.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 NKJV)
God’s word rightly judges, discerning what’s on our hearts and minds. When we speak God’s word in love it will do the work, not only in our own heart, but also in the heart of others. It will do the judging so we don’t have to. What we need to do is to be true to God’s word and speak His word, not our own.
God’s word is not meant to hack away at sin or others. This is being censorious. Rather it’s to be used like a surgeon’s scalpel, gently removing the disease, not ripping it out.
But as always judgment begins with us, and what we need to realize when we let God’s word judge our actions and motives it will hurt, and it’s important that we don’t short change the process because of the hurt.
A surgeon does everything he or she can to lesson the pain, but they also know that there will be pain. We need to allow God to do His work through His word knowing that the immediate pain of healing is preferable to pain over the long haul, because we haven’t dealt with the issue.
When we’re judged for our sins, it will hurt, but if we accept the operation of God’s word upon our hearts, then the pain we experience now will hurt a lot less than if we ignore it and let it grow.
God’s word can also work as preventative medicine.
An early diagnosis is the primary step toward treatment and a cure. Therefore regular checkups are needed.
How do we get these regular checkups? We need to daily go to God and His word. David said,
“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.” (Psalm 19:12 NKJV)
We need is to ask God to give us the wisdom in these areas so we, through the power of the Holy Spirit can properly diagnosis our problems. We need to cry out to God the same way the Psalmist did.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NKJV)
Many fear this prayer in the same way people are afraid to go to the doctor’s office to get a check up. People don’t want to face the truth. Rather than facing eality, they’d rather live in a fantasy world. They’d rather live with a lie and die than to experience hurt and live.
Let’s therefore live our lives in God’s word, because it judges rightly and fairly.
An umpire by the name of Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes. Babe Ruth argued the populist belief. “There are 40,000 people here who know the last one was a ball tomato head.”
Pinelli replied, “Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts.”
As Christians we may be pressed by others to deny God’s word and align ourselves on the more popular side, but God’s opinion of life is the only one that counts.
Howard Hendricks said, “There is no fear of judgment for the man who judges himself according to the word of God.”
Jesus, therefore, is not condemning criticisms, rather what He is condemning is when we criticize others and haven’t made a comparable criticism of ourselves. Before we correct others, we should be correcting ourselves.
John Stott said, “We need to be as critical of ourselves as we often are of others, and a generous to others as we are to ourselves.”
Jesus said it this way,
“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 NKJV)
Or to use another philosophy known as the Golden Rule
