This morning, we are going to look at the problem of judging others. The definition for the word “judge” that applies to our passage means, “to form a judgment or opinion” and to “decide upon critically.”(1) The key word here is “critically,” for when we judge others we are often being “critical” of them, forming a biased opinion concerning who they are, or about what they have done. The word “criticize” means, “to find fault” and “judge unfavorably or harshly.”(2)
No one likes to be criticized. When believers criticize each other, it can actually drive individuals away from the fellowship of the church. In Romans chapter 14, Paul said, “But why do you judge your brother? . . . Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (Romans 14:10, 13). Paul said that we must “resolve” judging; or rather, we should put an end to it before we cause a fellow brother or sister to stumble in his or her faith.
In our passage today, we will see how Jesus warned about the problem of judging others, and about the need to do some deep introspection, or spiritual self-examination, before opening our mouth. We will also learn about something called “discernment,” which is akin to judgement, but something that is actually encouraged by Jesus; and so, I have entitled our message, “Judge Not, But Discern Wisely.”
Jesus Cautioned About Judging Others (vv. 1-2)
1 Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
Right here, Jesus taught against judging others (v. 1). First, He stated, “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged” (v.2). The word “judgment” is defined as “the decision which one passes on the faults of others.”(3) Next, Jesus said, “With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (v. 2). The word “measure” is defined as “a graduated staff for measuring, a measuring rod” and “the rule or standard of judgment.”(4) He was speaking about the figurative “yard stick” that you and I often hold next to an individual to size him up.
Jesus was saying that we need to be careful about the standard we use to evaluate others. The correct measure is the Law of God, better known today as the Bible. Amos once prophesied, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel” (Amos 7:8), alluding to how the Lord was holding beside them His perfect Law in consideration of possible judgment. Since Jesus did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17) – meaning that He embodied the Law – we can now look to Him as the correct and perfect measure; but what we usually tend to do is hold “ourselves” up as the standard.
Something that leads to judging others before consulting the Word of God is offense. Allow me to provide an example. In John chapter 7, Jesus once taught a group of Jews at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they criticized Him for healing a man on the Sabbath. Jesus said, “You circumcise a man on the Sabbath . . . Are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?” (John 7:22, 23). Jesus basically reasoned with them, “The Law allows for circumcision on the Sabbath, so why not healing?” They failed to apply the Law practically, because they were offended by what they had just observed.
This group of Jews, whom Jesus addressed, allowed their jealousy, anger, and offense to distract them from a proper perspective of the Law. How many times are we distracted from using the correct measure, because we are overly focused on the faults of others and we become offended? In John chapter 7, Jesus informed them, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We need to make sure that we are not so offended by what we see that we jump to some hasty conclusion. We need to slow down and take time to consider what the Bible has to say, so we can make a “righteous” decision instead of a rash one.
In Matthew 7:2, Jesus continued to say, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.” This statement sounds similar to one we often hear today: “What goes around comes around.” But let me tell you, when we judge others, what “comes around” or what “comes our way” is the result of human nature and vengeance, not karma and not some cosmic force. You see, there are some people who, if we offend them, will do everything in their power to harm us. So, my advice, based on my understanding of the Bible, is that when we judge someone, we need to ask for their forgiveness and do everything in our power to make things right. First of all, it is the right thing to do; and secondly, if we don’t, it will come back to bite us!
But getting back to our main passage and what Jesus said, we must be careful not to pass judgement on others. According to Deuteronomy 32:35-36, it is not actually “our place” to judge. The Bible tells us that we can “evaluate” someone based on their fruit (Matthew 7:17; Luke 6:44), and use discernment in our dealings with someone, but not pass judgement.
In Deuteronomy chapter 32, God said, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense . . . for the Lord will judge His people” (Deuteronomy 32:35a, 36a). It is “God’s place” to judge, for justice belongs to Him. We are incapable, for our judgment is clouded by sin. J. R. Miller says, “In condemning and censuring others, we are thrusting ourselves into God’s place, taking His scepter into our hands, and presuming to exercise one of His sole prerogatives.”(5) In James 4:12, the apostle tells us, “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
Jesus Advised to First Look at Oneself (vv. 3-5)
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 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? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
So, Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (v. 3). When Jesus mentioned a “speck,” He meant a splinter. When He referred to a “plank,” perhaps He meant to say, “Watch out, lest you get the measuring stick lodged in your eye!” Though this interpretation of “plank” would tie in with Jesus’ prior mention of using a “measure” (v. 2), this is not exactly what He had in mind.
According to commentator A. T. Robertson, Jesus was referring to a large log within the ceiling of a house that held up the roof, such as a ceiling joist; and he made reference to an old Arabic proverb which says, “How can you see the splinter in your brother’s eye, and not see the cross-beam in your own eye?”(6)
I love the way the Visual Bible presents Jesus as teaching the multitude on the Mount. The show depicts Him as walking over, reaching for someone’s walking stick, and then holding it up to His eye, while everyone gets in a good laugh. Perhaps Jesus really did use a similar approach, and was able to get His point across with a visual aid or prop, helping the people to relax and lower their guard as He confronted them with such a difficult subject matter.
Jesus asked, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and look, a plank is in your own eye?” (v. 4). It is a funny picture that Jesus presents. Can you imagine a man with a big long plank, or a huge log, stuck in his eye while trying to remove a miniscule splinter from someone else’s eye? He would not be able to move close enough to the other person without knocking him upside the head! The point is this: We often harm others in our attempt to correct them; when in reality, we are the one with the massive problem.
The “speck” that Jesus mentioned equals a tiny transgression, and the “plank” equals a large transgression. One time, Jesus called the Pharisees, “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24). They would look to pick out, or “strain out,” the tiniest transgression in another person; while the Pharisees, themselves, would continually “swallow camels,” meaning they would commit major transgressions. The Pharisees found fault in others, but they would never take the opportunity to examine themselves. It has been said, “The man that is most busy in censuring others is always least employed in examining himself.”(7) Jesus said, “First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (v. 5).
Jesus Taught the Use of Discernment (v. 6)
6 Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
This is one of the more difficult verses in the Bible. Jesus had just finished telling the multitude not to judge; and here, it sounds as though He was being judgmental Himself by calling people dogs and swine. It was common in that time to use animals as an analogy for human behavior. Aesop did this often in his fables. In Proverbs 26:11, we read, “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly,” and a dual reference to both pigs and dogs can be found in 2 Peter 2:22, which says, “A dog returns to his own vomit, and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” “In His sermon, Jesus used dogs and pigs as representative of those who would ridicule, reject, and blaspheme the gospel once it is presented to them.”(8)
Commentator Clair Crissey says, “Jesus declared, in effect, that some people cannot appreciate what is holy. He used the example of dogs and swine to illustrate the point. Dogs cannot tell the difference between ‘what is holy’ (possibly meat which had been offered for sacrifice) and what is not. And if a person threw pearls before swine, the swine would become enraged at being tricked into thinking the pearls were food (such as peas or acorns). Having no idea of the worth of the pearls, they would trample them and attack the one who had thrown the pearls to them.”(9) She concludes that “a follower of Jesus, then, should use loving discernment in deciding when, how, and with whom to share the truths of Jesus.”(10)
We should be careful not to indiscriminately share the gospel with those who would only ridicule it and become more hostile toward it.(11) You might still think this is judgmental, but consider this: “It is not to everyone that we can talk of everything. Within a group of friends, we may sit and talk about our faith; we may allow our minds to question and adventure; we may talk about the things which puzzle and perplex; and we may allow our minds to go out on the roads of speculation. But, if into that group, there comes a [rigid and religious] person . . . he might well brand us as a set of dangerous heretics.”(12) So, then, there are some people whose hearts are not yet at the place where they can receive the truth of the gospel.(13)
Commentator William Barclay asks, “What is to be done with these people?” He concludes, “What Christian words cannot do, a Christian life can often do . . . It is impossible to talk to some people about Jesus Christ. Their insensitiveness, their moral blindness, their intellectual pride, [and] their cynical mockery . . . may make them impervious to words about Christ. But it is always possible to show [them] Christ; and the weakness of the Church lies not in lack of Christian arguments, but in lack of Christian [living].”(14)
Time of Reflection
The apostle Paul seemed to grasp the essence of what Jesus taught about judging others. He once advised the believers at Corinth, “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31). If we could just take to heart the words of Jesus in this passage, we could have more of the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), and better share His love with the world. In a book published in 1930, called The Kneeling Christian, it is stated, “The more like Jesus Christ a man becomes, the less he judges other people. It is an infallible test. Those who are always criticizing others have drifted away from Christ . . . If you have a criticizing nature, allow it to dissect yourself and never your neighbor.”(15)
I want to leave us all with one last thought. Perhaps at one time or another you felt the call of the Holy Spirit to surrender your life to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Savior and Lord; and yet, you have never come to Him. Could it be because you have a beam stuck in your eye; one that is prohibiting you from examining yourself and identifying your own sin? You might be saying, “I have nothing that needs to be forgiven. Why do I need Christ?” If this is how you see yourself, then the beam stuck in your eye is pride, and the Bible says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Pride will lead to destruction as you are fooled into thinking that you are okay without Christ.
The Bible says that if we persist in sin, we will suffer the consequence of sin, which is spiritual death. If you are ever going to receive salvation and eternal life, then you must lower your pride, confess your sins, and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. We read in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and then in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
NOTES
(1) “Judging,” Dictionary.com: dictionary.reference.com/browse/judging (Accessed June 20, 2011).
(2) “Criticize,” Dictionary.com: dictionary.reference.com/browse/criticize (Accessed June 20, 2011).
(3) “Judgment,” lexicon number G2917, Blue Letter Bible: www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2917&t=KJV (Accessed June 20, 2011).
(4) “Measure,” lexicon number G3358, Blue Letter Bible: www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3358&t=KJV (Accessed June 20, 2011).
(5) J. R. Miller, “Judgment by Others,” Grace Quotes: thegracetabernacle.org/quotes/Judgment-Others_by.htm (Accessed June 20, 2011).
(6) A. T. Robertson, Robertson N. T. Word Pictures, Power Bible CD.
(7) Thomas Lye, A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I. D. E. Thomas (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2000), p. 278.
(8) “What did Jesus mean when He said to not cast your pearls before swine?” Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/pearls-before-swine.html (Accessed December 8, 2023).
(9) Clair M. Crissey, “Matthew,” Layman’s Bible Book Commentary, vol. 15 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1981), p. 46.
(10) Ibid., p. 46.
(11) Ibid., p. 46.
(12) William Barclay, “The Gospel of Matthew,” The Daily Study Bible, vol. 1 (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1958), p. 272.
(13) Ibid., p. 272.
(14) Ibid., p. 273.
(15) “Judgment by Others,” originally printed in The Kneeling Christian (Kessinger Publishing, 1930), Grace Quotes: thegracetabernacle.org/quotes/Judgment-Others_by.htm (Accessed June 20, 2011).
