Jesus in Luke 6:37-42, and here, teaches against the legalistic judging that the Pharisees were practising, their self-righteous legal system of doctrine moved them to be critical of others who didn’t agree with them on every point of their theology.
The word ‘judge’ used here, Matthew 7:1 / Luke 6:37, is the Greek word, ‘krino’ which is used in places like, John 12:48 / Acts 17:31 / 2 Timothy 4:1. The use of the word, ‘judge’ therefore is speaking about the kind of judging that speaks of someone’s salvation, or the lack of it, in others. Christians shouldn’t practice this kind of judging, after all, not even Christ did this while He was on earth, John 12:47.
The problem with judging someone in terms of their salvation is sinful because God is the judge and He knows people’s hearts and motives better than anyone, and He has a date set for this kind of judging, 1 Corinthians 4:4-5. Luke tells us that we shouldn’t judge or condemn but ‘forgive’, why? Luke 6:37. Because we have been forgiven and we need forgiveness as much as the next person and who are we to withhold forgiveness from others, when we needed it so much ourselves? Luke 6:37 / Matthew 18:21-35.
Luke tells us to ‘give’, Luke 6:38. It’s the nature of godly people to behave as God. God is a giver, and so, His people should give. Those who love their brothers and sisters in Christ don’t stand in judgment over them. The thrust of what Jesus states here is that we will be dealt with in final judgment by God in the same manner by which we treat our fellow man, James 2:12-13.
Therefore, when we measure mercy to others, God will in turn measure mercy to us, Matthew 7:2 / Luke 6:38. That’s the biggest problem with this kind of judging, it’s judging with condemnation attached. In other words, they become the judge, juror and jailor. Luke also adds a parable, Luke 6:39, which basically means, that those who are spiritually dead can’t lead anyone onto a spiritual life, because both are spiritually blind. No one can lead above and beyond his own spiritual stature, Luke 6:40.
Those who disciple others will lead them to be like themselves. If the teacher is spiritually blind, the student will become like his teacher, spiritually blind too, John 13:16 / John 15:20. We must always look at others with an attitude of love, otherwise, legalism moves us to be critical and unmerciful in judgment concerning another’s beliefs and life. God will severely judge those who harbour such attitudes toward our fellow man, Matthew 18:21-35.
‘You’re judging me!’ is a common response uttered by many today whose toes are stepped on by the truth. The implication is that no one has the right to draw attention to a fault in their life. Although some forms of judging are prohibited by Scripture, there are other types that we are commanded to engage in.
The Bible is a beautiful book, isn’t it? It contains the wonderful message of God’s love for us. Part of the beauty of God’s Word is its simplicity. In my Bible, the New Testament is only about two-hundred and fifty pages long! Yet, I’ve seen commentaries written by men that consume the same amount of space in only discussing one New Testament book!
We tend to make things unnecessarily complicated, but, in general, God doesn’t do this. God has given us His inspired, revealed will and we can understand it if we diligently desire to do so. But, at the same time, we need to realise that there are a few things in the Bible that are somewhat difficult to comprehend. Peter acknowledges this very thing concerning Paul’s letters, 2 Peter 3:16. Essentially, he says that those who are unstable and untaught will twist the Scriptures to their own destruction when they encounter a passage that is difficult to understand! That is, they misuse these difficult passages by teaching error, and they will suffer the loss of their souls as a result.
What should we do when we encounter a passage of Scripture that is difficult for us to understand? We should be very careful, careful to study the verses completely in context and careful to consider all other passages on the same topic.
If we do this, we can have some confidence that we are not twisting the Scriptures to our own destruction. We must always remember that if we come to a conclusion that is contrary to clear Biblical teaching elsewhere, then we’ve made a mistake and our conclusion, whatever it may be, is invalid.
I wrote all that to help prepare us for analysing one difficult passage in the New Testament, however, I don’t believe that Jesus intended His words to be difficult to understand. For some people these words are difficult. Many incorrectly believe that these verses teach us that it’s absolutely wrong to judge others. This is simply not true, it is not always wrong to judge others.
Jesus is laying down a general principle here, but He isn’t limiting all types of judging. How do we know? Well, the Scriptures authorise certain actions that simply cannot be done without humans exercising judgment upon others. Let me give you a few examples to think about.
1. Consider our judicial system.
God has given authority to civil governments to make judgments, Romans 13:1-7, and we are to obey our leaders unless they instruct us to go against the Lord’s ways, Acts 5:29.
2. Consider the church.
The body of Christ has the responsibility to exercise judgment on those who walk disorderly. The judgment to be exercised is that of discipline or withdrawal of fellowship. Numerous passages support this truth, Matthew 18:15-20 / 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 / 1 Corinthians 5.
3. Look at the immediate context.
We are not to cast our pearls before swine, Matthew 7:6. But, how can we obey this command without making some judgments? Jesus warns His followers to beware of false teachers, Matthew 7:15. However, if we could never make judgments about individuals, then how could it ever be determined who is a false teacher and who isn’t?
4. The title of this lesson proves that judging others is not always wrong.
The title comes from John 7:24, which is a direct quote from the Lord Himself! Jesus instructs us in that verse to judge with righteous judgment, and we will consider exactly what that means shortly. But, for now, it should be exceedingly clear that God requires us to make certain types of judgments, and thus Luke 7:37 / Matthew 7:1, must not be interpreted as an absolute prohibition against all types of judging.
If this doesn’t mean that all types of human judging are wrong, then what type of judging is Jesus speaking against here? I believe the Lord is speaking against judging that is unmerciful, hypocritical, or vengeful.
Let’s consider these three aspects one at a time.
1. We must not judge unmercifully.
If we aren’t merciful to humans in our dealings with them, then they are not likely to be merciful to us, Matthew 7:2 / Luke 6:36. The way they judge us will be a reflection of the way we have judged them. Remember Haman? He was hanged on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, Esther 7. What Solomon said truly applies to the realm of human judging, Ecclesiastes 10:8.
And, even more importantly, eventually, we will all be judged by God Himself, and He will take into consideration the way we have judged others. If we are merciful, He will be merciful to us. If we are cold, unloving, and unforgiving toward others, God will treat us similarly, Luke 6:36 / Matthew 5:48 / James 2:13 / Matthew 18:21-35. Jesus has little use for followers with harsh, bitter, and fault-finding spirits.
2. We must not judge hypocritically.
This seems to be the fundamental thrust of Matthew 7:3-5. Jesus uses the term ‘hypocrite’ for those who judge others and do not examine themselves first. They are in no position to judge others or assist them when they suffer from an even greater problem!
Both parties described have a problem with sin, depicted by the speck and plank in their eyes, Matthew 7:3-4 / Luke 6:41-42. Common sense tells us that both need to remove the foreign objects, that is, sin from their eyes, Matthew 7:3-4 / Luke 6:41-42, that is life. The plank of wood in our own eye expresses the hypocritical mistake of the legalistic judge who considers themselves righteous while judging the faults of another in comparison to their own self-righteousness, Matthew 7:3-4 / Luke 6:41-42.
Their system of religion moves them to be judgmental of small matters in the lives of others who don’t conform to their regimented beliefs, while at the same time there is a major flaw in their own life. This is basically a picture of a person who ignores his own grievous sins while trying to correct the relatively minor shortcomings of another.
The speck of dust and the plank, Luke 6:41-42 / Matthew 7:3-5, represent the inequality between that which is tiny, insignificant, almost invisible, and that which is obvious, flagrant, and obtrusive. The legal system of judgment by which the faultfinder lives makes it impossible for them to be an objective judge of others. In order for us to correctly evaluate others, we must first recognise our own sinful state, Galatians 6:1.
Don’t miss this important point here, just because someone has a speck of dust in their eye, doesn’t mean they can ignore it, Jesus says it still needs to be removed, and this is done by admitting that we have faults, and we need forgiveness, 1 John 1:8-10. Christians mustn’t allow sin to reside in their lives even to a small degree.
When a person has successfully overcome a problem with a particular sin, they will then be in a better position to assist someone else with a similar problem. Those who are no longer in sin will be better able to ‘see clearly’ and assist others, Matthew 7:5 / Luke 6:42. Jesus isn’t condemning this type of judging but encouraging it.
Paul elaborates upon this thought in Galatians 6:1. It is not wrong to realise that a brother or sister has a problem with sin. It’s not wrong to confront them and help them overcome it. However, if we are burdened with the same sin ourselves, or perhaps one even more heinous, then we aren’t going to be able to do them much good. Often, humans engage in hypocritical judging without even being aware of it.
I’m reminded of the true story I read about two well-known preachers of the past. One of the men admired the other very greatly and had an opportunity to meet him one day. The admired preacher answered the door with a cigar in his mouth. The other preacher was aghast, he couldn’t believe it! He bluntly asked, ‘how can you, a man of God, smoke that?’ In response, the other preacher pulled the cigar from his mouth, put his finger on his visitor’s rather inflated stomach, smiled and said, ‘the same way as you, a man of God, could be that fat’.
What can we learn from these two men? Humans are often blind to their own vices. Both of these men had a problem, namely, they were not taking care of their bodies as they should, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. We must be good stewards of our physical bodies just as we are of our time and other resources. We should take care of our bodies to the best of our ability.
Being significantly overweight and smoking are both provably bad for our health. We should try to help one another overcome problems like these. But, let us be careful not to judge others hypocritically. These men were guilty of it and so are we sometimes. Even great men like David have been guilty of it! 2 Samuel 11 / 2 Samuel 12:1-7. Let us be exceedingly careful in our efforts to avoid hypocritical judgment.
3. We must not judge vengefully.
Although it isn’t mentioned explicitly in this passage, Jesus seems to also be condemning judgment that is vengeful. Embedded in the Greek word for ‘judge’ in Matthew 7:1 / Luke 6:37, is the idea of condemning someone and even sentencing them. We don’t have the right to do this as individuals, even if we have been wronged by someone, Romans 12:19. God is the ultimate judge. He has reserved the right of vengeance for Himself.
So far, we’ve seen that there is a wrong kind of judging. When we judge without mercy, when we judge hypocritically, or when we judge vengefully, we are not being pleasing to God. But what about the right kind of judging? John 7:24, instructs us to ‘judge with righteous judgment’. How can we know if our judgment is righteous?
I believe the key to judging righteously is found in our attitude. We must have a good attitude in order to judge righteously, an attitude that manifests several characteristics. Some of these characteristics have already been indirectly mentioned, but now let’s examine them more closely.
1. To judge righteously, one must have an attitude of love.
Our love should be seen at all times, but especially when we are confronting someone regarding sin in their life, John 13:35.
2. To judge righteously, one must have an attitude of consideration and compassion.
Paul wrote about being humble toward one another, valuing them more than we do ourselves. To put their interests first, in Philippians 2:3-4. Peter wrote about being sympathetic towards each other, to love one another, to be compassionate and humble, in 1 Peter 3:8.
To correct someone in sin should not be a joyful privilege but a serious duty, James 5:19-20. We should feel compassion for a brother or sister who is overtaken in sin, we should not rejoice in their shortcomings or think ourselves superior. If we aren’t humble and spiritually minded, Galatians 6:1, then we aren’t well equipped to help someone else overcome their sins.
3. To judge righteously, one must have an attitude of forgiveness.
May we never forget that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’, Romans 3:23. That would include you and me. When we identify sin in the life of someone else, we cannot do it from the perspective of perfection, none of us are sinless. Instead, as Christians, we should be addressing sin in the life of someone else from the perspective of having been forgiven an exceedingly large debt ourselves, Matthew 18:21-35.
4. To judge righteously, one must have an attitude of self-examination.
This point has already been addressed earlier, though it can be supplemented well with two passages, 2 Corinthians 13:5 / Romans 2:21. When we are loving, considerate, compassionate, and willing to forgive others and examine ourselves, then we’re ready to use the Word of God to judge others, not according to appearances, but righteously. We can only do this by examining fruit, Matthew 7:20.
When examining the actions and words of others, we must ask, are these actions and words in harmony with the Bible? This is how judgments should be made, not according to my personal likes or dislikes, but according to the Scriptures. We should be making judgments like this all the time.
Even as write, you should be examining my words and judging whether or not I speak the truth. This is a good thing, Acts 17:11. Let it also be observed on this point that we must be exceedingly careful in judging a person’s intentions since we don’t know the hearts of men like God does, Romans 8:27-29.
Caution is always in order in this regard. If the Bible is the standard we use for judging, and we use it correctly with a proper heart, then we will not go wrong, because in essence, we are merely passing down the judgment that God has already given! Psalm 119:172.
Righteous judgment can only be based upon the Word of God! For example, if we know that a person is engaging in sexual immorality and we go to them humbly and tell them that they are sinning and need to repent, they might respond by saying, ‘we’re judging them and that I have no right to do so’, but, they’re wrong. We’re merely passing down God’s judgment that He has made known through His word. We shouldn’t be there addressing this person if we’re not interested in trying to help them.
We shouldn’t be there if we don’t love them and their soul. We shouldn’t be there if we ourselves are not right before God. If we’re a hypocrite or if our motives are improper, the chances of them repenting is very unlikely. The same could be said for any sin, not just sexual immorality. If we know that a person is teaching false doctrine, if we know that a person is using profanity, if we know that a person is walking disorderly, etc., then we have a responsibility to help them.
Our own life needs to be right first and then, with God’s Word and a proper attitude, we can help others. But we can only judge them by their fruits with the Word of God, for this is what we ourselves will be judged by, John 12:48. There is a right way to judge and a wrong way. It is only when we have a ‘clear vision,’ a proper, helpful attitude, all the facts in perspective, and a knowledge of God’s Word that a just and correct judgment on any issue can be made.
Why would judging our brothers and sisters condemningly damage our outreach efforts? It gives the impression that some are more ‘righteous’ than others, it gives the impression that others need ‘more’ forgiveness than others, Romans 3:10 / Romans 3:23. Let us abstain from improper judgment and practice righteous judgment as God expects us to and let us be wise enough to receive it gracefully from others.
In the first century, dogs and pigs, were considered to be unclean animals, they were not domesticated and were sometimes fierce. The connection of this verse to the previous ones is not obvious. Jesus had been speaking about judging in Matthew 7:1-5. Perhaps Jesus is now trying to prevent His disciples from drawing the false conclusion that all judging is wrong.
The Lord commands that holy things are not be given to dogs, and pearls are not be thrown before pigs, Matthew 7:6. Obviously, in order to obey this command, some judging is necessary, but what does Jesus mean by these statements? Let’s first state what we know His prohibition does not mean.
1. He does not mean that there are some who should not have the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
The Gospel message is for all, God wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth, Mark 16:15 / 1 Timothy 2:4.
2. He does not mean that we are to predetermine which individuals would be good prospects for conversion.
Who would have ever known that Saul of Tarsus, the great persecutor of the church, would be an ideal prospect for Christianity, Acts 9.
3, He does not mean that we are to have a self-righteous attitude and withhold the Gospel from those who aren’t ‘righteous’ like us.
We are to esteem others as better than ourselves and look out for their best interests, Philippians 2:3-4.
Now that we’ve mentioned some common misconceptions in this passage, let’s talk about what Jesus does mean in this verse. Quite simply, Jesus is warning us that certain things cannot be given to some individuals or types of persons.
Specifically, He means that we should be wise in our attempts to preach to individuals who thrust the Gospel away and reject it. The most holy things ought not to be offered indiscriminately to all persons, the dogs and swine refer to people who are mean and vicious and who have no desire to apprehend spiritual things.
When the precious spiritual truths of love and mercy are extended toward the ruthless and hard-hearted, they are received with criticism and mockery. How someone receives the pearls of truth determines his true nature.
Once a vicious nature is discovered, then it’s useless to offer opportunity by continual preaching and teaching the precious truths to the one who continually rejects such. When we encounter individuals, who don’t want anything to do with the Gospel, we should ‘shake the dust off our feet,’ Matthew 10:14, and go to those who want it. We can’t do this without making a judgment!
It is a foolish waste of precious time to try to force the Gospel on those who resist it, for they don’t understand the beauty or value of it, and persistent presentation of it only provokes their anger! Nevertheless, in order to determine whether or not one actually will reject the Gospel, they must first be given a chance to hear it.
To judge anyone on the basis of physical appearances or habits and conclude that they would not be interested in the Gospel is premature judgment and wrong! Let us strive for a humble attitude as we preach God’s saving Gospel to all but let us also cherish and respect the preciousness of it by not forcing it upon those who reject it and are unappreciative of our efforts, Acts 17:32, i.e., the dogs and pigs of our day. For New Testament examples of this, Matthew 21:23-27 / Acts 13:42-52 / Acts 19:9.
Although we are not to judge vengefully, unmercifully, or hypocritically toward our fellow man, there must be some discerning of character based upon the evidence at hand, Matthew 7:20. May God give us wisdom in this regard!