Do Not Judge, and You Will Not Be Judged
Matthew 7:1-6 and Luke 6:37-42
Do not judge, and you will not be judged DIG: How are these verses taken out of context? The Holy Spirit continues to reveal the attitudes and actions Kingdom people are to have. What two behaviors does Yeshua condemn and commend in Luke 6:37-38? In Christ’s day, who were the pigs and dogs? What are the pearls? What is the difference between the type of judgment Jesus forbids in Matthew 7:1-2 and the implied evaluation required in Matthew 7:6? What’s the point of the parable in Luke 6:39-30?
REFLECT: Do you think that generally you are a judgmental person? Why or why not? When was the last time you forgave someone? When was the last time you were forgiven? In light of this passage, how would you recommend approaching people who need help or correction? How do you normally do so? People become like the one they emulate. Who do you emulate?
In His twelfth example Anointed One teaches us that, opposed to the Pharisees and Torah-teachers, true righteousness should not judge others. As with all the other elements of the Sermon on the Mount, the perspective of this passage is given in contrast to that of the Pharisees and Torah-teachers. Along with the many other sins generated by their self-righteousness, they had become oppressively judgmental. They proudly looked down on everyone who was not a part of their elite system. They were unmerciful, unforgiving, unkind, hypercritical, and totally lacking in compassion and grace. This file focuses on the negative aspect of a self-righteous, judgmental spirit, and the next file (to see link click Dv – Ask and It Will Be Given To You; Seek and You Will Find; Knock and the Door Will Be Opened to You) focuses on the contrasting positive aspect of a spirit that is humble, trusting, and loving.582
Many times in Matthew 18, these verses are taken out of context. People mistakenly think that Jesus said we should never judge. But, He is not forbidding us to distinguish between good and evil. We are indeed to judge, but we’re supposed to avoid faulty judgments. A few verses later Messiah warns: Beware of false prophets (Matthew 7:15a). In other words, we are to judge who speaks for God and who does not. We are also to confront a sinning believer (Mattityahu 18:15-17). The Lord used the metaphor of fruit to give us the proper criteria for judging. By their fruit you will recognize them (Mattityahu 7:20). We are to judge people (including ourselves) by the quality of the fruit they (and we) produce. This fruit cannot be judged by earthly values or looks because they will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Matthew 7:15b). It must be judged by heavenly values – the fruit of the Ruach produced within us – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).
Do not judge (Greek: kpivete). The present, imperfect tense of the verb suggests that this is a continual habit or attitude of judging others. And you will not be judged (Mattityahu 7:1; Luke 6:37a). Both Matthew and Luke use the “divine passive” in order to avoid using ADONAI’s name. In keeping this commandment believers will not be judged at the great white throne (see my commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment), but rather, the implication is the loss of rewards at the bema seat of Christ (see my commentary on Revelation Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). The Pharisees set themselves up as judges of others and measured all others by their own faulty theology.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. The second commandment stands in synonymous parallelism with the first, for condemn is essentially a synonym for judge. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. This command does not require us to ignore the guilt of those who have sinned against us or to proclaim the guilty innocent. Instead, it means to forgive the guilty. Give, and you will receive (Luke 6:37-38a). Like the Golden Rule, it seeks the welfare of others.
Yeshua has a simple way of helping His disciples resist this ungodly behavior: For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Mattityahu 7:2). This may refer to either divine judgment or human judgment. The first-century Rabbi Hillel noted that we should not judge a man until we have been in his situation.583 Luke said the same thing in a little different way: Forgiveness, when pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will spill into your lap. The scene is the purchasing of a commodity of some sort where the amount measured out is not short, skimpy, or ever fair, but a good measurement. The container is filled and on top is a rounded heap so great that it overflows. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you (Luke 6:38b NCB). ADONAI will bless believers not just in equal proportion to how they give to others but far, far more – supernaturally.584
We are sinners in need of grace, strugglers in need of strength. We’ve all made mistakes and we’ll all make more. The line that separates the best of us from the worst of is a narrow one; therefore, we’d be wise to take seriously Paul’s warning: Why do you judge your brothers or sisters in Christ? And why do you think you are better than they? We will all stand before the Lord to be judged . . . (Romans 14:10 NCV).
We condemn a man for stumbling this morning, but we didn’t see the blows he took yesterday. We judge a woman for the limp in her walk, but cannot see the tack in her shoe. We mock the fear in their eyes, but have no idea how many stones they have ducked or darts they have dodged.
Are they too loud? Perhaps they fear being neglected again. Are they too timid? Perhaps they fear failing again. Too slow? Perhaps they fell the last time they hurried. You don’t know. Only one who has followed yesterday’s steps can be their judge.
Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapters are yet unwritten? Should we pass a verdict on a painting while the artist still holds the brush? How can you dismiss a soul until God’s work is completed? God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ returns (Philippians 1:6 NCV).585
He also told them this parable in the form of two rhetorical questions. Because of the Greek text, there is an expected negative answer from the first and a positive answer from the second. Can the blind lead the blind? No. Will they not both fall into a pit (Luke 6:39)? Yes. If a disciple has not learned enough to see his or her own faults and yet judges others, how can he or she truly teach or correct others? Both the teacher and the student will be blind and fall into a pit (also see Romans 2:19).
A student is not above his rabbi; but each one, when he is fully trained, will be like his rabbi (Luke 6:40 CJB). But, the word student fails to convey the richness of the relationship between the rabbi and his students in the first century. Rabbi’s, both itinerant like Yeshua and settled ones, attracted followers who wholeheartedly gave themselves over to their rabbis (though not in a mindless way). The essence of the relationship was one of trust in every area of living, and its goal was to make the student like his rabbi in knowledge, wisdom, and ethical behavior.586 People become like the one they emulate; thus, we should emulate Christ.
Why do see the splinter in your brother’s eye but not notice the [roofing] beam (as the Greek word dokos implies) in your own eye? It is interesting that the tiny splinter and the large [roofing] beam are made up of the same material. Though a splinter is small in comparison to a supporting beam, it is not an insignificant object to have in your eye. Yeshua’s comparison, then, is not between a small, trivial sin or fault and one that is large, but between one that is large and one that is massive. It is interesting to realize how quick we are to find fault with others when the same sin is actually blinding us as well. This is the very definition of a hypocrite. How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,” when you have the [roofing] beam in your own eye (Mattityahu 7:3-4; Luke 6:41-42a CJB)?
The people who have the mind and attitude of the Kingdom, poor in spirit, humble, and who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness will be people who first of all see and mourn over their own sin. So, the Lord’s command is, you hypocrite! First take the [roofing] beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:5; Luke 6:42 CJB)! When our sin is cleansed (First John 1:8-10), when the [roofing beam] is taken out of our own eye, then we will be able to see other believer’s sin clearly and be able to help them. Then everything will be seen clearly – God, others and ourselves. We will see Jesus as the only Judge (John 5:22), and others as needy sinners who are just like ourselves.
We are, however, to exercise discernment in our daily walk with Christ. Do not give dogs what is sacred (Matthew 7:6a). In Yeshua’s day dogs were seldom kept as household pets like they are today. Except for those used as working animals to herd sheep, they were usually wild crossbreeds that acted as scavengers. They were dirty, snarling and often vicious and diseased. They were dangerous and despised.
It would have been unthinkable for a Jew to throw a piece of sacred holy meat that had been blessed as a sacrifice in the Temple to those dogs. Some parts of those offerings were burned up, the priests ate some parts, and some would often be taken home and eaten by the family who made the sacrifice. The part left on the bronze altar was set apart exclusively to the Lord, and therefore was sacred in a very special way. If no one was to eat that part of the sacrifice, how much less should it be thrown to a bunch of wild, filthy dogs? The implication here is that we should, in fact, judge between the sacred and the sinful.
Christ’s somber warning seemed to indicate that He did not expect the truths that He had proclaimed to be received by the pharisaic Judaism of Jerusalem. Do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces (Mattityahu 7:6). The picture of this unkosher porker sporting a valuable necklace would surely stir up some laughs in that crowd (Proverbs 11:22). In the spiritual realm, however, the metaphor becomes quite serious. The same pigs will not only trample the pearls under their feet but they will also turn and attack you. The lesson is clear. Those who have no discernment about the distinction between the sacred and the sinful would have no appreciation for the spiritual riches of the Meshiach. In fact, some will be absolutely hostile! Therefore, if someone is outwardly antagonistic toward the treasures of the New Covenant and refuses to listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate (Luke 9:5).
Therefore, maverick Rabbi carefully documented His reasons for rejecting both pharisaic Judaism and their Oral Law (see Ei – The Oral Law) from which they judged others. Their doctrine, traditions, and practice could not produce a righteousness that would make one acceptable in the Kingdom.
In 1915 Pastor William Barton started to publish a series of articles. Using the archaic language of an ancient storyteller, he wrote his parables under the pen name of Safed the Sage. And for the next fifteen years he shared the wisdom of Safed and his enduring spouse Keturah. It was a genre he enjoyed. By the early 1920s, Safed was said to have a following of at least three million. Turning an ordinary event into an illustration of a spiritual truth was always a keynote of Barton’s ministry.
Of Goodness there be many kinds. For a Shoe becometh good to wear when it becometh bad to look at. Wherefore do I complain when Keturah giveth away any of mine Old Shoes. And Keturah hath provided a place in the Closet, where they may stand in an Orderly Row; but it is my custom when I remove them at night to set them under the edge of the Bed. And at first there is one pair, and them there are other pairs, yea, and a pair of slippers also. And when I arise in the morning, I reach down with mine hand, and take up a Shoe, and if it be not the one that I would wear I set it back and find another.
Now with this System Keturah is not well pleased. Wherefore from time to time doth she gather them up, and set them in array in the Closet. And she saith unto me, Wherefore dost thou place they shoes under the Bed, which is not Expedient neither Orderly, when thou might better place them in a Nice Straight Row in the Closet?
And I said, O thou fairest among women, were God to establish a school for Husbands, He would make thee Principal. Yea, and I am favored above all men in having become the First and only Graduate of that school, Magna Cum Laude.
And Keturah said, Thou hast learned many things, and in much thou hast done well. Yea, and I have yielded the Dipping of the Doughnuts in the coffee; why wilt thou not pick up thy shoes?
And I said, If I must, then I must.
And I said, Thou hast an Hamper for soiled Clothing and a Laundry Bag. I will put my Linen in the Laundry Bag, if thou wilt allow me a Little Latitude in the manner of the Shoes.
And Keturah said, For thee that will be doing very well.
And I answered and said, This will I do, even as I have promised, but O Keturah, I do not want to be Reformed any more than I am already Reformed.
And Keturah said, I verily believe that there are worse husbands, even than thou. And then did she kiss me, which is a way that she hath.587
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