Why the Log-face?

Luke 6:37–42 ESV

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Introduction:

When I started out in pastoral ministry, one of my shocking discoveries was how many people who have never been a pastor, nor ever would desire to be a pastor, have such strong opinions about what I, as a pastor should be doing. Pastoring will grow you in humility because there are many who have no compunction against telling you exactly what you are doing wrong, whether in person or in a four page note tucked under your office door after vacation. What is also interesting is how many of those same people will get their noses very much out of joint when the same pastor comes to them to correct some sinful behavior he has witnessed in their lives.

You see, as humans, we often want to be able to pick out what is wrong with everyone else, but don’t want anyone to even suggest that what we are doing is wrong or dangerous or sinful. Even people who have never been to church will still try to quote one passage of scripture and it happens to be from our passage today.

“You’re not the judge of me.”

“Don’t be judgmental.”

“You’re pretty judgy.”

“You have no right to judge anyone”

These are a few of the statements you may hear from the world. Sometimes we hear Christians utter these as well, out of a misunderstanding of this scripture and a misunderstanding of what a disciple of Christ is supposed to look like and how they are to act, specifically in regard to relationships with those around us.

Today we are going to pull apart these six verses and look at what God is telling us in them. The main idea we see here is:

BIG IDEA HERE

I plan to focus on three main points today.

Measured Out and Measured Back (v. 37-38)

As goes the teacher, so go the followers. (v. 39-40)

Log removal helps us see better. (v. 41-42)

Let’s pray and ask God to help us.

Luke 6:37–38 ESV

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

I. Measured out and measured back (v. 37-38)

Jesus has been teaching in this passage in a section we call the Sermon on the Plain. He had just told his disciples how to love their enemies by being merciful and showing grace to people who persecuted and hated them. When we get into today’s passage, Jesus is continuing to help his followers understand how to respond to sin in a godly way.

Our 2024 modern culture considers judging someone to be the worse thing you can do. You can be absolutely blackballed by the world if you are suspected to judge people.

It will help us to look at this and ask first, what is Jesus not saying here? He’s not saying to never judge anyone or anything ever. We all face situations in life where we have to make some sort of judgement. Your kids will have a fight, teachers have to give a grade, you have assess the performance of your employees, elders in the church have to work through cases of church discipline, and of course, judges in a court of law have to render verdicts. If we take this command along with the whole of the Bible, we can see that Jesus is not making a command against all forms of judgment. In fact, many times there are moral and theological decisions that we come up against and it would be highly irresponsible for us to not make a judgement.

However, there are times when we should not be judging.

The New England Patriots football franchise has enjoyed a level of success in their sport that few others have. They aren’t very good right now but for years they were the team to beat coached by who is considered the best football coach ever, Bill Belicheck. That may be debatable but what is not debatable is that he had a team ethic and motto that worked for his players. It was “do your job.” This meant you were responsible to do what you were supposed to be doing. The center did the job of a center. The wide receivers had to do the job they were assigned and the tight ends had to do their jobs, etc. If you don’t do your job, the team doesn’t work like it should. When we approach a situation and feel like we need to offer our opinion of what people should be doing or how they need to be treated, we should ask if it’s our job, our role, to judge here or are we overstepping? Are we possibly, in doing so, putting ourself in the place of God, who is the one who actually has the right to judge.

A. A matter of the heart

So there are times when we must judge and time shwen we shouldn’t. What is Jesus doing here? As usual, it’s not so much about the activity but it’s about the heart behind the activity. Jesus is cutting to the heart attitude of his disciples.

Philip Ryken is helpful here when he writes,

When he tells us not to judge, he is telling us not to treat people unfairly or unjustly in the court of our own opinion. In a word, we must not be judgmental. A judgmental person is someone who reaches unjust conclusions about someone else’s motives. He or she is quick to criticize—usually putting things in the worst possible light—but slow to forgive.

He goes on to talk about how those who have a judgmental disposition lack a sense of proportion. They see small offenses the same as larger ones in their response. They’ll respond with the same vigor and level to both. This judgmentalism evaluates others so harshly that it leads to an unforgiving attitude and often will give up hope of that other person every being reached by God.

Jesus doesn’t stop with not judging. He goes on to communicate that His disciples are supposed to also not condemn and in contrast are to forgive and offer grace generously.

Two attitudes of the heart on display.

The attitude of the world or the attitude of Jesus who forgave and gave His very life for our sin debt on the cross and rose to life again.

One woman who offered more grace was the victim of a horrible crime:

A Turkish officer raided and looted an Armenian home. He killed the aged parents and gave the daughters to the soldiers, keeping the eldest daughter for himself. Some time later she escaped and trained as a nurse. As time passed, she found herself nursing in a ward of Turkish officers. One night, by the light of a lantern, she saw the face of this officer. He was so gravely ill that without exceptional nursing he would die. The days passed, and he recovered. One day, the doctor stood by the bed with her and said to him, “But for her devotion to you, you would be dead.” He looked at her and said, “We have met before, haven’t we?” “Yes,” she said, “we have met before.” “Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked. She replied, “I am a follower of him who said ‘Love your enemies.’ ”

It’s more than forgiveness but also offering love. What a test of true discipleship and devotion to Christ. Forgiving and offering grace that is undeserved and that you don’t benefit from.

There is a warning in what Jesus says. If we are judgemental, if that is the way we live our lives, with a critical and judgmental spirit towards others and not forgiving others then we too will come under judgement.

Unforgiveness is a sign that you have never truly understood the forgiveness that we have in Jesus Christ.

(The tin woodsman and the scarecrow -avoid both)

B. In verse 38, Jesus uses a word picture to make his point.

Luke 6:38 ESV

give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

One scholar describes this as a “lapful of blessing.”

Another scholar describes the ancient custom referenced here:

The seller crouches on the ground with the measure between his legs. First of all he fills the measure three-quarters full and gives it a good shake with a rotatory motion to make the grains settle down. Then he fills the measure to the top and gives it another shake. Next he presses the corn together strongly with both hands. Finally he heaps it into a cone, tapping it carefully to press the grains together; from time to time he bores a hole in the cone and pours a few more grains into it, until there is literally no more room for a single grain. In this way, the purchaser is guaranteed an absolutely full measure; it cannot hold more.

When we live out the grace and forgiveness of Jesus toward other people, we show our identity as citizens of heaven and we will be blessed for it. We may not see it returned till we enter eternity but God is generous with those who are generous. When we operate the way we are to operate, we will experience joy and blessing. What better blessing could their be than just knowing that we are children of the King and get to lavish grace on others as it has been lavished upon us?

Transition statement: Jesus’ next statements seem like sort of an abrupt topical change but I believe they are connected.

Let’s look at verse 39-40.

Luke 6:39–40 ESV

He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

II. As the teacher goes, so go the followers. (V. 39-40)

A. Be careful who you follow.

Follow the wrong person and you wind up in a ditch.

Blind people can’t lead other blind people because they have the same problem. Eventually there is going to be a problem.

(Guiding Pastor Shane)(on the four wheeler)

Elsewhere in scripture Jesus spoke of the Pharisees as blind guides, so some think He might have had them in mind here but there is a bigger application to this with His including of it here. If we don’t have the Spirit of God working in our lives and giving us sight then we are spiritually blind. If you follow those who are equally spiritually blind, you’re going to wind up in a mess. The modern American church is full of blind leaders leading people to the ditch of hell. So be very careful who you follow. But also, be careful how you lead.

B. Lead with eyes on Jesus.

Remember who Jesus is talking to in this passage. It’s the 12 Apostles who He had just chosen out of the other followers. The larger crowd of followers is there as well. So Jesus is saying this to those who would be responsible for spreading His message over the next several years after His resurrection and starting the early churches. You who would teach, are responsible for where you take those who you are teaching. To lead, we must be able to see. The teacher is responsible for where the disciples are going. We must take them where they are to go and in order to do this we must see clearly.

We need to see Jesus for who He really is.

We need to clearly see the truth of the gospel.

We need to clearly see what a being a disciple means.

Jesus disciples would avoid falling into the bit of destruction by following the only teacher worth emulating - Jesus Christ.

Follow Jesus by faith. Listen to what He says in His Word. Follow His forgiving example.

Transition statement: Jesus rounds out this teaching on judgement with an illustration that combines both bad judgement and bad eyesight.

Luke 6:41–42 ESV

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

III. Log removal helps us see better. (V. 41-42)

You can not say that Jesus didn’t have a sense of humor. He’s using an over exaggeration to make a point.

The point isn’t that the person can’t see. The issue is that the person can’t see clearly, yet they think they can.

He thinks he can see clearly enough to take care of the tiny speck in his brother’s eye, all the while overlooking the giant log sticking out of his own.

Speck - little splinter of wood or straw

Log - main beam of a building - major pillar

David Gooding writes of this person, that he has “some glaringly wrong habit or attitude in his life which everybody else can see; but strangely enough, not only can he apparently not see it himself, but he is the very one who is constantly pointing out other people’s minor faults and failings.”

Kierkegaard said, “ It is only all too certain that every human being, unfortunately, has a great inclination to see his neighbor’s faults and perhaps an even greater one to want to tell them.”

Jesus uses a word for this: hypocrisy.

Transition statement:

So how do we think about these things in our lives?

(Conclusion and Application)

We should try to take God’s place in pronouncing condemning final judgement on people.

We are to hold each other accountable for our lives and doctrine, as part of a local church. We should exercise this carefully.

When you see someone’s sin, consider first whether you have a glaring sin in your life so that you can more clearly see the other person. You can not help them if you can not see clearly. The point is not to avoid helping a person. The point is to get your heart attitude right so you can properly lead them to repentance. The point is to not live a life of hypocrisy where we overestimate our ability to deal with other people’s sin and underestimate our own. It’s about seeing ourselves for what we really are and our own sin. When we clearly see our own sin, we will more fully enjoy and appreciate the grace Jesus showed us on the cross.

Let all the world know that the Lord Jesus will not cast away His believing people because of short-comings and infirmities. The husband does not put away his wife because he finds failings in her. The mother does not forsake her infant because it is weak, feeble, and ignorant. And the Lord Christ does not cast off poor sinners who have committed their souls into His hands because He sees in them blemishes and imperfections. Oh! No! It is His glory to pass over the faults of His people, and heal their backslidings,—to make much of their weak graces, and to pardon their many faults. - JC Ryle