Judging Others – 1

6“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Is the command to not judge a universal command that applies to all of life?

What does Jesus mean, when he says, “Do not judge”?

Is there ever a time where one can judge?

We’ll look into these areas and more, the Lord willing.

Matthew 7:1 (NIV84)

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Do judge = κρίνω krinō = to judge a person to be guilty and liable to punishment; to judge as guilty, to condemn, condemnation.

When Jesus says, “Do not judge,” he prohibits a negative attitude toward others—a critical spirit.

You will be judged = to be evaluated (state): to be or become assessed or appraised by critical examination or scrutiny.

Since all people are sinners, no one is worthy to condemn another.

To the degree that you judge other people, other people—and God—will judge you.

The verse implies that we judge in a right sense.

But we should not indulge the criticizing faculty on others in a censorious manner as if we were set in authority and had a right to dispense judgment among our fellows.

We do not object to people forming a fair opinion of our character, neither are we forbidden to do the same toward them. But as we would object to their sitting in judgment on us, we should not sit in judgment on them.

This is not the day of judgment, neither are we his majesty’s judges. And therefore, we may not anticipate the time appointed for the final reckoning or usurp the prerogatives of the judge of all the earth.

Jesus does not forbid the evaluation of others.

He forbids the condemnation of others.

[This verse] is directed to relations between Christians.

R.C. Sproul: Matthew 7:1 is not addressing a judgment of discernment.

We are called to evaluate human behavior, in the light of God’s Word, and determine or discern whether it is good or evil.

This verse is addressing a judgment of condemnation.

The word used in the text is borrowed from the legal vocabulary of the day, and it has to do with the gavel of the judge coming down when he issues a sentence of punishment. That is the judgment of condemnation.

So, we could interpret Jesus’ words as “Condemn not, that you be not condemned.”

These words are “not simply a recommendation to be moderate in judgment on others.

The meaning is that, if you condemn, you exclude yourself from God’s pardon.”

John 8:2–11 (NIV84)

2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.

3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group

4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.

7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Textual Criticism (R.C. Sproul). The best manuscripts from antiquity do not include this story in the Gospel of John.

The overwhelming consensus of textual critics is that it was not part of the original Gospel of John, at least not this portion of John.

At the same time, the overwhelming consensus is that this account is authentic, it’s apostolic, and it should be contained in any edition of the New Testament.

Whether it belongs here in John’s Gospel, in Luke’s Gospel (where some ancient manuscripts place it), or somewhere else is a question I leave for the ages. But I believe it is nothing less than the very Word of God, so I will treat it as such in this chapter.

As an aside, let me say that I hope you are not disturbed to learn that there are copy errors in the early manuscripts of the books in our Bible.

Some people hear that and say, “We don’t have the originals, so how can we say that the Bible is the Word of God?”

That’s like saying that if someone put a bomb in the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington and blew up our official yardstick, there wouldn’t be enough accurate yardsticks and copies to allow us to reconstruct what a yard is.

Of course we would be able to reconstruct it, and we could do so with infinitesimal variation.

The same holds true for the text of Scripture.

The woman was brought to Jesus accused of being caught in the act of adultery.

There was a problem here. Where was the man?

Deuteronomy 22:22–24 (NIV84)

22If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.

23If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her,

24you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.

V. 6, “They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing [Jesus].”

The scribes and Pharisees set a trap for Jesus by bringing Him a woman caught in adultery. Under Roman occupation, the Jews could not legally carry out executions, which is why Jesus Himself was later sentenced to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate rather than by the Jewish high priest Caiaphas. If Jesus endorsed stoning the woman, He could be accused before the Romans of promoting unlawful capital punishment. If He opposed it, He could be accused before the Jewish leaders of rejecting Moses’ Law. Either answer seemed designed to put Him in serious trouble. (Summarized)

The Scribes and Pharisees violated Jesus’ mandate to not judge.

The Pharisees’ judgment was hypocritical. The Pharisees wielded the law as a weapon against the woman while remaining blind to their own moral failures.

Their judgment lacked mercy. Rather than seeking justice, repentance, or restoration, the Pharisees sought to execute the law’s penalty without any consideration for the woman’s restoration or redemption (Matt. 23:23–24; James 2:13).

Their judgment was self-righteous. When Jesus challenged the sinless among them to cast the first stone, the accusers left one by one. Though Jesus alone had the right to condemn her, He instead extended mercy and called her to a transformed life.

Jesus didn’t deny the woman’s guilt or the law’s validity; rather, he exposed the accusers’ hypocrisy, and they departed one by one.

Jesus demonstrated the difference between judgment that destroys and mercy that restores.

Romans 2:1–3 (NIV84)

1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

2Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?

Pass judgment = κρίνω krinō = to evaluate: to form a critical opinion of something (either positive or negative) by examination or scrutiny.

You are condemning = κατακρίνω katakrinō = pronounce a sentence after determination of guilt; pronounce a sentence on someone.

Jews often passed judgment on Gentiles because Jews felt themselves to be spiritually superior to Gentiles.

James Denney (1856-1917): “The apostle has now to prove that the righteousness of God is as necessary to the Jew as to the pagan; it is the Jew who is really addressed in this chapter from the beginning.”

“The Jew is ready enough to judge the Gentile. But he forgets that the same principle on which the Gentile is condemned, namely, that he does evil in spite of better knowledge (1:32), condemns him also.”

God’s wrath is revealed against all those who suppress the truth of God (1:18–32). Therefore you are without excuse when you judge others (2:1a), because you practice the very things you condemn in others (2:1b).

Condemnation was not due to the act of judging. The Jews “condemn[ed] themselves because they practice the same things.”

The condemnation was a result of the sins being committed by both the Gentiles and the Jews.

The Gentiles were being condemned due to their sins not for judging others; the Jews were being judged for the same reason.

This was addressed to those who judged others for the very same type of sins they were committing.

Matthew 7:1 (NIV84)

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

This verse is often used and abused by Christians and non-Christians alike.

Those who mishandle this verse often use it as a “shield for sin,”1 a barrier to keep others at bay, allowing them to justify living as they please without any regard for moral boundaries or accountability.

This verse cannot be used to substantiate unrestrained moral freedom, autonomy, and independence. This was not Jesus’ intent. He was not advocating a hands-off approach to moral accountability, refusing to allow anyone to make moral judgments in any sense.

Jesus was explicitly rebuking the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who were quick to see the sins of others but were blind and unwilling to hold themselves accountable to the same standard they were imposing on everyone else.

When people are confronted about their behavior, they frequently invoke “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” as a shield against accountability, using it to justify living without moral boundaries or consequences.

Those engaged in immoral behavior often quote this verse when attempting to defend their sinful lifestyle.

Certain religious people quote it when being challenged to prove that their unscriptural practices are backed by biblical authority. Skeptics even quote it in an attempt to show an inconsistency in Jesus’ teachings.

Psalm 105:12–15 (NIV84)

12When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,

13they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.

14He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings:

15“Do not touch my anointed ones (touch not my anointed, kjv); do my prophets no harm.”

Also in 1 Chronicles 16:19-22.

Immoral spiritual leaders often respond with, “Touch not God’s anointed,” when someone challenges or accuses them of wrongdoing.

Leaders using this phrase insinuate that critical speech about them constitutes sin.

Some Word-Faith teachers cite this verse in arguing that they have been specially anointed by God and should not be criticized for their teachings.

They indicate in their words and actions a belief that challenging their teachings amounts to challenging God himself.

No Christian leader can lay claim to being special or above others and beyond doctrinal criticism.

In Psalm 105:15 and 1 Chronicles 16:22, the warning applied to God’s specially chosen people, the Israelites, as God warned surrounding nations not to oppress them.

In ancient Israel, divinely chosen leaders—particularly kings and prophets—were literally anointed with oil to symbolize their being set apart for sacred service.

The specific command not to touch God’s anointed has nothing to do with criticizing spiritual leaders; it refers to physically harming Old Testament kings and prophets.

Luke 6:38 (NIV84)

38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

This verse is not a promise for material gain.

By looking at the preceding verse, we can understand the true context of what Jesus was speaking.

Luke 6:37 (NIV84)

37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

The principle of “the measure you use, it will be measured to you” not only applies to giving. It also applies to how we judge, condemn, and forgive others.

John G. Butler: The judging in our text simply speaks of prejudicial judgment, unfair judgment, judgment without the facts.

If you are prejudicial in your condemning of people, do not be surprised if you experience the same unfairness in treatment. If you want people to forgive you, then you need to be willing to forgive them.

Matthew 7:2 (NIV84)

2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Measure = μέτρον metron = that which is used for measuring, a measure.

We get the words: meter (measure), geometry (measuring land), trigonometry (measuring triangles), thermometer (measuring heat), chronometer (measuring time)

What are you using to measure when we judge and are being judged?

Perhaps a five-gallon bucket measure is reserved for the judgment we mete out to others.

A teaspoon measure should be used when we are being judge by others.

It doesn’t work that way. If we use a “five-gallon bucket” measure when we judge and condemn others, then that same measure will be used against us in judgment and condemnation.

1 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV84)

11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The thoughts of an individual human being are in large measure masked to all other human beings.

Only the one person really knows what that one person is thinking.

When one’s actions are judged according to what another thinks are his motives, the judgment is not only unlawful but, more often than not, it is entirely wrong.

We must operate only on the basis of a person’s words and actions, what we see and hear. And then, only tentatively. We can never be absolutely sure of his motives, intentions, purposes or goals even when he tells us what they are.

The heart can be deceptive—even self-deceptive.

A balance is needed between obeying commands to judge rightly and not to judge wrongly—between judging another’s actions and words and judging his heart’s intentions.

One of the evidences of immaturity is unbiblical, surface judgment.

People often judge others by their actions but judge themselves by their intentions.

An error in judgment comes, when one assumes what the other person’s motive was behind their action(s).

Matthew 7:15–20 (NIV84)

15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

We discern people—especially teachers—by their “fruit,” that is, by the consistent pattern of their words and deeds, not by guesses about what is going on inside them. Jesus says we “recognize” people by what their lives produce, just as trees are identified by the kind of fruit they bear. This assumes observable evidence, not speculation about motives.

1 Corinthians 4:5 (MSG)

5So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.

Divine judgment, and only divine judgment, will accomplish two things:

It “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness.”

It will “reveal the intentions of the heart.”

We’ll continue with this teaching of what constitutes right and wrong judgment, the Lord willing.

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