Matthew 7:1-12

Matthew 7:1-12

March 14, 2021

Who Are You To Judge?

Perhaps the most misquoted and misunderstood sayings of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 7:1 - ““Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, HCSB).

a). “In a statement on Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said that it had decided last year to end publication and licensing of the books by Theodor Seuss Geisel. The titles include his first book writing under the pen name Dr. Seuss, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street” (1937), and “If I Ran the Zoo” (1950).

“These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong,” Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in the statement. The business said the decision came after working with a panel of experts, including educators, and reviewing its catalog of titles.”[1]

[1]www.nytimes.com/2021/03/02/books/dr-seuss-mulberry-street.html, accessed on 3/12/21.

b). Amazon has decided to stop selling books that cast lesbian, gay and transgender identities as mental illnesses.

The e-commerce titan revealed its decision in a letter to three Republican senators who cried foul last month over the removal of a conservative scholar’s book about transgender people.

The book, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” was published in 2018 but recently disappeared from Amazon’s website, Kindle store and Audible audiobook platform.

“As to your specific question about When Harry Became Sally, we have chosen not to sell books that frame LGBTQ+ identity as a mental illness,” Amazon executive Brian Huseman wrote in the Thursday letter to Sens. Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee and Mike Braun, which was published by The Wall Street Journal.[1]

[1] https://nypost.com/2021/03/12/amazon-stops-selling-books-framing-lgbtq-identities-as-illness/, accessed on 3/12/21.

MATTHEW 7:1-6

First a definition. The English word ‘judge’ often carries a negative connotation. In the language Jesus used (which was NOT English), ‘judge’ meant “evaluate, discern, separate, or decide.”[1]

[1] Jonathan T. Pennington, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2017), 256.

DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves.” (Matthew 7:1, AMP).

““Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1, HCSB).

The issue here is illustrated in two different ways:

a). vs 3-5

– if you have a plank sticking out of your eye, how can you evaluate a splinter in the eye of a fellow believer!

b). vs 6

Remember in the Jewish world in the first century dogs were not house pets. Dogs were scavengers that existed by eating garbage. Pigs for Jews were simply off limits, unclean.

A pearl, even now, is a valuable asset, one not to be just offered to anyone. That which is holy, that which is set apart by God is not to be thrown to scavenging dogs

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” (Matthew 10:14–15, HCSB)

MATTHEW 7:7-11

Is it possible for the kind of life Jesus calls for to be lived?

Matthew 7:7-11 tell us that kingdom living is possible – not because we have the necessary resources, but because God our heavenly Father DOES have the resources we need!

. The three words aren’t meant to describe three kinds of prayer. They are meant to picture a persistent effort to come to an answer.

If we – who often fail our children yet strive to provide the best we can for them, how much more will God – who is perfect in all ways, who possesses all knowledge, whose power is unlimited, whose presence is eternal – answer us IF we dare to ask!

In order to experience this kingdom we need resources from the king! Jesus calls us to use the awesome privilege that is ours – because of the nature of God – a heavenly Father who desires to provide His children only the best. We have full authority and permission to ask, seek, and knock – without limit!

MATTHEW 7:12

The Golden Rule: Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do To You.

: ““Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17, HCSB)

Kingdom citizens are to be distinct not just because we go to church, but by the very character of our lives in the workplace, in the school, in the doctor’s offices, in the grocery stores.

The heart of this section is vs 7-11. Jesus’ call to prayer is not simply an invitation to approach God as an afterthought. He is calling for an aggressive, persistent willingness to go after the resources we need. Yes, God knows what we need (see Matthew 6:32).

. Spouses – what kind of relationship would you have if your spouse never spoke to you? (Hush men…you really wouldn’t like it!) Some of you as parents know the heartbreak of children and grandchildren who no longer communicate with you at all. All of us have friends that we no longer speak to – and we all know how deeply that can hurt

We are different in how we relate to one another – I saw this recently:

The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck!

We are to be distinct in our recognition of the character of God. One writer suggests

God must not be thought of as a reluctant stranger who can be … bullied [or] as a malicious tyrant who takes vicious glee in the tricks he plays….or even as an indulgent grandfather who provides everything requested. He is the Heavenly Father, the God of the kingdom who graciously and willingly bestows the good gifts of the King in answer to prayer.[1]

[1] D. A. Carson, Matthew in The Expositors Bible Commentary: with The New International Version of the Holy Bible, Vol. 8 (Matthew, Mark, Luke), Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed.; J.D Douglas, Assoc. Ed. (Grand Rapids, MI.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 187.

Finally, we are different because we have chosen how we would like to be treated before we treat others! This is no promise we will be treated as we wish, but it does separate kingdom citizens from the rest of the world.

The remarkable promise of this passage: IF WE ASK – GOD ANSWERS!