Sermon on the Mount: Judge Not

Sermon on the Mount – Judge Not!

Matthew 7:1-5

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 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? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

1. Introduction – I think we have all been in this position before.

a. We’ve all had something that we’ve poured a lot of time and energy into…whether it’s a sports team, a group or a band.

i. And most of us have probably been in a situation where you go above and beyond, you over-prepare, you show up early, you practice your parts or rehearse your lines ahead of time and on your time…

1. Maybe it’s a group project and you’re a go-getter…making sure everything is organized…

a. However, even though you are pulling more than your fair share of the weight…

i. There are others in the group, band, on the team who do little.

1. They show up unprepared, don’t their parts, don’t know the plays, haven’t practiced much…

a. And when at practice they put the same kind of energy into it.

b. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been in that place.

i. I could give multiple examples from my own life when I have been on either side – the over-prepared one….and the lazy, disinterested one.

b. And it is in those moments…we have a decision to make.

i. How are we going to deal with our ill-prepared and late peers?

1. Are you going to be gracious with them and help them settle in? Or are we going to judge them for their sloppiness and tardiness?

a. Jesus tells us in this section that the same thing can happen in the Christian life.

i. You can pour your heart and soul into your relationship with Jesus.

1. Hunger and thirst after righteousness – you can read and study your Bible – spend hour upon hour in prayer…

a. But how do you react when you come across a Christian who isn’t as hungry for righteousness as you are?

i. How do you react when their thirst doesn’t match your thirst?

ii. Do you judge them for their lack of passion? Or do you come along side them and encourage them along the way?

1. Do you use your experience and journey with Jesus as a way to spur others on in righteousness?

a. This morning we come to another popular phrase from the SM – popular yes…but it is often misused, misunderstand misinterpreted.

i. So, this morning we are going to try and get to the bottom of this phrase – judge not, lets you be judged.

iii. Hear God’s Word – Matthew 7:1-5.

2. What it doesn’t mean – The structure of the passage is fairly straightforward.

a. Jesus gives an initial statement in vv.1-2 and drives his point home by telling a parable about specks and planks in vv.3-5.

i. Both parts of this section have been misunderstood and misinterpreted – so we’re going to try and decipher what is going on.

b. Let’s start by looking at what this initial phrase doesn’t mean. Judge not, that you be not judged.

i. This phrase is a popular phrase…and it is often used by non-Christians against Christians.

1. “You can’t judge me for who I am and what I do…the Bible says so…Judge not!”

a. And if we aren’t careful, if we don’t do our due diligence. And study the very in its context…

i. We might be tempted to think that they’re right.

ii. Judge not – what does it NOT mean? Figure this out and we’ll better understand what it does mean.

1. When Jesu says “judge not” he doesn’t mean that his people will be undiscerning blobs who never, under any circumstances, hold any opinion about right or wrong.

a. He isn’t telling us to suspend our critical faculties in relation to other people.

i. He isn’t telling us to turn a blind eye to peoples’ faults or telling us to not discern between right and wrong, good and evil.

iii. This verse has often been used a cover for moral laxity or as an excuse for indifference.

1. It can go either way. Someone might say, “You can’t judge me.” Another may say, “but who am I to judge?”

a. However, this isn’t a Christian idea – and this certainly isn’t what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Judge not, so you won’t be judged.”

i. It’s not loving or truthful to turn a blind eye to sin. It’s not loving to be morally lax or indifferent towards our Christian brothers and sisters.

c. Here’s what Jesus meant by this.

i. The Greek word hat Jesus uses for ‘judge’ has a wide range of meaning.

1. It can mean ‘to discern,’ ‘to judge judicially,’ ‘to be judgmental’ or ‘to condemn.’

a. Now, the context has to dictate the meaning of the word…and in the context, the verse means this…don’t be judgmental.

i. Don’t be overly critical of each other…don’t adopt a critical spirit – don’t have a condemning attitude.

ii. Yes, we are to be discerning – in a little bit we’ll look at how we can help each other – but we are not to be judgmental or overly critical of each other.

1. Don’t be a fault-finder, don’t be negative or destructive towards others.

a. Don’t actively seek out people’s failings…Jesus is condemning this kind of attitude amongst his people.

i. Overly critical, judgmental…but not blind apathy either.

d. The second half of verse 1 states what will happen to the judgmental critic.

i. You too will be judged.

1. Now this could mean 2 things. It could mean that if you are judgmental and critical – people will be judgmental and critical towards you.

a. Or it could mean that if you are judgmental and critical – God will deal critically and judgmentally toward you.

i. My belief is that it is the latter.

ii. And I believe that this is the case based on the caveat that Jesus makes in verse 2 – with the same judgment you make on others – that’s what will be used against you.

1. The Greek actually reads like this – with the judgment you judge, you will be judged.

a. What does that even mean?

i. Think of it like this – some rabbis in Jesus’ day said that God has 2 measures by which he assesses humanity – 2 ways in which he deals with us – the measure of justice and the measure of mercy.

iii. Jesus could be using this belief to drive his point home.

1. Whichever measure you use on others – whichever standard or judgment you use – will be applied to you.

a. If you deal with people harshly or judgmentally – expect God to do so with you.

i. If you deal with people mercifully and graciously – expect the same from God.

e. Now, God does exercise both justice and mercy towards his people – except his justice and pure and perfect and holy.

i. And as God’s people, we are to be imitators of God’s character – and what does God require of us but to do justice and love mercy???

1. So to sum up these 2 verse – the command to judge not is not a requirement to be blind or indifferent towards others – but rather a plea to be generous with each other.

a. Don’t deal judgmentally or critically with each other – but mercifully.

i. Don’t set yourself up and judge, jury and executioner or others.

ii. What this command is is really the reverse of the 5th beatitude. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

1. The judgy will be judged…true disciples, who have been impact4ed by God’s mercy, will exhibit mercy towards each other…not judgment.

3. Speck vs Plank – And to finish this section off, Jesus tells a parable about a speck of sawdust and a plank…both caught in the eye.

a. And again, this parable has been misused, misunderstood and misinterpreted over the years.

i. The message of the parable is easy to understand.

1. It deals with seeing the sin in other peoples’ lives and judging them, without first dealing with your own sin.

a. The image is one of attempting to do the delicate operation of removing a speck of dirt or sawdust from someone else’s eye…

i. All the while, your vision is impaired by an even larger obstacle.

b. So if we take this parable literally – it would look something like this.

i. Can I have a volunteer who wants this sawdust in their eye?

1. Don’t worry, I’ll help you get it out – only I will have this board coming out of my eyes.

a. As you can well imagine….this just won’t work.

i. You want your optometrist or ophthalmologist…or any surgeon really, to have clear and unobstructed vision in order to do the necessary work.

ii. it’s a humourous picture, but when this image is transferred to us and our ridiculous fault-finding ways, the joke isn’t always appreciated.

1. You see, we have a fatal tendency to exaggerate the offenses of others while at the same time minimizing our own.

a. Sure, we judge the person in the group for their obvious offense of tardiness and ill-preparedness.

i. But we minimize our own shortcomings – whatever they may be.

c. However, Jesus here reverses the image and says that your sins, your shortcomings, are huge…like a giant plan sticking straight out of your eyeball.

i. And in comparison, to your own fault, the faults and shortcomings of others are but a mere speck of sawdust.

1. Now again, this parable has been used by Christians and non Christians alike to show that we shouldn’t judge each other -or we should turn a blind eye to others’ faults and failures because, well, I’ve got a plank in my eye and I can’t really help.

a. The parable has been used almost as an excuse for indifference – which is the exact opposite of what it means.

i. It’s not an excuse for indifference – not an excuse for inaction or apathy towards our brothers and sisters – look at what the text actually says. Let’s read v. 5 carefully.

d. Did you hear it??? Look at the 2 words in the middle of the verse…and then.

i. Look at what Jesus is really instructing in this verse – not apathy or indifference…but self-surgery…

1. Self-criticism, self-examination…and then…aren’t those great words – self-examination…and then you’ll be able to see clearly, so you can judge other more effectively.

a. Oh…that’s not what it says???? No – so you’ll be able to effectively help someone with their speck.

ii. Far from indifference and apathy – this parable – this whole section is a call to loving, generous, gracious and merciful action towards our fellow Christians.

1. Here the command again – first take the plank out of your own eye…and then help others.

a. No doubt – a speck of dirt in the eye is painful…so is a plank.

i. The foreign bodies need to be removed, but we can’t help others if we first don’t get our act together.

e. Who better to help someone with a speck of sawdust in their eye then someone who has removed a much bigger object?

i. Who can relate better to someone with a speck of dirt in their eye then someone who has removed a larger obstacle?

1. Who better to help a cancer patient than someone who has previously been a cancer patient? Someone who can relate to the discomfort, nausea, the general overall terrible feeling.

a. Who better to help someone fit into a new community than someone who has just recently moved into that community?

ii. And think about it spiritually – who better to help someone with the sin of judgment, then someone who was judgmental, but did the hard work of self-examination and through the power of God overcame that sin?

1. Who better to help someone with an addiction than someone who has overcome an addiction in the power of God?

a. Who better to help someone who is lukewarm and apathetic in their walk with Christ, then someone who was previously apathetic, but God got a hold of and light a fire under them?

i. Do you see how this isn’t a command to indifference but action? But the action is completely opposite of our initial gut reaction.

f. Do you see the difference between our initial gut reactions and what Jesus is teaching here?

i. Our gut reaction is to judge others – deal harshly with them, demean or otherwise put them down for their faults, shortcomings and sin.

1. But Jesus tells us to first look at our own faults, failures, shortcomings and sin.

a. Deal with those – do self-surgery…deal with the pain that it will cause in our life.

i. Live with the discomfort of confronting sin.

1. Accept the precious remedy that God will pour on you when you come to him in genuine and humble repentance.

ii. But don’t stop there…the parable isn’t done. It is no incumbent on the healed to be used as a healer.

1. As Henri Nouwen would say…a wounded healer. And since we have been wounded, since we’ve done the hard work of removing the plank from our own eye…

a. We will not come to other with self-righteous indignation…

i. But we’ll come with grace, humility and love.

1. We know firsthand the pain that the other person is in…but we also know the way out and the remedy for their situation.

g. This is radically counter-cultural. The world says, “You do you, I’ll do me…let’s just let each other be?

i. But in the kingdom of God life is different. The Christian community should be entirely different.

1. Instead of judging each other letting each other be…

a. We have a responsibility to help each other with sin, with failures, faults and shortcomings.

i. It is a mark of a Christian community to help each other out, to help get the speck out of each other’s eyes.

1. But this surgery should only be done after humble self-criticism, self-examination…

a. Only after the plank has been removed from our own eye.

ii. After self-criticism takes place, relationships are based on redemptive empathy rather than judgment.

1. In summing up this section I want to quote and ancient scholar. John Chrysostom wrote this in summing up this section of Scripture…

a. Correct him – but not as a foe, nor as an adversary exacting a penalty, but as a physician providing medicine…yes, even more, correct him as a loving brother – anxious to rescue and restore.

i. And with that quote, we finally get to the bottom of this wonderful section of Scripture.