Judge Not!

Matthew 7:1-5

 

 

In the Late 1990s, a scandal of unprecedented proportions broke within the LAPDs Rampart division. The scandal went deeper and wider than anyone thought possible and was centered on two police officers. When all was said and done, nearly 100 convictions were over-turned due to corruption such as witness tampering, evidence planting, bad shootings, improper arrests, and others. The estimated total cost of the Rampart scandal topped 125 million dollars. Additionally more than 15,000 cases are being investigated for possible corruption.

Recently, Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was removed from office for federal corruption charges which included: attempting to auction off Pres. Obama’s house seat, blackmailing the Chicago Tribune into firing columnist he considered overly critical of himself, and strong arming to get his wife a high paying job. Later, His appointment to congress, Burris, is of questionable legitimacy because of who appointed him.

·     Hypocrite: the man who murdered both his parents... pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.  ~Abraham Lincoln

·     The world is full of fools and faint hearts; and yet everyone has courage enough to bear the misfortunes, and wisdom enough to manage the affairs, of his neighbor.  ~Benjamin Franklin

I wonder if you’ve ever seen the scales of justice.  They are usually represented by lady justice holding a scale in one hand, a sword in the other having a blindfold. The purpose is to show how the law is to be true and impartial.

When the rule of law is undermined or the basic fabric of our judicial system is unraveled it is like:

·       A sail with no wind

·       A hotrod with no fuel

·       A refrigerator with no food

·       A bank account with no money

·       The extended discussion of how delicious and wonderful a juicy steak is without actually taking a bite

·       A baseball player taking a swing with a rope

·       A rifle shooting blanks

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." Matthew 7:1-5 NKJV

In our society of so called "tolerance," we are often struck with an opposition of people who cry that we have no right to judge them. In fact, I've even heard some go so far as to claim that "Jesus never judged people; He even taught that we are not to judge!" Strangely enough, they will quote Matthew 7:1 in attempts to convince others that Jesus has condemned all judging.

In the first two words of this passage, Jesus does tell us to "Judge not..." But these two words have been perverted and twisted to teach that when one calls the actions of another error and expresses that continuance in such ways will condemn the soul, that individual is judging, which is supposedly "condemned" in the Bible. But from the context of this passage, what judging is forbidden?

If we take the view that judging is completely and totally forbidden, then that would make the doctrinal and moral purity of the church impossible to maintain. This would violate other teachings and divine examples that Christ has revealed in His word:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ^A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:15-20

This stance would commit us to neutrality and that is the very opposite of the stance Christ wants us to take.

As a matter of fact, Paul’s stand in Chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians would make not sense at all if we were never to judge! But what gave Paul the authority and right to judge? It was that he lived in the fullness of God’s Spirit with a pure conscience before God. Other wise, he could have never said, emulate me as I emulate Christ!

What many fail to realize is that Jesus taught, that we are given the right and responsibility to make judgments in order to help our fellow man with their problem of sin, provided we have first "remove the plank from our own eye." Jesus expects you to be able to see clearly, so that you can "remove the speck from your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:5). So there are judgments to be made, within ourselves, and of others.

But then, what judging is the Lord telling us not to practice? In our text, Jesus is forbidding the judging that is for the purpose of putting down others to exalt one's self. It is the habit of finding fault in others when really there are more faults within you. How can you expect to help a person with a few transgressions when you are overwhelmed with many transgressions? Jesus simply teaches that in order to pass righteous judgment on another, we ought to first examine ourselves. Let us remove the plank in our eye. Then, and only then, can we see clearly to remove the speck in our brother's eye.

In John 8, the scribes and the Pharisees seeking to test Jesus brought to Him a woman caught in the act of adultery and asked the following question: “Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” Jesus responded by saying, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (v. 7). “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one. . . . When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more’” (vv. 9-11).

What are the lessons we can learn from this story? What does it say about sexual immorality; is adultery no longer a sin? Are we to conclude that it is wrong for Christians to judge behavior and condemn sin? Are there no longer any consequences to sin in the New Testament era? What would Jesus say?

JESUS DID NOT EXCUSE ADULTERY. Although Jesus said that He did not condemn the woman, she was unquestionably an adulteress. In other Scriptures, Jesus says that adultery is on par with things that are evil and wicked, and, like murder, adultery defiles a man. Jesus says that adultery is a sin that can cast you into hell (Matt. 5:27-30). Whatever the lessons of John 8 are, one cannot conclude that Jesus does not consider adultery a sin.

JESUS DOES NOT CONDEMN JUDGING, BUT UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT. The woman in John 8 was an adulteress (John 8:3-4), but her accusers were not motivated by righteous judgment or disdain for sin, but a desire to test Jesus, “that they might have something of which to accuse Him” (John 8:6). The scribes and Pharisees sought to trap Jesus by His answer to their question. Jesus did not immediately answer the question, but gave the appearance of ignoring it (John 8:6). Not wanting Jesus to escape, the scribes and Pharisees repeated their question until Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” No one threw a stone and all of the woman’s accusers left her and Jesus alone (John 8:9-11). In their zeal to trap Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees had allowed their own improper motives to blind their judgment. With one statement (“He who is without sin among you…”), Jesus caused the woman’s accusers to be “convicted by their conscience” (John 8:7, 9).

Jesus’ statement to the accusers did not condemn judging, but caused the accusers to consider their own motives. The men came to realize that they were actually willing to kill a woman if necessary to discredit Jesus. Jesus did not fault the scribes and Pharisees for accusing the woman of adultery because the accusation was true. Rather, Jesus pointed out that the reason why they brought the adulteress to Jesus in the first place was hypocritical.

Jesus does not condemn judging, but emphasizes the need for righteous, genuine, and sincere judgment. One cannot know the difference between good and bad fruit without judging (Luke 6:43).

Matthew 7:1-2 is often misquoted by people who believe judging is unscriptural. “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Verse 2, however, emphasizes the importance of sincere, non-hypocritical judgment.

Righteous judgment is a necessary activity for a spiritually healthy Christian. The Christian first looks inward and judges himself, and removes “the plank from his own eye” (Luke 6:42).

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ^For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:28-29

 

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

2 Corinthians 13:5

 

For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ^But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.  Galatians 6:3-4

 

The teaching of Jesus in this passage is concerned with the attitude of a man, not a complete absence of our judgment. Christ is not permitting us to avoid making hard decisions or taking difficult stands. He is warning us not to have a bitter, hyper-critical, faultfinding spirit. That is a haughty attitude God will not tolerate.

However, as God's children, although we must be cautious in our judgments concerning ourselves and others, we cannot ignore our Lord's commands that instruct us to make judgments. In John 7:24, Jesus said "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” Here we are clearly commanded to judge with righteous judgment.

But what does it mean to judge with righteous judgment? Jesus revealed this earlier in John 5:30: Jesus spoke, saying, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."

If we seek and follow the true will of God, which can only be found in His word, then when it comes time for us to help people discern between right and wrong, then we will not judge with our opinions or what we think is right, but just like the mind that Christ had, we will only seek to do the will of the Father. Following the limitations for judgment that are taught throughout the scriptures, all we are to do in order to judge righteous judgment is to hear God's word, and judge using His standard.

How can anyone honestly say that Jesus didn't judge? For that matter, when our Lord's true followers make righteous judgments, based on His word, in order to expose sin and help the lost to be saved, why would anyone ever think that Jesus would condemn them for that? Jesus has plainly revealed that those who abide in His ways will judge with righteous judgment.