Good Judgement and Bad Judgement, Part 1
Matthew 7v1-6
14th March 2025
Matthew 7v1-6
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it
will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the
plank in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother's eye.
"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 turn and tear you to pieces."
Is it not a remarkable thing that our Lord Jesus Christ told us these things one after the other? First He told us not to judge, and then He told us not to give what is sacred to dogs, which requires us to judge whether a person should be considered a dog. That seems very judgemental indeed. We would never call anybody a dog, but it seems Jesus would. So what is He really saying here?
Firstly, perhaps, we should bear in mind the fact that both the Greek word krino and the English word "judge" can have more than one meaning. There is a difference between judging in the sense of discerning the truth about a person or situation, and judging in the sense of condemning someone. Indeed, our English versions translate krino sometimes as "judge" and sometimes as "condemn". Examples of the use of krino include:
John 3v17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn [krino] the world, but to save
the world through him.
Romans 14v3
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the
one who does not eat everything must not judge [krino] the one who does, for God has
accepted him.
We make judgements all the time, and usually we're right to do so. We judge how much salt to add to a meal, how much room we need to park our car, whether an item of clothing fits us and looks nice, and so on. We also make moral judgements, and we're right to do so. In Luke 12v57, Jesus asked the crowd "Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?"
To understand any passage of scripture, we must consider the rest of the Bible. There are many passages where we're required to make judgements about people. For example, in 1 Timothy 3, Paul instructs Timothy to appoint elders and deacons, and sets out the criteria to use in doing so. Consider also:
1 Corinthians 5v11-13
... you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral
or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such a
person.
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those
inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you.
These and other scriptures make it clear that we must make judgements about people, and we must exercise discipline in the church. So what does Jesus mean when he tells us "Do not judge, or you too will be judged"? I have two answers.
Firstly, we are not to condemn others. It is not for us to treat anybody as if they are worthless, or even as if they are worth less than we are. We are to love our neighbours as ourselves. As Jesus said earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, "anyone who says 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fires of hell" (Matthew 5v22) and "If you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6v15).
We have no right to believe ourselves to be better people than anybody else. We're sinners saved by grace. All that is good in us is God-given. Without His mercy we would be as lost and anyone. Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1v15). Perhaps if we were more self-aware, more honest, we would be sufficiently aware of our own sin that we would not be so quick to despise other sinners.
As we've seen, we must exercise church discipline, and the government must do its best to exercise civil justice. But we dare not be contemptuous of any other person.
Secondly, I think Jesus is telling us not to be judgemental people, not to keep finding fault, criticising, belittling the characters and the efforts of other people. As Jesus said in Matthew 5v3-7, we are blessed if we are poor in spirit, meek and merciful. The true Christian heart is a humble heart, a loving heart, a peace-making heart. People who claim to be Christians, followers of Jesus, but who have a judgemental attitude are wearisome and annoying. They tear down when we should be building up. They discourage and offend, when we should be winning people for Christ and encouraging our brothers and sisters.
We'll continue our study of Matthew 7v1-6 next time.