LIFE IN GOD’S KINGDOM
LEAVES THE JUDGING TO GOD
MATTHEW 7:1-6

INTRODUCTION

Describe my disdain for Greg Smith’s harassment of officials at basketball games and the snide comments that would go around the other parents when he would "go off".

Have you ever seen someone else do something wrong and criticized them in your heart or perhaps spoke about their "error in judgement" or "lack of self-control" to another person? Have you ever called into question another person’s motives for doing something right? Like the students who sit in the back of the room and mutter among themselves about the student at the front who always participates in the class discussion. They accuse her of "sucking up" to the teacher, of participating just to get special attention from the teacher. All of us, if we are honest, have to admit that we have at least mentally criticized and probably commented on the behavior of others or their motives. The practice of criticizing and condemning others is a practice that all humans engage in. It is a practice that Jesus sees as particularly dangerous and destructive. It is dangerous to the person who is doing the judging and it destroys people and relationships.

Jesus is not naïve. He knows that we live with sinners and that sinners do things wrong and do the right things for the wrong reasons. He is not telling us in this passage that we are to close our eyes and pretend evil doesn’t exist. But he does want us to deal with the evil we see or suspect in others correctly. He is no friend of injustice. He is not a promoter of a religion that says it doesn’t matter how people behave. Quite the contrary, in the past two chapters we have seen that it matters a great deal to God what a person does and why he does what he does. Jesus has been clear that God opposes and judges the evil that people do and those who do good for the wrong reasons. Look back at 5: 22 and then 6:1. It is this fact, that God judges people, that forms the foundation of his instruction to us on how to relate to the evil that we see people do or suspect them of doing.

MAIN POINT

God alone is judge therefore…

I. He is collecting evidence (vv. 1-2)

The first sentence of verse one could be more strongly translated like this: "Do not judge in order that you be not judged." In other words the reason Jesus tells us not to mentally or verbally criticize another person is so that we will not call down God’s judgement on ourselves. The second verse gives the reason as to why our judging others will result in our being judged. (Quote it.) God is paying attention to what you think and what you say. When we evaluate the behavior and/or motives of others, God listens to us and remembers. Later in Matthew Jesus says this, "But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned." Later, Paul, one of the chief spokespersons for Christianity wrote this, "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things."

C.S. Lewis says it’s like God has put a tape recorder on each one of us that only records what we say when we make moral judgements. For example, yesterday Steve and Connie Shradel and I rode home together from Wausau where we attended a conference. We each must have made statements about how beautiful the trees and hills were a dozen times. There was some breathtaking beauty, especially up around Wausau itself. The tape recorder we are wearing didn’t turn on when we made any of those statements. When we got closer to Madison we turned on the radio to see how the Badger football team was doing. The game was over and the Badgers had won. Both Steve and I expressed our happiness at their success. The tape recorder didn’t turn on then, either. We left the radio on and a sports call-in show came on. The host invited Badger fans to call in and talk with Mike Lucas, who is the sports editor for one of the big Madison or Milwaukee papers. The first caller started to ask Mr. Lucas why the Badgers didn’t put Ron Dayne at fullback. Mr. Lucas said, "That’s the most ignorant, stupid question I’ve ever heard." He proceeded to ridicule the caller in a very harsh tone of voice. I made a comment about Mr. Lucas’ behavior to this effect, "Wow, that’s not very nice. He’s not being very gracious." The tape recorder turned on when I said that.

By my commenting on Mr. Lucas’ behavior I was making a moral judgement. I was showing that I understood how people ought to live. When I criticized Mr. Lucas for how he treated that caller I was proving that I know it is wrong to treat people in such a rude and unkind manner. God heard me make that moral judgement and he put it in my file for future reference. There is a day coming when I will stand before God and he will say, "Now John, I have here this statement you made condemning a Mr. Mike Lucas for rude and unkind remarks he made when he was on a radio call in show. Now, what I’d like to know is, since you obviously know it is wrong to treat people that way, then why did you call your son stupid when he asked that question about deer hunting?" When we condemn and judge others we are condemning and judging ourselves. We are providing the grounds upon which God will convict us and sentence us to hell. There will be no defense that will stand at the day of judgement for any of us because we will be our own accusers.

It may be that there are some in here who think either, "I never judge others." Or you may think, "When I judge the behavior of others, I am careful to make sure I never do what I judge in others." If you think either of these things you are in great danger. There isn’t a person in here who never passes moral judgement on others. There isn’t a person in here that lives up to his or her own standards. How horrifying it will be to stand before God, assuming you will pass safely through his court only to have your own voice condemn you. Jesus is trying to push us to consider how we will be able to escape God’s judgement when it is so obvious that we do not measure up to our own standards of conduct, let alone his. This is another diagnostic test from Jesus to show us how sick we are and how desperately we need him to be our doctor. There isn’t a person in here upon hearing that, "in the same way you judge others, you will be judged", ought not to be cringing in fear. This word is meant by Jesus to drive us to cry out for mercy from God to overlook our sin and to change us into people who are gracious, not critical. The only defense that will stand in that day of judgement for any of us is that we have trusted in Christ as the one who has taken the punishment of our sins upon himself.

I’m going to ask you to pay attention for just this day to the moral judgements that you make about the behavior and motives of others. Then I want you to give careful thought to when you violated that judgement you just passed on someone else. Then cry out for mercy. Ask God that he would accept Jesus’ death for your sins and that he would give you the Holy Spirit so that you will not judge and live the way you know you ought to live.

God alone is judge, therefore…

• He is collecting evidence
• And…

II. Judge yourself, then help others escape the judgement (vv. 3-5)

Jesus uses a very humorous word picture to show us how we are to respond to the evil that our brothers do. These verses are describing how Christians are to deal with one another. (Read them) One of the things these verses tell us is that Jesus did not envision a church that did not have problems and conflicts. Jesus saw that the church was going to be a place where people have splinters and planks in their eyes. If you expect the church to be a place of perfect love and acceptance, you aren’t thinking correctly. The humor of this word picture was seen when we asked Todd to shave Alec while he was blindfold. Jesus says how can you possibly help someone get something out of his or her eye when you’ve got this big plank blinding you. The idea isn’t that you can partially see around the plank. The idea is that you are completely blind and so there’s no way you can help do the delicate work of removing a small object from another person’s eye.

Jesus not only is using a humorous word picture but he also asks a question that we need to think about. He asks, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye but pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Why is it so easy and natural for me to see the sin in another person, but so difficult to pay attention to the sin in my own life? It is easier to do that, isn’t it? How many times have you listened to a sermon and said to yourself, "I’m sure glad my wife is hearing this", or "I wish my brother would have heard this sermon"? Every married couple knows that their spouse has been far more inconsiderate than they have. Every child knows that their brother or sister has done more to start the fight than they have. Every worker knows that their co-workers are far more shiftless than they are.

Why do the sins of others appear so large and ours, if we have any, seem so small? There are a number of answers to Jesus’ question. We enjoy feeling superior. It’s a happy thing to see the failure of others and to pride ourselves in not having failed in that way. Often we see the sin of others more than our own because their sin hurts us and our sin doesn’t hurt us. We don’t like being hurt and so we feel their sin more than we feel our own. The sins of others appear greater because we know, or at least we say we know, why we do what we do and we always have good reasons for doing what we do. We don’t know the reasons for the other person’s behavior and so we can’t excuse it so easily as we can our own.

Verse 4 describes a very evil thing that happens often among Christians. Jesus wants to know how it is we can go to another person under the pretense of helping them with the splinter in their eye when we’ve got a plank in our own. The scenario Jesus is painting here is that another person is doing something that is so annoying to you that you finally decide to say something, "to help him out." Your going is not because you care for the other person. Your going is simply because you are annoyed with their behavior. You aren’t trying to help them. You’re trying to get them to change or to at least feel bad about what they are doing because it is so clear that they don’t "get it." It’s your job to make sure they "get it". This is so wicked because it is a loving thing to help your brother remove the splinter. So you are using an apparent kindness to cover up a great evil.

I notice that I do this most often with my children. Just this other day we were having our family worship. We were reading the Bible and all the sudden two of my children started yelling at each other and fighting. They were both on the couch and somebody’s foot had touched the other person. So, I got mad at them and yelled at them for getting mad at each other and yelling at each other. I had no concern for them, only that they were annoying me and interrupting what I was trying to get done. I went to them to help them remove the splinter and ignored the plank in my own eye. Is it right for me to correct my children? Yes. Is it right for me to do to them what I’m correcting them for doing? No.

In verse 5 it appears, on the surface, that Jesus does what he forbids in v. 1 and he commands us to do what he forbids in v. 1. He begins by saying, "You hypocrite". If that isn’t a judgmental statement I don’t know what is. Can you imagine calling someone a hypocrite? To call a person a hypocrite is to say you know their motives. A hypocrite is a person who does the right thing for the wrong reason. By using this term Jesus is condemning people for their motives. This isn’t the only place he does this. He calls people hypocrites to their faces often. What does this mean? It means that Jesus doesn’t have any planks in his eyes. It means that he knows what’s in men’s hearts. It means he has the authority to judge. It means he is God.

The other thing this verse shows us is that Jesus’ prohibition against judging others is not a command to suspend all critical evaluation. Your Christian brothers and sisters have splinters in their eyes and they need your help to get them out. There is error to be corrected and there is disobedience to be confronted. Jesus is not forbidding evaluating the doctrine and behavior of others, he is forbidding using that evaluation to condemn them and not to help them. He wants us to help other Christian’s to overcome sin. He commands this very thing in Matthew 18 and the other NT writers repeatedly command that we evaluate others for the purpose of helping them. The way you do it is to first remove the plank from your own eye. The analogy of the plank in your eye versus the speck of dust in your brother’s eye isn’t that you are sinning a really big sin and he’s sinning a little sin. It’s not like I saw Todd shoplift a pack of gum from Woodman’s but I’m out robbing banks. I saw Fran watch 5 minutes of "Baywatch" but I go to strip joints every night. I say Cheryl have a glass of wine but I’m out getting drunk every night. The analogy isn’t about me doing a lot of what I’m criticizing you for doing a little of. Rather, the plank is the sin of self-righteousness. It is coming to you in a spirit of pride. It’s believing and communicating, "I’m sure glad I don’t have any problem like you do." "You really ought to be like me. In fact if you’ll just do what I do, all your problems will go away."

To take the plank out of your eye is to do what I recommended at the end of the first point. You must go to God in true repentance over your sin. You must beg God to give you a sense of your sin and of how evil you truly are and of what an amazing work of God it is that you ever have a good thought or ever do a good thing. The only people who are qualified to help others get the splinters out of their eyes are those who are overwhelmed with a sense of their own sin and with a sense of the immensity of God’s forgiveness. Listen to what Jonathon Edwards said about himself when he was in his late 30’s, after being a pastor for over 20 years and a Christian for almost 30 years. He is arguably the greatest pastor and theologian that America ever produced.

He goes on to describe the wonder of grace. He is overwhelmed that God has saved him. It is knowing these two things that qualifies you to help another person get the splinter out of their eye. Do you have a deep sense of your own evil heart? Do you have a deep sense of the amazing kindness of God in saving you through Christ? If these are true then Jesus wants you to help others to get the splinters out of their eyes.

Tell about Jared’s conversation with the kids in detention.

God alone is judge, therefore…

• He is collecting evidence
• Judge yourself, then you can help others escape judgement
• And…

III. There is truth and error, right and wrong (v. 6)

This verse is like a bolt of lightening out of a clear blue sky. (read it) Anyone who ever tells you that Christianity is simple or that being a Christian is simple, is simply not paying attention. Jesus has just told us not to judge and to take the plank out of our own eyes and then he starts calling people dogs and pigs and commanding us to not deal with them. The only way you can obey v. 6 is to make a value judgement on who is a dog, a pig. If you don’t make that judgement you cannot know who you are to withhold the "holy" from. How in the world are we supposed to fit these verses together? What in the world does this verse mean to begin with?

We have to ask 2 questions, don’t we? Who does Jesus have in mind when he uses the terms, "dogs" and "pigs"? What are "the holy" and "your pearls"? Let’s start with the second question first. Things that are holy are things that belong to God. The temple is holy, the sacrifices are holy, his word is holy, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. His people are called his holy people. There are holy days and holy festivals. He is called Holy, holy, holy. Now holiness is not primarily concerned with moral behavior but with something that is set aside for God’s use, something that is associated with God. When you combine this concept with the phrase "your pearls", it becomes apparent that the thing we are to not give to the dogs is associated with God and valuable to us. In Matthew 13:45 Jesus tells a short parable that I think gives us some help. (Turn and read it with me.) The kingdom of God is the pearl that we give up everything in order to obtain. It would seem then that Jesus is referring to truths about God’s kingdom. We are to not give the gospel of the kingdom and the secrets of that kingdom to the dogs/pigs.

Who are these people? First, in Jewish teaching, based on the OT law, dogs and pigs were unclean animals. They could not be eaten, nor could you have any contact with them if you wanted to be able to go into the temple and worship God. They were viewed as symbols of all that was unacceptable to God. I want you to look at two passages, one in the OT and the other in the NT. Turn to Psalm 22 (page ). Notice the first verse. This is what Jesus said while hanging on the cross. This psalm is about the suffering of the Messiah, the Savior that God would send to save his people. Look at vv. 16-18 and then 19-20. Now turn over to the NT to Philippians 3: 2-4. When you look at these passages and others like them dogs and pigs are those people who have an obvious, violent opposition to Christ and to his gospel.

What Christ is telling us is that we are not to put ourselves in the place of God and so condemn others for their real or suspected sins. However, we are to recognize that there is truth and there is error and some people are going to refuse to believe the truth. In the process of communicating truth to people you will encounter them and there will come a time when you will need to stop telling them about Jesus. If you persist in forcing the truth of Jesus on people who have a settled opposition to him they will mock what you are saying and they may harm you and kill you. When I put this together with 5: 10-12, this is what becomes apparent. If you are going to be a Christian you are going to be persecuted and insulted, count on it. However, sometimes Christians are persecuted because they don’t know when to shut up. I want to look at an example from the life of Jesus, then one from Paul’s life and then talk about two experiences I had while sharing the gospel with college students.

Matthew 27: 11-14 page ______

Acts 13: 13-15, 26 & 44-52

All humans have the ability to discriminate and evaluate. It is part of being human. Jesus emphasizes that God alone is judge and so we should know that when we put ourselves in the place of God and condemn others for real or suspected sins, God is paying attention. We should not use our brother’s sin to promote our own righteousness but should in humility confess our sin and seek to help our brother overcome his sin. Finally, we should know that as we live as a Christian and share the good news about Jesus with others that sometimes people will violently oppose the message and we should have the good sense to shut up.

© Copyright 2000 John Swanson.
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