I believe the key verse for the sermon on the mount is...
Mt 7:24
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock..."
I am not trying to bore you or be redundant in reviewing this key verse every week. I want to keep it before us as a reminder of Jesus' intentions for this passage we call the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus was trying to provide a foundation by which people could build their lives upon. He referred to this foundation as a rock, and that rock was symbolic of His Word. His word provides a foundation of authority that supersedes all other guides we might learn from and follow in life.
This is as important in the 21st century as it has ever been in all of history. In a culture inundated with a worldly, humanistic media, what we really need is a reliable authority to give us direction. Jesus Word is that authority.
As we go through the Sermon on the mount let us keep in mind:
Our specific text for today is found in...
Matthew 7:1-6
Judging Others
1 Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3 Why do you look at 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,' and behold, the log is 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.
6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Let's look at these important verses with a little more scrutiny. The reason we get into the situation of judging others that Jesus talks about here, is that we do not scrutinize Scripture. Yes we may read it. We may even listen to teaching about it but most people do not scrutinize it. Look at the definition of scrutiny...
Scrutiny:
1 : a searching study, inquiry, or inspection : examination
2 : a searching look
3 : close watch : surveillance
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
We often scan over a passage and think, "I know what this is all about". We usually will take someone else's word about a passage rather than take the time to deeply examine and study it thoroughly ourselves. After all, we are way too busy these days. This morning we want to scrutinize these verses.
Mt 7:1
Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
How many times have you had those words thrown in your face? They are certainly important words to live by but they are almost always taken out of their context.
The word judge means to separate, distinguish, discriminate between good and evil, select, choose out the good. (CWS-NT) It carries a strong propensity of separation, which is not the job of the Christian. We are not to separate from the world, but rather we are to build relationships with them that we might impart to them the love of God. Judgment of separation is the job of the Holy Spirit.
How is it that Jesus tells us we should not judge when we must make all kinds of judgments every day?
For example, if you drive a car you are making judgments every moment, and one mistake in judgment can have fatal consequences. Many of those judgments involve judging what other people are going to do.
We judge other people all the time and sometimes it is very necessary. For example, we judge the people who get near our children, or the people we select to teach our children, or even drive a school bus. The list is endless. We must judge other people all the time.
There are even times we must make spiritual judgments about other people, but we will see that this is to fulfill our redemptive purpose here in the world.
I am sure you have had people quote this verse to you. Perhaps you have even quoted it from time to time. We like to use it to disarm those who might point out something to us that needs correction or improvement in our lives.
As always we must look at every verse in the context God has placed it in.
Mt 7:2
For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
If we judge; with redemption in mind, with love, in the way we would like others to judge us, we begin to become Christ like. We begin to grasp what Jesus was trying to say here. Judging with love or with redemption in mind is not a confrontational judgment, it is relational. If you look at how Jesus treated sinners you understand this. Look at verse...
Mt 7:12 - "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
Later in His ministry Jesus would put even greater emphasis on this idea of how we treat others.
Mt 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Now if all the law, and everything the prophets ever said when they were speaking for God, are what we are to live our lives by, this summation by Jesus is very important in relation to our text on judging others. The standard we are to live by; the standard we are to be judged by is love. And love is relational not confrontational.
Notice the continual reference to the law and prophets. Jesus was not making up some new priority for peoples lives. This was a well established principle instituted by the Heavenly Father long before Jesus came on the scene. This was part of Jesus' purpose in coming to earth - He came to make God's will and love for mankind known to all.
Love God:
Deut 6:4-9
4 Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!
5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Love Your Neighbor:
Lev 19:18, 34
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
34 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
Think about the account of the good Samaritan. It is a good illustration here. Lk 10:30...
Mt 7:3
Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Why do you look? Good question, especially in the context here. Looking at someone else while ignoring our own faults or problems. Looking at someone else's problems or shortcomings helps us to avoid looking at and dealing with our own.
Mt 7:4
Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye?
There is a great illustration of this in Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy. He is talking about the account of the harlot who cleaned Jesus' feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Listen to his commentary on this passage... (pages 114-119)
Mt 7:5
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.
The priority of spiritual growth is personal. In other words, before I can be responsible for anyone else's spiritual growth I must FIRST take care of my own spiritual growth.
Mt 7:6
Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Why is this verse usually associated with the verses on judging others? Could it be that the thing that is holy, the thing that is compared to valuable, beautiful pearls, is love for others in the way we would like others to love us?
Perhaps this is talking about distorting this love for others into trying to make them what we think they should be instead of what God wants them to be. He needs to work with them to judge and change them.
Perhaps when we become an agent of judgment instead of an agent of redemption, we are casting what we think is holy love to dogs and pigs who are put off by our condemnation. Perhaps if we loved then as agents of redemption they would turn from being dogs and pigs and accept Gods love in their lives.
Usually when we are judging others we are doing so by comparing them to the way we would do things. We compare them to the light that God has given us. But we refuse to be judges ourselves, by light God has given others. Jesus said we will be judged as we have judged others in light of Jesus' words in Mt. 7:12..."do to others what you want then to do to you".
Judging can be a tool or agent of condemnation or it can be a tool or agent of redemption. Always remember that condemnation is the job of the Holy Spirit not the Christian. A Christian is to be an agent of redemption and reconciliation.
To be agents of redemption is the mission of the church. Jesus' baptism is an example of His being an agent of redemption. He walks down into the water to be baptized by John and identifies Himself with the sinner who needs to repent. John recognizes immediately that it is not Jesus who needs to be baptized but John himself. John asks Jesus to take on the role of being the baptizer. After all, isn't Jesus the one who is worthy to stand in the role of judging sinners and baptizing them unto repentance?
But Jesus refuses to take on the role of judging in condemnation. Instead He chooses to take on the role of being an agent of redemption. He will identify with the sinners today. He will be baptized unto repentance like the sinners who have come to John. He will walk among them, and live among them. He will join them in their poverty, and enter into their sin riddled lives.
Yes, and in three short years He will even die for them, taking on the shame, torture, and death penalty, for their sins. Instead of using judgment as an agent of condemnation, He will use it as an agent of redemption. You see the judgment and condemnation of sin, was death. In order to redeem mankind Jesus would have to take that judgment and condemnation on Himself. The moment He did that He became the agent for our redemption. That is what He wants us to understand about judging others.
But wait a minute. He does not stop there. Three days after He is killed and put into a grave, He comes alive again. God the Father breathes the breath of life back into His cold lifeless corps, and He walks out of the tomb.
And in case you were wondering, He is coming back again. He will return for those who choose to accept His redemption and follow Him. And then, yes, he will become an agent of condemnation, judging those who refused to hear His words and act on them.
Yes, every day we make judgments about other people. But will our judgment be used as an agent of condemnation or as an agent of redemption?
Mt 7:24
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock...
Will you, today, respond to His act of redemption for your life? Will you, today, hear His Words, and act on them? God made you a free agent. The choice is yours to make and it is a choice we make out of love not fear. I choose to repent and follow Christ because He shows me His love by dying on the cross for me. He could have been an agent of condemnation, but He choose to love me. He choose to be an agent of redemption.
All Scriptures quoted are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2002