#15 Jesus Teaches His Disciples About Judging

Matthew 7:1-6

1. The command: Matthew 7:1 says, “Do not judge, or you will be judged.” “Do not judge” is the present active imperative form of krino, which means “to judge.” It is in present tense, which means that we must keep on abstaining from judging. It is in the active voice, which means that the subject is the source of the action of the verb. That means that it is Jesus Christ who is telling us not to judge. And it is in the imperative mood, which means that Jesus Christ is ordering us not to judge. This is an especially important teaching. There are two uses of the verb “judge” in the New Testament.

a. The main use of “judge” is to discern or to evaluate. This is a good usage of the word, and our Lord does not forbid us to judge in this sense. Below please find some examples of the judging we must do. God expects us to use proper judgment in our lives.

1) 1 Corinthians 10:15 says, “I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.”

2) 1 Corinthians 7:37 says, “But he who stands firm in his heart, not having necessity, but having authority over his own will, and has judged this in his own heart, to keep his virgin, he will do well.” BLB

3) Romans 14:5 says, “For indeed one judges a day to be above another day, but another one judges every day alike. Let each be fully assured in his own mind.”

4) 1 Corinthians 2:15 says, “The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.”

5) Matthew 23:23 says, “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

6) Note: In this teaching and in many others, the Lord Jesus teaches with authority (Matthew 7:28-29). He does not deem it necessary to stop and qualify His teaching, explaining that there is a good kind of judging. He leaves gleanings in His teachings for disciples to chew on and to ask Him questions. He uses unqualified discourse.

b. The sinful kind of judging about which our Lord warns in Matthew 7:1-5 is improper destructive criticism. It expresses itself in two separate ways. Here they are:

1) When we form an unsure opinion of another person, it is sinful and reckless. Jesus says in John 7:24, “Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.” This is when we speak negatively about another person due to how things appear on the surface. We are not sure, but we draw a negative conclusion anyway. The following are diverse ways in which we can sin like this.

a) We sometimes sinfully speak in haste without really knowing the issues. When we discuss others, we must protect them as if they were our children.

b) We might judge quickly in prejudice and ignorance. Luke 7:37-39 says, “When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. 38As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.”39When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, He would know who this is and what kind of woman is touching Him—for she is a sinner!’” What sins of judging can we find here?

(1) The Pharisee’s sin is thinking that the Lord Jesus could not be a prophet because He would know about the woman if He were a prophet. He is wrong. Our lord is not only a prophet, but He is “The Prophet” foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15).[1]

(2) The Pharisee sinfully judges the motives of the sinful woman. He assumes that she is now the same as she has been before. Remember that the Lord said, “Judge not by the appearance but judge righteous judgment.”

(3) The Pharisee also sinfully judges the Lord Jesus. He thinks he knows what a prophet would do if he were in Jesus’ shoes, and a woman with such a reputation washed his feet with her tears, kissed his feet, dried them with her hair and put perfume on them. But the Pharisee does not know the motive of Christ. He does not know that Jesus receives sinful people if there is hope for their salvation. He also does not know if the Lord has already saved this woman. He speaks out of prejudice and out of ignorance. Every Christian must “judge righteous judgment.” Love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7). Love is optimistic about its object.

(4) The Pharisee’s judgment is that, for a sinner like she was, to touch a prophet is sinful. His judgment is false. The Lord did not sin, and the woman did not sin in this event either.

2) Sinful judging can also be expressing an unfavorable opinion. Romans 14:13 says, “Therefore let us stop judging one another….”

a) Sometimes we act out of spite or cruelty and judge another person, especially if that Christian’s belief differs from ours on some minor point of doctrine.[1] Romans 14:10 says, “Why then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” This is the judgment that counts, not that of others.

(1) Paul’s congregations were mixed. They were part of Jews and part of Gentiles. Amazingly, under Paul’s tutelage, Jewish and Gentile members learned how to love one another in this environment. They all believe that the Lord Jesus is the resurrected Messiah who died for their sins. Paul teaches the Romans that sinful judging occurs in a Church (Romans Chapters 14 & 15).

(2) Romans 14:5-6 (in the same context) says, “One person [a Jewish Christian] regards a certain day above the others, while someone else [a Gentile Christian] considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Brackets are mine.)

(3) If you belittle a Christian brother due to breaking a law that is not Biblical, you are sinfully judging that person.

(4) You must know your Bible very well to tell another Christian that he is sinning on a minor issue. Remember, Jesus said, “Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).

b) At other times we act out of egotism when we sinfully judge a brother. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 says, “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the one who loves God is known by God.”

(1) God says that knowledge puffs a person up in pride.

(2) We learn something that others do not know, and we get the big head about it. The devil has us thinking that we are better than the other person.

(3) But in the process of this, we sin against God by not loving our brother. We are belittling him due to trivial things, like eating discount meat that idolators had offered to an idol. If we treat a bona fide Christian as an unbeliever, whom God has justified by faith, we are guilty. He is not doing anything wrong by eating the meat. We must love the man who eats. Are we disdaining him out of egotism?

(4) This kind of judging is very sinful because it attacks the unity of the Spirit.

2. Jesus gives us the following reasons not to judge (Matthew 7:1-5).

a. The law of reaping and sowing is a reason to abstain from judging. Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” This is not God’s final judgment, but it is His providential law of reaping and sowing.

1) Crooked judgment begets the same.

2) If you use a short yard stick God will send someone to do the same to you. America has a “Bureau of Weights and Measures” to define all weights and measures.

3) Example of reaping exactly what one sows: Judges 1:6-7 says, “As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes. 7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.” Adoni-bezek reaped precisely as he sowed.

b. The one judging another person is worse than the one he judges. Matthew 7:3 says, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”

a) The speck represents the sin of the person the sinning person is judging. The speck is a karphos, which is a minute dry particle of chaff, wood, hay, or stubble etc. It represents the sin of the one upon whom the judgment falls.

b) John Gill in his Baptist Commentary says, Speck sin “designs little sins,[1] comparatively speaking, such as youthful follies, human frailties, infirmities, inadvertencies and imprudencies; which may be said to be light faults, in comparison of others: and though not to be vindicated, nor continued in, yet not to be severely looked upon and chastised.  To scrutinize diligently into, to aggravate, to dwell upon, and to sharply reprove the lighter faults of others, is a conduct, which is here …. condemned by Christ…”[2]

c) For example, the Pharisees in the following quote think that they are better than the tax collector, but they are worse.

d) An example of the judging person being worse than the one he judges: Matthew 12:2 says, “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’”

(1) The Pharisees sinfully judged the Lord Jesus for allowing His disciples to “reap” grain on the Sabbath Day. But the disciples broke no Biblical law and neither did our Lord.

(2) Deuteronomy 23:25 says, “If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle into his standing grain.” So, the Pharisees should not judge the Lord about this.

(3) Then the Lord responded to the Pharisees, telling them that the Law of mercy overrules the ceremonial law of the Old Testament, of which the Sabbath Laws were part. In Matthew 12:7 Jesus said, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.” So, God considered it to be sinful judging to use God’s ceremonial law for Israel as an excuse to withhold food from needy people.

e) Another example of a judging person being worse than the one he is judging is Luke 18:11 which says, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.”

f) But the Pharisee does not judge properly. The Tax Collector is becoming a humble follower of Christ. God imputes and imparts the righteousness of Christ to him via faith. The Pharisee is still in his sin, yet he judges himself morally and spiritually superior to the Publican who is a child of God.

1) The beam in the eye represents major sin, like the sin of judging. Treating a Christian as if he is not a child of God is an affront to God. The Lord Jesus majors on beams, not on specks. Pharisees major on specks. The Christian who criticizes others for speck sin is not following his Lord and Savior’s example.[1]

a) John Gill, in his Baptist Commentary on Matthew 7:3, says, “By the beam is meant, grosser abominations, and such as were more peculiar to the Pharisees; as pride, arrogance, a vain opinion of themselves, confidence in their own righteousness, hypocrisy, covetousness, and iniquity; things they did not advert to in themselves, when they loudly exclaimed against lesser evils in others. Such men must be of all persons inexcusable, who condemn that in others, which either they themselves do, or what is abundantly worse.”[1]

b) The “beam sin” keeps a person from being able to help others, since it blinds him to sin. One major beam sin is believing that one’s own righteousness is good enough to pass God’s judgment. Only the imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ is sufficient to pass God’s test[2] of salvation.

c) The Pharisees were constantly critical of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every time they judged the Lord Jesus, they were wrong. He never sinned.

d) One common beam sin is unbelief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

c. Sinful judging always lowers the standards.

1) It sees the speck (Matthew 7:3).

2) But it ignores the beam.

3) Why does sinful judging ignore the beam? Answer: It is more pleasant to think of others’ faults. And the person who is always judging may not be born again.

The following table will put this in perspective.

TABULAR VIEW OF JUDGING BY CONTRASTING JESUS, THE PHARISEES, & THE DISCIPLES

The Lord Jesus Christ	The Pharisees	The Disciples
He had no beam sins and no speck sins.	They had both beam sins and speck sins.	Before Pentecost they argued about who would be the greatest. This sin comes from judging.
He majored on beams when judging others. He never judges trivial matters.	They spent their lives keeping lesser laws but omitted the weightier matters of the law, such as judgment, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23).	After Pentecost, their sin life improves, but Peter had a beam sin once & Paul rebuked him publicly (Galatians 2:11-16). Peter is not petty.

d. Judging is unable to reason. Matthew 7:4 says, “How will you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye?” Blind doctors cannot perform surgery.’ A judging Christian counselor is blind and cannot help anyone if he majors on minors.

e. Judging is proof of a lack of proper priorities. Matthew 7:4-5 says, “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.”

1) You are your own mission field.

2) Matthew 7:4 says, “Your own eye.” You must teach yourself first, before you work on the speck in the other person’s eye. Primarily, you must be a born-again Christian. If you experience the grace of forgiveness, you know how to forgive others.

3) Matthew 7:5 says, “First… then.”

4) The principle is: Judging the other person comes from neglect of judging oneself.

f. Judging is blind.

1) A beam in your eye (Matthew 7:4). The beam is the sin of human viewpoint, and especially legalism. Legalism is a system of thought that says that God gives blessing because of merit. A man is blind without grace.

2) 1 Corinthians 2:15 says that the spiritual man [correctly] judges all things. So, all unsaved persons have a beam in their eyes since unsaved people are not spiritual people. (Brackets are mine.)

3) Promise of unobstructed vision (Matthew 7:5):

a) Mature spiritual vision requires casting out the beam of legalism and submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

b) A promise: “You shall see clearly.” Speck-removal is Biblical, but you must rid yourself of human viewpoint and legalism.

3. Defense requires discernment (Matthew 7:6). Matthew 7:6 says, “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 then turn and tear you to pieces.” Wonderful truths in the Bible do not satisfy the hunger of pig-type unbelievers. When the truth does not satisfy them, they attack the giver of the pearls of the Gospel.

a. A command: “Do not give the holy pearls to dogs and swine.

1) Dogs (Greek is kusin.)[1] They are large, savage, and ugly. Also, they are:

a) Unclean and filthy Proverbs 26:11

b) Threatening Psalm 22:16, 20

c) Howling and snarling Psalm 59:6

d) Greedy and shameless Isaiah 56:11

e) Contemptible 1 Samuel 17:43

f) Terrible, and they are a sign of God’s curse (1 Kings 14:11; 16:4: 21:24).

2) Find spiritual dogs in Philippians 3:2, when Paul says, “Beware of dogs….” These spiritual dogs are Judaizing men who are false teachers. Paul derives this usage of “dogs” from the Lord Jesus employing it in Matthew 7:6. Spiritual pigs and dogs are those who teach and preach false doctrine.

3) Swine are hogs and pigs.

a) They are a refuge of demons (Matthew 8:30-32).

b) They are unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7).

c) If you wash them, they return and wallow in the mud (2 Peter 2:22).

d) Jesus taught not to judge unless you purge your sin and legalism out of your eye. Then, in the same context, He taught to judge to see if a person is a swine or not.

e) 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:” NIV

b. Holy is something set apart, sacred, and designated for God. These are holy and spiritual pearls. Pearls are unbelievably valuable.

1) The hogs will trample your pearls. So, defend what is valuable by not throwing it to the savage dogs.

2) The dogs will tear you apart.

3) So, while you are evangelizing, remember to be discerning.

c. Applications

1) We must not treat all people alike. Try to develop the gift of discernment of spirits.

2) There is a point beyond which patience will not go. Luke 23:9 says, “He (Pilate) plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer.” NIV

3) An Apostle must not stay in a place long, where people reject the message (Matthew 10:14; Acts 13:45-46; Acts 18:5-6).

a) Matthew 10:14 says, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.” NIV

b) Acts 13:45-46 says, “When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against what Paul was saying. Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life; we now turn to the Gentiles.’” NIV

c) Acts 18:5-6 says, “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them. “Your blood be on your own heads. I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’” NIV

d) There are some treasures that we keep to ourselves. Isaiah 39:2-7 says, “And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 3Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”4“What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of Hosts: 6The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 7And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 8But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

4) Hezekiah cast his treasures before the Babylonian swine. They did not turn and tear Hezekiah, but they did violence to Hezekiah’s descendants.

5) Reserve the following for the saints of God:

(1) Our best thoughts

(2) Our most tender sentiments

(3) Non-essential Bible doctrines

NOTES

[1] Deuteronomy 18:15 says, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to Him.”

[2] In Romans 14 Paul explains to the Church at Rome how Jews who still think one must obey ceremonial laws, can unite with Gentiles, who do not believe in obeying laws about ceremonial foods. Paul’s advice to them: Just do not judge each other and do not despise the Jewish Christian because he abstains from foods, he thinks are unclean. Paul says that both such Christians are servants of the Lord Jesus. He is the judge and Master. They are never to judge one another concerning such matters. One can abstain and the other can partake, and both their motives are to obey the same Lord.

[3] The phrase “to the Lord” means “for the glory of the Lord.”

[4] All sin is sin in one sense. Even the tiniest of sins can keep a person out of Heaven. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” But in another sense, some sins are worse than others. Jesus said to Pilate, “He that delivered me to you has the greater sin.”

[5] Gill, John D.D. The Baptist Commentary Series: Exposition of the Old and New Testaments (Volume VII of X) page 68. London: Matthew and Leigh Publishing, 1809. The whole illustrated with notes taken from the most ancient Jewish writings. Total word count: 10,000,000 approximately

[6] The Pharisees were not referring to a Biblical Law. The law to which they referred came from the Rabbis ledger of 39 principle works, subdivided into various categories. The Pharisees thought that these “39 principle works” were an accurate representation of Moses’ Law. The Ledger taught that to pick grain was to reap grain. And to rub out the grain was to thresh grain. Since they believed that reaping and threshing are unlawful to do on the Sabbath, they believed that Jesus and His disciples had violated the Law of Moses. Examples of this kind of reasoning today are, “no musical instruments in the church,” “closed communion,” “Baptist bride,” and “infant baptism,” These are based upon human logic rather than honest exegesis of God’s word.

[7] Please consult the first post in this blog. Scan through the 613 Laws of Moses, and see the ceremonial laws, as well as the civil, moral, and spiritual laws of God.

[8] Have you ever read in the Bible about the Lord Jesus acting like a Pharisee? No, you have not.

[9] Gill, John D.D., Exposition of the Old & New Testaments Vol. 7 op. cit.

[10] Please note that passing God’s test of salvation is different from receiving salvation from God by faith. The test is the examination of the fruit of a believer.

[11] kusin is a different Greek word than kunarion, which is in Matthew 15:26-27 and is a house dog or a puppy. See W.E. Vine “An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” Volume I page 332. Fleming H Revell Company 1940