THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum)
Subdivision G
LAW CONCERNING JUDGING
MATT. 7:1-6; LUKE 6:37-42
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. "Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege." Matthew 7:1-6, The Message
This passage is incredibly familiar to me in the King James, so much so, that I can't hear the words for knowing them. In cases like this, sometimes the trendy translation The Message helps me hear the words again, this time from a different angle.
Judging itself is such a loaded term. Strong's Dictionary renders the word as "Properly to distinguish, that is, decide (mentally or judicially)." Are we not to distinguish/decide the actions of others in our own hearts? Surely he's not asking us to NOT think? If so, then how does an intelligent, analytically-minded person make observations and assessments about this world?
"Jesus does not mean that we are not to form opinions, but not to form them rashly, unfairly, like our prejudice." -RWP
Jack Abeleen at Growing Thru Grace gave an excellent sermon which fleshes out the parameters of Christian "judging:"
5/24/18 Jesus on Judging
Forgive---"Release (apoluete). Positive command the opposite of the censoriousness condemned." -RWP
Not only are we to NOT judge, but to release the person from our condemnation.
Or is the point that he asks us to shift our focus--that we should not invest our thoughts into backseat judging of other's lives instead of taking an honest critical look into our own? This makes more sense to me. So are we to be hard on ourselves? Again, a tricky issue. I think some Medieval monks, the Puritans, and certain sects went too far one way---self flagellation can become just another form of self-focus and worship. I like the Message's rendering: "instead of just living your part."
In Luke, this passage appears right after the discourse on loving our enemies, and it seems like a natural extension of that. The second piece of Luke's passage places the emphasis on generosity:
"....Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity." Luke 6:37-38
"In moral movements men can not be pushed; they must be led." -Fourfold Gospel
In other words, inspire others by your examination into your own soul, not theirs. This step is the beginning of any repentance or life change, not the insults of others. Even if other's insults and barbs motivate for a moment, our motivation will be appeasing them not pleasing God.
"God has reserved three prerogatives royal to Himself—vengeance, glory, and judgment." -BI, Bishop Sanderson"The way to righteousness lies in finding not other people’s sins, but our own." BI, Olshausen
"There is a means, indeed, by which we may benefit ourselves by a contemplation of others. We have it summed up in the saying of an old Roman writer—“Look into men’s lives, as into looking-glasses.” That is, judge them not, but seek to see yourself reflected in them. See them in their trials and temptations, see them in crises of thought and action, and consider how you would have fared in similar circumstances. This will help you to solve the problem of life, “Know thyself.” It will also teach you to appreciate the Christian attributes of charity and forbearance." -BI
Earlier I was looking for commentary on Matthew 5:6 that would help me make sense of this verse within the context:
Mat 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
It seems only tangentially related to the verses before it. However, I think it's a refining of what just came before it. We are to deal with our own sins before others' sins, but we are to use our minds in the process throughout. Sometimes it's not your job to share holy things with people who will abuse them.
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