To judge or not to judge...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Jesus uncut. During this series, we are spending our time together looking at perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever preached, which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. During this series, we are going to see Jesus reveal to the crowds listening to His sermon, and to us here today, the true nature of what God demands of humanity in order to experience a right relationship with Him and what it truly means to obey the message and teachings of the letters that make up the Bible.

And during this series, as we see Jesus uncut, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables us to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around the lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as one who is living in a right relationship with Him.  This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this famous sermon that Jesus preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew, we are going to discover another timeless truth from Jesus uncut. So, let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Matthew 7:1:

"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.

As Matthew continues to give us a front row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus command those listening to His sermon, and humanity throughout history, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged”. Now this single statement by Jesus is the statement that is most often quoted by others concerning the message and teachings of Jesus. This statement is quoted by people regardless of their familiarity with Christianity or the Bible.

This statement is quoted by people regardless of their level of commitment to Jesus. This statement is quoted at Christians by other Christians when their behavior is questioned. And this statement is often quoted at Christians as evidence of their hypocrisy by those who are not Christians. “You know what the Bible says Don’t judge or you will be judged”. Or “You Christians shouldn’t judge me, after all Jesus said don’t judge.”

However, this statement is one of the most misunderstood and misused statements of Jesus in the entire Bible by Christians and by non-Christians. So, I want us to spend a few minutes unpacking Jesus words so that we can truly understand what Jesus is trying to communicate here. When Jesus uses the word judge here, this word, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to express an opinion about something in a way that seeks to influence the life and actions of someone. This word is addressing the concept of making a judgment about the words and actions of another.

You see, there is a profound difference between making judgments and being judgmental. There is a profound difference between making judgments that address that attitudes, actions, or words of someone and being judgmental so as to view another as being of lesser value, worth or significance. And the letters that make up the Bible are crystal clear in that we are not to be judgmental of others who are created in the image of God so as to view them as being of little value, worth, and significance.

However, Jesus here seems to also be saying that we should not be expressing our opinion about something in a way that seeks to influence the life and actions of someone. Jesus seems to be saying that we should not be making judgments about the words and actions of another. Jesus explained that the reason why we should not judge is so that you will not be judged. In other words, Jesus is saying that our judgments about the attitudes, actions and words of others will result in us being exposed to Divine judgment by God.

Jesus then unpacked this Divine judgment by God in verse 2: "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” Now Jesus here is using a proverbial expression that was very popular during this time in history. This proverbial expression, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Do not judge others because when you judge others, you will be exposed to Divine judgment by God. And in that Divine judgment by God, the measure you give out as judgment to those you judge will be the measure you will get in judgment from God”.

But is Jesus really saying that people should not express an opinion about something in a way that seeks to influence the life and actions of someone? Is Jesus really commanding the crowd listening to not judge the attitudes, actions, and words of others? What is Jesus really getting at here?

Now if we simply stopped reading at verse two, which is where many people tend to stop reading, it would seem to be clear that Jesus is commanding the crowds listening to Him to not judge the attitudes, actions, and words of others. If we simply stopped reading at verse two, it would seem to be clear that Jesus is commanding the crowds listening to Him to not express an opinion about something in a way that seeks to influence the life and actions of someone.

However Jesus doesn’t stop in verse two. Instead, as Jesus continues His sermon, we see Jesus tell a parable. Now a parable is an earthly story that is designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. And it is in this parable that contains an almost sarcastic level of humor that Jesus reveals what He was truly getting at with this command.

Tomorrow we will look at this parable together...