Today’s passages are on judgment; not the judgement of God upon people but people judging other people. The final judgement is reserved for Jesus, to wit: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10).
Even Christians will appear
before Christ to be judged as well done or I never knew you; depart from Me;
you that work iniquity (Mat 7:23).
The point therein is that Jesus
is the judge, and for us to judge severely to damnation, undermines God.
That introduces the most often
quoted… and misquoted verse in the Bible, even more so than John 3:16 — Do
not judge, or precisely, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Mat 7:1).
One amateur theologian asked, “What part of not do you not understand… you
are NOT to judge?”
Certainly, anyone but a child or
idiot, even most dogs, understand negative commands. “Not” is not the issue;
the issue is “judge.” More on that shortly.
The passages below are the best example wherein taking one verse, standing alone, may change the context:
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, “Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?” 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. (Mat 7:1-5)
1. If
you do not want to be judged by people, do not judge them. (verse 1). Certainly,
no Christians would judge Jesus guilty, would they? because even the court of
Pilate found no fault in Him.
Likewise,
as a Christian you would not want to be judged like Jesus. How was He judged?
Harshly. They condemned the innocent man! Harsh judgment is condemnation, so
judgment has degrees of harshness whereas “not” does not.
2. If
you judge, understand that God will judge you by your own metrics (verse 2). Hence,
if you dare to judge, judge others as you would judge yourself. Few judge
themselves harshly. So, the implication is that if you dare judge, do so as you
would want to be judged.
3. You
have a field of vision that shields your own guiltiness but examines others
closely. You can easily see their sins but not your own. (verse 3). In other
words, look not at others; but look within yourself. A mote is chaff, or
sawdust, whereas a beam is a huge piece of timber.
Everyone has debris in them because none
are without sin. Those who fail to look within themselves are blinded by their
own massive sins.
4. You
cannot fix the sins of others if iniquity in yourself cannot be handled (verse
4).
5. And
finally, (verse 5), you can objectively judge others after you have objectively
judged yourself. In other words, judge objectively and fairly, and once you see
the iniquity in yourself the sin the other person would not seem so massive compared
to your own.
It has a range of meanings all
the way from a guess, to having an opinion, to try based on evidence, to determine
guilt, to condemn. Dictators condemn without regard to facts, so obviously, judgment
is not to be harsh for you would not want to be judged harshly.
Luke, validated that:
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. (Luke 6:36-38)
So, that brings us to the second
often quoted statement. “I’ll forgive but I will never forget.” Forgiveness is not
necessarily forgetting but never again to hold something against the person.
True, you may never forget, but you can refrain from continually judging the
wrongdoer over and over again! As Seinfeld would say, “I’ll put it in the
vault.” It remains a fault, but in the darkness and locked up, the fault is
never to be used against another person again.
Some say, “I moved on” all the
while holding a grudge against another person. No, you did not move on,
you did not forgive, but just no longer dwell on the grudge; you continue your
life carrying the grudge and behaving as if it is no longer of concern. “You hypocrite!”
Jesus would yell.
Merciful is being as graceful as
God. You are to be merciful because He is merciful, not that you can judge
harshly, because He may condemn based on righteousness. He is impartial but you
are partial; you trivialize your own sin by magnifying the sins of others.
Since Jesus is without sin, then He is unbiased. He need not look innocent
because He is innocent. You are not!
Luke wrote the words of Jesus a
little differently than Matthew but with the same intent. What does “judge”
mean in both Matthew and Luke? “Judge not, and ye shall not be
judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned.”
The translators put a colon after
the “judged.” That means a clarification is eminent. What did “judge not”
mean? “Condemn not.” What does “judged” mean? “Condemned.” So, how harshly are
you not to judge? You must never condemn a person, as the strictest definition
means.
Jesus condemns the sinner who
does not repent. To the scarlet woman Jesus asked, “Who condemned you?”
“Nobody.”
“Neither do I condemn thee: go,
and sin no more” (John 8:11).
None of the others had the
authority, nor were sinless, to condemn the tarnished woman, so Jesus did not
condemn her. Jesus by questioning the men, “Who is without sin?” removed the
beam from their own eyes, and they did not judge the mote in the eye of the woman.
Jesus did judge her. “Neither do
I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” The woman saw that she had a mote, and Jesus
removed the mote from her. He did not condemn the scarlet woman, but He had the
power and authority to judge her, but although she had sinned, Jesus saw
something in her that the others had not — she was worth saving from
condemnation if they had stoned her to death!
To be truthful, the woman probably
sinned more since she is human, but Jesus, with no beam in His eye, would not
hold it against her because she saw her own sin and became a new person safe
from the effects of sin. She may still sin, but Jesus would not hold them against
her. That is what the others should do as well, but there is no mention that
they forgot her sins.
Therefore, “judgment” is not just
having opinions or guessing, but condemning. None would condemn the
woman because Jesus made them see the beams in their own eyes — they were all
sinners and were not qualified to condemn the woman. Jesus alone had the power
to condemn or redeem. He chose to redeem the woman because her soul was
valuable to Him (John 3:16). We are to have the same attitude.
Do not condemn but an
opinion is often worthwhile. It is okay to see the sin but love the sinner.
That is not in scripture as a commandment, but it is a tenant from God nonetheless.
The whole thesis of the Bible is to hate sin but love the sinner because
that is the meaning of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world (sinners), that
he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (sinners) believeth in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.”
Condemnation is because of sin.
Jesus hated sin so intensely that He carried sins that are past to Hell and
forgot about them. He despised sin so much that He delivered mankind from the
bondage of sin so that they should not perish.
Agape love in the Bible is
not an emotional attachment but goodwill. That none should perish
is goodwill toward man and the meaning of “love” in John 3:16. That
others should not perish is the goodwill that Christians should have toward
others. Jesus changed the attitude of the mob who would throw stones. When they
judged themselves by the same measure as they judged the woman, they did not
condemn themselves, nor would they condemn the woman.
Jesus had made His point to them about
judgment and condemnation. He then judged the woman with a fair measure; that He
would not want to be condemned by the mob so He would not allow the mob to
condemn her!
Being a bit political for the
moment, Hunter Biden who has not only a “beam” in his eye but a whole “forest”
was just judged lightly for many great and severe crimes.
The obvious expectation is that Donald
Trump, who has broken few if any laws, will be judged harshly. Most certainly
he will be condemned.
They both should be judged using
the same metrics — The laws and Constitution of the United States. However,
Biden was judged with mercy and leniency by the justice department, and maybe
that is right. Who knows?
However, for justice to be
served, Donald Trump should be judged just as the scarlet woman and Biden were
judged, and that is with mercy and grace.
That is not what mobs do, and the
Justice Department will not turn a blind eye to anything, even the least off-color.
They have become “Judge Lynch,” the “KKK Mob,” or even the German Court wherein
Judge Roland Freisler harshly condemned the accused without evidence,
specifically Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Is it happening again, that which
must never happen again?
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