•“Judge not, and you shall not be judged………..And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:37; 41-42
•“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24
•“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:20-21(KJV)
On reading number 1 text one could easily think that we should never make a judgment about anything or anyone. However, on reading numbers 2 and 3, we can see that there are times when Jesus tells us we do need to make a judgment.
In Luke 6 Jesus is telling us not to be critical or judgmental of each other. As we read the context of this chapter, I think it can be summed up in verses 31 and 36.
Verse 31 says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Love each other)
Verse 36 says, “Be therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
In number 2; John 7:24, Jesus tells us that there are righteous judgments. (Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment)
A. It is contrary to God’s law to judge (or censure) those who differ in color, religion, politics, beliefs, etc, to us. In these things, we are judging by appearance which is against Scripture.
B. The Pharisees made a wrong judgment about Jesus. They expected the outward appearance of the Messiah would be pompous and full of ceremonies of secular grandeur. How wrong they were!
Philippians 2:7-8 “Christ made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.”
The judgment that the Pharisees made of Christ certainly was not righteous!
C. On the other hand, in Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus makes a ‘righteous judgment’ about the Pharisees: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Jesus is telling us here that some are not what they seem to be, and that there are times when a judgment is wise. In Matthew 7:20-21, Jesus said, “By their fruits (of their lives) you shall know them.” If a person preaches one thing, but lives another, (like the Pharisees) then it is fair for us to make a judgment that they are hypocrites. While at the same time remembering the other words of Jesus in John 8:7 “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Let me make this more practical; if someone at our work place swears and drinks and invites us to drink, we have to make a judgment that is wrong for me, and I also don’t want to be over-friendly with that kind of person. (I need to be friendly, and I can pray for them, but not be buddy buddies with them) A Christian should be friendly with everyone, but a close friend with those who have the same values as ourselves. (This can be a little different in the family circle.)
Another example, (there are many that I could give) is with our children. If the children next door are known for their swearing and lying, we have to make a judgment that, unfortunately, we can’t allow our children to play with them.
In truth, there are situations nearly every day whereby we have to make judgments.
This is another reason why we should read the Bible every day so that we will know God’s rules and principles to live by.
In todays world, it is very important that we know what’s right and what’s wrong, not only for ourselves, but so we can pass truth onto the next generation.
Jesus said, “And you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you FREE!” John 8:32