MOTIVATE

There are some things in life you either love or loathe.

• Disney (I speak about our trip lightly until clear interest)
• Sports / Competition
• Weather seasons (winter vs summer)… then there’s that whole daylight savings thing. BTW we lose hour next week (but we gain daylight in evenings).
• Vegetables / Seafood
• Maryland, or whatever is your home state
• Jesus. People like the idea of God, and even a Savior until they realize there’s only one truth without toleration of other gods. The whole one Lord, one faith takes religion too seriously.

You see, many have misconceptions about Jesus’ life and teachings. They think he was just a sentimental prophet, a religious guru, and kind of a tranquil hippy who went around spreading peace, love, and groovy vibes. But the real Jesus was different. When Jesus began His public ministry, He was polarizing. He drew lines in the sand, sometimes literally. He divided families and separated divine truth from human tradition. His words either awakened eyes or they hardened hearts. While some crowds flocked to Jesus, others conspired His murder. The real Jesus was never middle of the road but made people choose a path, with many taking the broad way and few selecting the narrow way. And though toil and trial awaits the narrow way, it is the only path to eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom.

Today we begin a message series on the hard sayings of Jesus. We will explore some of the difficult teachings and seemingly misunderstood quotes from Jesus and the Bible. Our aim is to confront each of us with the biblical Jesus, and challenge us to take Him more seriously in the way we follow Him as our Savior and Lord.

We could examine dozens of passages, and I’ve selected only a few that will lead us through Easter. Today’s passage is Matthew 7:1-6.

If God had a favorite verse, it would be John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

If Satan had a favorite verse, it would be Matthew 7:1. It is this verse that Satan wants embedded in your memory and prepared on your lips. It is one of the most quoted verses of the Bible by non-Christians, and perhaps by believers as well. Yet, it is also perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misapplied Bible verses/passages. People use this passage to push back against those who critique shortcomings, call out sins, or condemn false doctrine. Sadly, in today’s culture, to judge someone is committing an unforgivable crime. But this is not what Jesus had in mind. Let’s read and reflect upon the text to understand its meaning and application.

EXAMINE       Matthew 7:1-6
¹  “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
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.

The philosophy of “judge not” fits with secular society that religion should always be private and that moral absolutes are immoral. Yet, both these concepts are contradictory.
If one truly believed the first statement, then we should never know it because it would have been kept private. Besides, most are generally accepting of those who judge others who steal or do harm/violence toward family and friends. Everyone has a basic level of right/wrong, therefore the idea of personal values having to stay private and not public is disingenuous.
The second belief is itself an absolute statement, and thus
self-contradictory that moral absolutes do not exist.

Addressing the passage, one should remember one of the key rules for biblical interpretation is to understand the passage in its context.

• Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the Mount (SOM) is Jesus critiquing Jewish traditions/interpretations of Pharisees. Essentially, Jesus says, “Don’t be like these hypocrites.”
• At the end of the SOM (7:22-27), Jesus separates and judges those who do not put His teachings into practice.
• In the specific passage Matthew 7:5-6, Jesus calls individuals “hypocrites…dogs… and pigs.” So, either Jesus is not practicing what He’s preaching, or He clearly has something else in mind when He says, “Do not judge.”
• Many passages in the Bible reveal levels of judgment we should have upon things in the world.
  • There’s a book in the Bible called (ahem)… Judges!
  • “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” (Ps 7:11)

• It was basically in a prophet’s job description.
  • Isaiah 58:1 “Shout loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people their transgression and sins.”
  • Zechariah 7:9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another”
  • Jesus states if a person commits an offense, go to them privately. If they don’t listen, then broaden the circle until they confess and repent (Matthew 18:15).
  • Jesus said, “Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
  • Over three dozen times in Matthew Jesus references a Day of Judgment or eschatological condemnation.^[1]
  • Paul commands Christians not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin, and to condemn an individual who was practicing sexual immorality (1Cor5).
  • Paul exhorts believers to hold one another accountable (Galatians 6:1-2).
  • James exhorts Christians to bring back wandering sinners through gracious confrontation (Ja 5:19-20).
  • Peter warned against false teachers.
  • John warned against anti-Christs.

So, what is the true lessons Jesus wants us to understand?

We judge wrongly when we are unwilling to be held to the same standard.

¹  “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

• It’s why Jesus kept calling the Pharisees, “hypocrites.” Jesus was calling out judgments that were self-righteous and unaccountable. These sorts of people were only pretending to help others when in reality they were more interested in harshly condemning others. They enjoyed fault-finding not faith-building.
  • Unfortunately, this is common among leaders!
    TJD said, “I didn’t know I was supposed to be asking questions and holding accountable my pastor.”
  • At SPBC, we hold to the doctrine of depravity of humanity, and when accountability is a non-negotiable then that person has deemed themselves to be above the body, and in practice must be declared as outside the body.
• What part of “all have fallen short of the glory of God” do you not understand?
• Ex. Lk 18:9-14 Jesus told a parable of 2 men going up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee praying, “Thank God I’m not like other sinners.” But there was a tax collector (great sinner), who bowed head & cried, “God, be merciful to me.” Then Jesus asked, which went home justified?
  Jesus’ parables were designed precisely to invite us to see ourselves in the story, and then pinpoint how we have erred.

So, we see Jesus was not prohibiting a loving rebuke or constructive criticism, but rather self-serving cancel-culture. “The censorious critic is a fault-finder who is negative and destructive towards others… [They] put the worst possible construction on their motives, pours cold water on their schemes and is ungenerous towards their mistakes… The command to judge not is not a requirement to be blind… but to renounce the presumptuous ambition to be God (by setting ourselves up as judges)”[2]

Jesus was not prohibiting a loving rebuke or constructive criticism, but rather self-serving cancel-culture.

Tweet

• Remember when you point a finger, that you have three others pointing back at yourself. Before we correct others, we should ask, “How would I value correction on this issue?”
• Relate to others as you would your own flesh and blood. 1 Tim 5:1-2 “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.”
• Let our words be few and soft. Prov 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” / 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

We judge wrongly when we overestimate the sins of others and underestimate our own sin.

³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?
⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Here we see Jesus’ sense of humor and sarcasm. Jesus provides a comparison between a speck and a log. A speck (κάρφος) is like a chip of wood like a toothpick or cinnamon stick, or perhaps even like sawdust, with the word emphasizing smallness.^[3] In contrast, a log (δοκός) was a plank of wood such as is used in a weight-bearing capacity in construction.^[4] The scale of exaggeration is visually overwhelming with the image that one ignores their own glaring issues but is aggressively confronting and accusing of another’s minor mistakes. Too often we accuse others but excuse ourselves.

Ex. It’s like the 300lb giving lectures around college campus about diet and exercise. Bro, put down the twinkies before you start giving talks about the health benefits of avocado and cranberry juice!

The exaggeration scale for a speck in one’s eye to a log in another is visually overwhelming. The image is that one ignores their own glaring issues but is aggressively confronting another’s minor mistakes. Too often we accuse others but excuse ourselves.

Tweet

Notice, however, that Jesus is confident to make a judgment upon such a person, calling them a “hypocrite,” and then giving them a command to first take the log out of their own eye so they can see clearly and take the speck out of another’s eye. Also, notice that the command to make a judgment of taking the speck out of another remains. So, don’t just go around saying, “Do not judge,” and thinking that no one is allowed to give voice to things going on in your life. Judgments are necessary, just not one’s that are unwilling to be held to a shared standard, and not one’s that are arrogantly and willfully ignoring their own shortcomings. And you/we can’t always respond with, “What about you…” because this is equally posturing selfishness and unconstructive to conversation, or much more spiritual growth.

Judgments are necessary, just not one’s that are unwilling to be held to a shared standard, and not one’s that are arrogantly & willfully ignoring their own shortcomings. And responding “What about you…” is equally posturing selfishness and unconstructive to spiritual growth.

Tweet

• Let us be mindful that we are sinners first, and then sinned against second. This mindset makes us painfully aware of our past (and present) mistakes, and therefore informs the spirit in which we approach and confront others. Like 1 Corinthians 10:12 “whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall,” or Col 3:13 “As God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.”
  
  
• Let us be hesitant to cancel culture and cutting people off or out of our life. Jesus says, this is “your brother’s eye.” The idea is that we speak to people from a place of relationship. Generally, when someone hypocritically judges another, they are not only assessing another’s position, but they are typically dismissing them as a person. Such judgment is built into today’s cancel culture that society seeks not only to disagree but destroy people. But this misses the heart of Jesus. Everyone knows John 3:16, but what about 3:17 “God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Jesus’ heart is to turn sinners into friends and family. Like Jesus, we need to love the mess out of people. Consider the example that Jesus loved both Judas who betrayed Him (washed his feet, and later in moment of betrayal called him “friend”) and Peter who let Him down.
  • It may be necessary to separate to remove ourselves from being impacted by ongoing foolishness or harm. This leads to v.6 from Jesus.

We judge wrongly when we overestimate God’s mercy and underestimate God’s truth and holiness.

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.

Jesus shocks many in this statement. Why is Jesus calling people dogs and comparing them to pigs? 

First, it is helpful to remember that dogs and pigs were not viewed as pets, as we frequently can value them today. Dogs were best understood as scavenging wild dogs, and served the lowly societal role of getting rid of organic rubbish.^[5] Further, pigs were established as an unclean animal (Lev 11:7; Dt 14:8). We may remember Jesus’ parable of the prodigal eating with the swine, reflecting complete humiliation and status of desperation (Lk 15). So, dogs/pigs were symbols of unbelievers. Dogs love vomit and pigs love mud. The church isn’t called to shepherd swine but sheep (1 Corinthians 5:12). In essence, loving our enemies (Mt 5:43-47) and not unjustly judging must be balanced with discernment. ^[6] Christians and the church can be shamed for not standing up or speaking out.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus compares His kingdom to a priceless pearl or hidden treasure (Mt 13:44-46). So, we give dogs what is holy, or throw pearls to pigs, when we overtly focus on unbelievers who are persistently prideful, hard-hearted, closed-eared, respond vindictively, and boast in toxic behavior. We read in Proverbs 9:7-9 “The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on themselves; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt. Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; [but] rebuke a wise man and he will love you… and be wiser still.”

We give dogs what is holy, or throw pearls to pigs, when we overtly focus on unbelievers who are persistently prideful, hard-hearted, closed-eared, respond vindictively, and boast in toxic behavior.

Tweet

• When kind and caring judgment does not lead to repentance, then that person has presumed upon God’s mercy (Rom 2:4) and underestimates the terrifying consequences of falling into the hands of a holy God (Heb 10:26-31).
• Prayer is our weapon. We cannot challenge minds, change hearts, or confront sin without the power of prayer. The Gospels show Jesus’ disciples having difficulty of making judgments and helping people be free from their problems. Essentially, Jesus says there are some troubles that can only be resolved with persevering prayer and devoted fasting (Mt 17:14-21).  
  E.M. Bounds “We will never talk well and with real success to [others] for God who has not learned well how to talk to God for [others]… prayerless words are deadening words.”[7]

We cannot challenge minds, change hearts, or confront sin without the power of prayer.

Tweet

APPLY/THINK

There are some professions that we attempt, even though we are untrained.

• Athlete (sport win is not getting injured / most men think they could join the team so much critique / when sitting in stands inward waiting for that mid-game call)
• Construction (some Harry Homeowner’s but fewer Earl Electricians!)
• FBI (me watching shows: “Why did/nt you…?”)
• Lawyers (people who rep self typically don’t fare well)
• Computers… most of us know our IT limits and call friends (typically younger than you!)
• Truck Drivers… can’t be harder than own vehicles.
• Doctor is semi-easy for mild symptoms like colds/allergies… but what about significant injuries? Could you imagine going back centuries w/o trained doctors and having a to perform surgery or amputations??
• YET, many of us attempt to diagnose and operate on other people’s hearts, eyes, minds, and life.
  • We prick, prod, and incise hearts that don’t share our same passions and preferences.
  • We excise thoughts that don’t align with our vision and values.
  • We bandage over lives that need more significant care than we are willing to offer.

Today, let all judgments start with our own heart.

• God saves marriages not by you changing your spouse but Him changing you.
• God reaches prodigal children not by a parent’s pounding the table but patience and prayer for them to return to the Lord.
• God reconciles friendships not by holding grudges and pronouncing judgments but through His forgiving mercy extended to all who are repentant of their own wrongdoing.
• God starts revival not by the church pointing out the wayward behaviors of an unbelieving culture but when God’s people humble themselves, pray and seek God’s face, and turn from their evil ways, then God hears from heaven to forgive sin and heal their land (2Chro7:14).

---

^[1] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 318.

[2] John Stott, (p.176-177).

^[3] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 320.

^[4] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 320.

^[5] John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 322.

^[6] Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 168.

[7] E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer, p.27.