Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 5-7.
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 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” (Matthew 7:1-5).
The beginning part of the first verse is a favorite among many. When you ignore both the immediate and remote contexts, it appears to teach that it is wrong to judge others. In our “politically correct” culture, judging others is an intolerable act so such an interpretation would fit right in line with what people want the Bible to say.
However, Jesus is not teaching that it is wrong to judge others. Elsewhere He would tell His audience, “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). What Jesus condemns in the passage above is not all judging, but hypocritical judging.
Jesus’ point is that we need to examine ourselves first before examining others. He does not say that we should ignore the specks in our brothers’ eyes. Instead, He says, “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” (Matthew 7:5).
We cannot ignore our own sins and only try to correct the sins of others. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the sins of others and focus only on our own lives. We must examine ourselves first and then look to help others get out of their sins.
Tomorrow’s reading: Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
