Jesus On Judging, Part 1
Matthew 7:1-6
Over the past few months in our verse-by-verse exposition of the Gospel of Matthew, we have been studying our Lord’s Sermon on The Mount. There has never been a sermon preached on earth like this one, because there has never been a preacher on earth like Jesus. No one else knows God the Father like Jesus and so, no one else could teach us any better about a relationship with God. It’s also true that no one else knows us as thoroughly as Jesus does and so, no one else could preach a more searching sermon than the one that Jesus has preached. Martin Lloyd Jones says that the Sermon on the Mount “finds us all somehow, somewhere. There is no possibility of escape; it searches us out in all our hiding places and brings us out into the light of God.”[1]
And this morning as we open the third chapter of this sermon, we come to a very sobering passage. Matthew 7 begins with a verse that has been misinterpreted, misquoted, and misapplied more than almost any other in the Bible. In a society that calls for tolerance and acceptance and inclusion of all, Matthew 7:1 has become the quick reply to anyone who would suggest moral boundaries. They scold us, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matt. 7:1). This verse is often wielded to silence anyone who would dare to advocate for biblical standards of right and wrong.
That said, as we come to Matthew 7:1, it’s important that we see how it’s been misused and abused–but that’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we hear what Jesus is saying, understand it rightly, and commit ourselves to obeying His command.[2]
It’s important to remember that this well-known passage lives within a context. Jesus has been telling His disciples what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. While there were many who claimed to be the people of God, religious hypocrisy was rampant. In this sermon, Jesus has been teaching how the righteousness of His disciples must be radically different from and superior to the righteousness claimed by even the most religious Jews in their day—the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus taught, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20).
In Matthew 5, we saw true righteousness examined. In Matthew 6, we saw false righteousness exposed. And now in Matthew 7, we see self-righteousness expelled. In Matthew 5 we saw how we do not measure up to God’s perfect righteousness. In Matthew 6 we saw that even when we do good, our acts of righteousness are tainted by selfish motives. Now in Matthew 7 Jesus goes right to the heart of the matter and expels all self-righteousness. Jesus is preaching to people who were certain that they were righteous, and here, He reiterates that their self-assessment, their judgment, is flawed.
The theme of judgment underlies every part of Matthew 7. You will be judged as you have judged others. You will be rewarded according to how wisely you shared holy things with others. You will receive according to what you asked for and sought. You will be treated as you treated others. Your destiny will be determined by the road you have chosen to walk. You will share the same fate as the prophet you chose to believe. You will be judged by whether you have done God’s will or man’s lawlessness.[3]
Let’s look at these words from our Savior a little more closely. And let’s begin first, by considering . . .
1. A Command Against Judging Others (Matt. 7:1)[4].
Jesus says, “Judge not . . .” Those two words constitute a command from Him who is the authoritative Judge of all the earth. If we don’t understand what He means by these two words, we won’t understand anything else in the rest of this passage.
Many people insist that this verse is forbidding us from making any judgment calls of any kind when it comes to morality. For example, they say that no one has the authority to confront wrong behavior. We’re never to call anything sin, they say. And if you dare to call something sin, especially someone’s pet sin, that’s when they hit you with this verse. Many seek to excuse themselves from criticism by saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged!”
As believers, it’s not our duty to create the standards for right and wrong. That’s already been done by our Father who is the Lawgiver. But it is our duty to evaluate the rightness or wrongness of things on the basis of God’s word and to call sin “sin” when the Bible does so. In that case, we’re not “judging”; but are simply pointing to a judgment that has already been made by One who is qualified to make it. The Bible commands us, saying, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (2 Thess. 5:21-22). It says, “. . . Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11). It says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Clearly, then, Jesus’ words shouldn’t be taken to mean that we are forbidden from judging things on the basis of God’s word, and calling sin “sin”, or falsehood “falsehood”.
To find what it does mean, let’s go back to Matthew 7:1. The verb that is translated “judge” (krinõ) is one that basically means “to separate”, or “to make a distinction” between things. Figuratively, it refers to the act of evaluating something in terms of its rightness or wrongness and then making a judgment on the basis of that evaluation. The word is used 114 times in 98 verses in the New Testament and refers to many kinds of judging. Since this word is translated in some ten different ways in the New Testament, context is an important factor in determining the word’s significance in a particular passage.[5]
The context of Jesus’ words here in Matthew 7 shows us that they can’t be made out to mean that we must never evaluate other people’s conduct. Look at Matthew 7:6 for example. Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine . . .” How could we obey Jesus’ command in Matthew 7:6 if His command in Matthew 7:1 meant that we may never evaluate people? Otherwise, how would we be able to recognize the “dogs” or “hogs” of the world?
And then, look down to Matthew 7:15-20. How could we obey what Jesus says there if we cannot evaluate other people’s actions? Jesus said,
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matt. 7:15-20).
Jesus tells us to beware of false prophets. Just as in Matthew 7:1, this is an authoritative command. And yet, how could we obey what Jesus commands in these verses if we take verse one to mean that we may never make judgment calls about whether or not a self-professing prophet’s “fruits“, that is, his or her works, proves them to be false prophets? If we may not “evaluate” and “discriminate”, how then can we “beware“?
I believe that the verse that follows these words teaches us what is being forbidden in the phrase “Judge not“. Look at Matthew 7:2, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Jesus doesn’t speak here of a judgment based on God’s standards revealed in His word. He speaks of a judgment made on the bases of a standard that we come up with on our own – that is, “with what judgment you judge”, or of a measuring being made “with the measure you use”.
Jesus is speaking of those times when we use our own standard of judgment, and then evaluate someone, discriminate against someone, or condemn someone on the basis of the standard of our own making. A word for this is “judgmentalism”. Any sensible person knows that there’s a difference between exercising good judgment and acting ‘judgmentally’. And what Jesus is forbidding in this command is an attitude of judgmentalism. The Bible gives some very clear examples of what this sinful “judgmentalism” would look like. The apostle James, for example, wrote:
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4).
Jesus’ command to “judge not” means that we are not to show partiality to people based on external things. Jesus said to those who condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath, “Do not judge according to appearances, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
James also wrote about another kind of judgment that we are not to do. James says:
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (Jas 4:11-12 NKJV) (James 4:11-12).
James tells them to stop speaking against one another; stop accusing; stop criticizing. We’re all guilty of this sort of judgmentalism at times, aren’t we? Jesus’ command is a call to stop gossiping about one another or slandering one another. We’re not to hold someone’s faults to disparage them or criticize them.
When we “speak evil” of someone in a judgmental way, what we’re actually doing in that case is setting up a standard that is different from that which God has established. We’re not speaking of things as they truly are in God’s sight, but as we would like them to be understood from the standpoint of our own prejudices. We’re in effect saying that God’s judgments are not “thorough enough” for our tastes. If you condemn a brother for something that Scripture doesn’t condemn him for, not only are you condemning your brother but you are also saying that Scripture is incomplete. You think you can judge God’s law. James later says, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9).
The apostle Paul points out another sense in which we are to “judge not“. It’s in the area of what I like to call “grey areas”, those things about which the Bible doesn’t speak clearly, but about which we may have disagreements among ourselves in the body of Christ. In Paul’s day, one of those issues was that of eating meat that had been forbidden to the Jews in the Old Testament times or meat sacrificed to idols. Were these foods now “clean” to eat in Christ? Some sincere believers felt that it was still wrong; and so, because of their ‘weaker’ faith, they were afraid to eat. But other equally sincere believers felt strong and confident in their liberties in Christ; and as a result, they felt the freedom to eat anything they wanted. Paul wrote;
1 Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Rom. 14:1-4)
Paul shows that those who have this judgmental attitude are actually usurping the true judge, Jesus Christ. He writes,
10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: “As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. (Rom. 14:10-12).
Paul then sums it up in Romans 14:13 saying, “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” (Rom. 14:13). Rather than criticizing our brother we are to not cause them to stumble, love them (Rom. 14:15), and edify them (Rom. 14:19).
Jesus teaches in Luke 6:37, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37). Instead of condemnation, Jesus commands forgiveness. Don’t be eager to destroy your brother, instead be eager to forgive him.
So, let’s be very clear about all this. Jesus is not forbidding us from exercising legitimate judgment in the sense that we rightly evaluate things on the basis of the judgments God has already given in His word. We’re not commanded to suspend all discernment. What Jesus is forbidding us from doing is to set up our own criteria by which we judge one another, and then condemn one another on the basis of our own criteria.
Now, look next at . . .
2. The Warning Behind the Command (Matt. 7:1).
Jesus tells us, “Judge not“; and the reason He gives is “that you be not judged.” When we judge one another in the way that Jesus forbids us from judging, we actually put ourselves in danger of being judged ourselves.
There are sincere differences in the ways this has been interpreted. For example, some have taken this to mean that if we judge others on the basis of our own improper standards, we place ourselves in the position of being judged by others in the same way. That is certainly true. After all, look at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Whenever we prejudge someone, condemn others unfairly, or go around criticizing others, we really don’t have any right to complain when it happens to us. Paul wrote, “For the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” (Gal. 5:14-15).
However, I believe Jesus meant more than to say “Judge not, so that you will not be judged by other people.” The judgment that Jesus has already taught about in this sermon has been God’s judgment. Look back to Matthew 5:21-22:
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. 22 And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22).
Now Jesus warns, “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Clearly, this isn’t speaking of just receiving the same treatment from other people that we dished out to them. It’s talking about a judgment before God. It’s teaching us that we will be judged by God as we have judged others. In James 2:12-13, James said, “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
But you might be thinking, “Aren’t those who have placed their trust in Jesus delivered from the judgment of sin? Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24). John 3:18 says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” It’s true that by God’s grace in Christ, we do not need to fear that we will face condemnation for our sin or the ‘ultimate’ judgment that will be experienced by those who reject the Savior.
But still, the fact is that the Bible does talk about a “judgment” for believers. The apostle Paul writes, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10).
The Bible tells us that, as the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus Christ is the Judge of all. He discriminates between right and wrong, good and evil. He is not “tolerant” of sin; but promises to judge it in an ultimate and final sense. Jesus said of Himself, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22) and that the Father “has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). Peter says Jesus “was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). Paul preached to the people of Athens, that God “now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
Knowing that Jesus is our judge is a great motivating factor in our lives as Christians and in our work of preaching the gospel. Because Jesus is our judge, Paul wrote, ” Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9) and, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men …” (2 Cor. 5:11). No one else is qualified to be the judge of all the earth but Jesus. He came the first time to be the Savior, but He will come the second time as the Judge; and no one who rejected Him as Savior will be able to stand before Him as Judge! (Rev. 6:17).
Jesus is the judge. All will stand before Him to give account to Him. But here is the good news: He is a Judge who is immeasurably merciful. To those who cry out to the Lord Jesus and seek Him as Savior, no other judge is as full of compassion, mercy, tenderness, grace, and forgiveness as He is. He never condemns anyone who genuinely turns to Him for mercy. He said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). The Bible teaches us that when it came to the most despised and forsaken people in this world—the kind of people that the scribes and Pharisees turned their nose up to and condemned to judgment—Jesus showed Himself to be their greatest Friend.
Christ Jesus is certainly the Judge; and woe to those who experience this Judge’s wrath! But praise God! There is now “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1)! This greatest of all judges is also our greatest Friend, our Savior, our advocate! You cannot understand what Jesus is teaching us in Matthew 7 if you don’t first understand how He exemplifies for us what He commands in it.
Jesus judges with righteous judgment because He is the Righteous One who has mercy on us. He forgives our sins and rewards our faithfulness. If you recognize today that you are under the judgment of God for your sin, then turn to Jesus. He saves us from sin. You will never be able to stand in the judgment apart from the covering of His atonement. Repent of your sin. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—that He died for your sin and was raised from the dead. He redeems, He saves, He forgives, He gives eternal life—no one else can.
This is why we worship at the Lord’s table. Our Judge is our Savior. He suffered and died upon the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins (Matt. 26:28). He was made a sin offering for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
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[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in The Sermon on The Mount (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), Vol. 2, p. 160. Quoted by Greg Allen, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/031305.htm#f1
[2] Matthew Breeden, https://www.southernhillslife.org/get-connected/resources/sermons-and-podcasts/sermon/2022-08-14/don-t-judge-the-danger-of-judgmentalism-matthew-71-6-part-1
[3] Ron Graham, https://www.simplybible.com/f567-mount-overview-matthew7.htm
[4] Greg Allen, Judge Not, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/031305.htm#f1 I adapted Allen’s outline and drew from several of his points in this sermon.
[5] John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 7:1–2.
