What Jesus REALLY Says About Judging | Matthew 7:1-6
This message was preached at Sherwood Community Friends Church on Sunday, June 8, 2025. You can watch the video in full by clicking below.
Introduction
Here are some words from Jesus from the book of Matthew:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity.” Matthew 23:27
“Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” Matthew 12:34
'Jesus went into the temple , and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves! ” , ' Matthew 21:12-13
“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Matthew 7:1
Today’s passage might be right up there with John 3:16 and Psalm 23 as recognized and quoted scriptures, even by those who would not claim Christianity as their own. But as we know with Scripture, we cannot take only one isolated verse or section of verses and dismiss the rest of the context.
Before this passage, we have been peeling back the layers of Jesus’ instruction on how to live as a part of the Kingdom of God. Throughout his most famous sermon, he addresses matters of the heart and how they are expressed through one's actions, ranging from lust to anger to prayer to treasures and more. And now, he addresses judging others.
Repeatedly, we read the words of Jesus, extending the invitation to follow him, to learn from him how to live in the kingdom of God. We are to be imitators of Christ yes?
So how do we reconcile that, at times, Jesus was harsh and direct and confrontational with some, but then he tells us to refrain from judging others?
In fact, many would like to stop here with this first verse because it feels like what loving others is doesn’t it?
“Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Matthew 7:1
God is love. Subsequently, as God’s son, Jesus is the embodiment of that love walking around on earth. And love equals acceptance, right? Acceptance of a person’s flaws and shortcomings. Everyone is welcome at the foot of the cross. And, after all, if we are all sinners (which we are), then what gives any of us the right to point out the failings of another? Who are we to condemn?
But some of those earlier statements and actions of Jesus don’t really sound very loving or accepting, do they? Whitewashed tombs? Brood of vipers? Fashioning whips and turning over tables? It seems to be the exact opposite of “Do not judge…”
So what’s going on? Why are we seeing such different messages from Jesus? How are we supposed to live like him if we don’t understand him?
An Unrealistic Expectation to Do Better
So we know we can’t just stop here with “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged.” Matthew 7:1. Jesus continues.
“For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.” Matthew 7:2
Jesus is clear that, if we judge others, and we do have that choice as we have free will, then we will be judged according to the same standard we use. Why is this problematic? Because we as humans always impose stricter rules on ourselves and on others than God does.
As I typically like to, let’s go back, way back, to Genesis.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will die.;” Genesis 2:16-17
God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But when the serpent confronted Eve, trying to convince her to eat from it, she says this:
“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it OR TOUCH IT, or you will die.’” Genesis 3:2b-3, CSB
Is that what God said? No!
Since literally the beginning of time, we have been putting harder, more strict rules on ourselves than God does! Now the text isn’t clear if it was Adam who put the extra burden onto Eve or it was Eve who assumed this on herself.
But it doesn’t stop with Eve. God delivers the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by parting the Red Sea. He is with them through the Wilderness for 40 years, providing bread from heaven and water from rocks. He leads them into the Promised Land. He is their God!
But when they look around at the other nations, they want more than what God has required of them. They demand a king, a figurehead and commander, and just about 400 years later, they are met with complete ruin.
In Matthew 7, and the other verses I quoted earlier, Jesus was largely targeting the Pharisees. They had made an artform of putting heavy burdens and extra rules on the people. They were masterful at setting expectations high on others yet allowing themselves to be excused from the same expectations.
So when Jesus says,
“For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use.” Matthew 7:2
he is speaking to everyone in that audience, because it is human nature that we put more and more restrictions on others than what is required by even God himself. If someone chooses to judge, they will reap that same judgment on themselves. The same level of harshness. The same condemnation. The same depth of punishment.
AJ Levine, who we have referenced throughout this sermon series, says this, “One way of reframing his statement is to move from ‘do not judge’ to ‘do not be judgmental, fault-finding, hypercritical.’ Therefore, ‘do not judge’ means do not put yourself in the role of God; it does mean: do not presume to know what’s in someone’s heart.”
Paul says it even more directly than Jesus in Romans 2. I am reading this passage in The Message:
Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.
You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change. Romans 2:1-4, MSG
No, but Really…We Must Do Better
So does this mean that we are just supposed to stand back and watch those we love walk in ways that are not in alignment with God’s best? That this “radical life-change” is only between God and the person?
Let’s continue with Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:
“Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5
“Do not judge” does not mean that we abdicate our responsibility to hold others accountable for potentially detrimental behaviors.
But we cannot confront others until we are honest about our own wrongdoings. Not perfect. But honest. It is simply unrealistic to expect that any of us will have arrived to completion.
What does it look like to resolve our own matters first, yet while also understanding we will never “arrive”?
Repentance. Now this is another one of those churchy words that we think we know what it means, but for the sake of the exercise, let’s see what it means together:
μετανοέω
“μετανοέω = Metanoeō is literally “know after”...To repent is first of all to change one’s mind (Plato, Euthd. 279 c; Diodorus Siculus 1.67.5), change intentions (Josephus, Ant. 2.322), change plans (Ag. Apion 1.274), and reflect, which implies a time later than the first knowledge (Wis 12:10—topon metanoias; Philo, Alleg. Interp. 3.106: “God grants time to repent”); one “reconsiders” a first opinion. Metanoeō has to do first of all with a change of mind or feelings resulting from this after-knowledge: “But when we reflected … we had to change our minds.” (Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 472.)
So, we think, intend, plan one way, and then we gain new knowledge. So we change our mind or intentions or plan because of this new knowledge. In the popular series, Mary Magdalene says this about her encounter with Jesus.
“I was one way. And now I’m completely different. And the thing that happened in between was him.”
Repentance.
And this is what Jesus began his ministry with: A call to repentance.
'From then on Jesus began to preach, “REPENT, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”' Matthew 4:17
And after Jesus called Levi, also known as the thieving tax collector Matthew to be one of his 12 Apostles, he went to his house with all the other rabble of the day. This was the interaction Jesus encountered.
But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? ” Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to REPENTANCE.”' Luke 5:30-32
And later on in Luke 15, Jesus tells the famous parable of the lost sheep, he says this:
'I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who REPENTS than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need REPENTANCE.' Luke 15:7
Metanuao. Repentance. Jesus comes to the lost, the sinners, the wayward so that they may come to repentance, that they might know something new because the culture and leaders of the day had put all of this excess on them. And with this new knowledge, that it would lead the lost to the kingdom of God and they could fully participate in that kingdom!
For Jesus, removing the beam from our own eye is all about repentance. That is what he has been laying the groundwork for up to this point. He’s been calling out, not their actions, but their heart. Their heart towards others, their heart towards God, and their heart for themselves.
Repentance, removing the “beam from their eye”, wasn’t just turning away from sin and doing better. It was shifting their worldview belief toward God’s way above our own way.
Discernment
After we have put ourselves through a thorough investigation and, while not having reached perfection, we are faithful in following the way of the Lord, THEN, and ONLY THEN, can we examine the specks in the eye of our brothers and sisters. Let’s revisit the passage:
“Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and THEN YOU WILL SEE CLEARLY TO TAKE THE SPLINTER OUT OF YOUR BROTHER’S EYE.” Matthew 7:3-5
Jesus is calling the audience out of judgment and into discernment. The prophets of the Old Testament would often call out the audience of the time and into the life the Israelites were intended for - a life grounded in knowing the right thing and doing the right thing. Because the Israelites were not living rightly or justly. And just like Jesus, these prophets were often despised.
Isaiah:
'Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. ' Isaiah 1:16-17, NRSV
Amos:
'Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. ' Amos 5:23-24, NRSV
Jeremiah:
'For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever. ' Jeremiah 7:5-7, NRSV
Micah:
'He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ' Micah 6:8, NIV
Act justly.
Love mercy.
Walk humbly with your God.
When Jesus says,
'Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34, CSB
he is pointing out that he brings an entirely different way of life.
And Jesus knows this message he carries is contrary to the very nature of humanity. It will cause division because just by living like Jesus calls us to-acting justly, loving mercy, walking humbly-will hold up a mirror to those around us.
By your actions - doing the just thing, holding others accountable to their God-directed convictions, extending mercy to the broken, and choosing humility above pride - will reveal within themselves the ways they fall short. This will make others around you uncomfortable.
Yet, Jesus is leading the resistance against the core root of pride in us so that he can create something new. Jesus came to create this sort of new family. One that would become a safe place for healing through mutual accountability, through discernment, covered in mercy and for the sake of repentance - to know better so we can do better.
AJ Levine also says this, “He is not saying that we should become bystanders or that we should not seek justice. We are not to think, when seeing a wrong being committed, It’s not my job to judge, so I’m just going to let it happen. To the contrary: Torah insists, ‘You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself’ (Leviticus 19:17). You cannot rebuke if you are unable to judge right from wrong…Finding one’s treasure always has a relational, or communitarian, aspect. It cannot be done alone.”
This message doesn’t stop with Jesus. Paul leans into this in his letters to Corinth, Timothy, Titus, Ephesus, Galatia, and more. Not only does Paul confirm to these churches that there is a place for accountability and exhortation, but in many instances, he directly names their specks and calls them to get in alignment with being a follower of the Way. Most notably, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul addresses with Corinth their allowance of sexual immorality of a fellow brother and their wrong tolerance of this among them.
'It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles — a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Shouldn’t you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this?' 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, CSB
'When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.' 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, CSB
Whoa Paul. I mean… isn’t that a little harsh? Handing someone over to Satan?
Exactly Paul’s point. It would be better for the one who chooses to commit heinous acts to be removed from the body, so as not to taint the witness of the body, and also for the person to be removed so that the Spirit of God may deal honestly with them.
There is a real-life example of this happening this week in the Christian “celebrity” world. Michael Tait, former music artist with DC Talk and Newsboys, has been accused of sexual assault, grooming and substance abuse for the last 21 years.
As someone who grew up rockin’ out to Jesus Freak, this was devastating to me, as it was to millions of others I’m sure. The truth is though, that while it is not any human’s place to judge where he is in his dealings with God, the whole “Do not judge…” thing, he must also be confronted with the reality of his consequences against humanity. It is better that he be handed over to his consequences and God to deal honestly with him then for him to hide under the pseudo-protection of others.
In fact, both the Catholic church and the Southern Baptist Convention have been scrutinized because they covered up agregious sins by their leaders instead of dealing with them in the way Paul instructs, which his teachings were informed by Jesus. Remember this verse from Matthew 5?
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown info hell.” Matthew 5:29, CSB
This stuff isn’t just theoretical. Jesus expects action. It is only when the Spirit of God can confront a sinner honestly, without the voices of others who try to protect him or her out of the name of “love” and “acceptance”, that he or she can hopefully be brought back to repentance (a changing of one’s mind, plans, and intentions) and reunite with right living.
But there’s another important note:
'For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you. ,' 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, CSB
Note that this accountability or discernment or “judgment” isn’t for application to those outside the church, but rather for those within.
The Church isn’t a building. It’s the “called out ones”.
Our word for church stems from the greek word ekklesia, which literally means “called out ones.” We were called out from our previous life, from our brokenness, from our human gravitation into a new-to-us worldview, God’s worldview.
And us “called out ones” have a responsibility to each other to hold accountable, to exhort, and to challenge each other to go deeper in our relationship with each other and with God.
'Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another. ' Proverbs 27:17, CSB
What’s With the Pigs?
This brings us to our final verse for today.
“Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6
So, what’s with the dogs and pigs?
Athena at the beach
Some of you know, we have a dog Athena. In honor of summer, I thought I’d show her off to you today at the beach.
Now it wouldn’t matter if we give her the normal dry kibble, some leftover scraps from our plate, or a filet mignon. How many of you know that she would not value one over the other?
When Jesus says “Don’t give what is holy to dogs,” he is communicating a message. That when you give correction to someone, be wise about who you give it to. Not everyone will hold something as beautiful as gentle and merciful accountability as something holy.
In the same respect, pigs are worse than dogs, literally devouring spoiled slop without regard for its value or invalue. Pearls were often culturally referenced as something insightful. The image Jesus is giving us is that not only will pigs trample this valuable gift of insight, but pigs might even turn on you.
We must be careful, that is to use discernment, in who we approach with accountability. The teacher in Proverbs says this:
'The one who corrects a mocker will bring abuse on himself; the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt. Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke the wise, and he will love you.' Proverbs 9:7-8, CSB
Not everyone will be open to your correction. Some, you have no place to correct. You haven’t been given the relational trust or put in the time equity to be able to speak to someone as a true brother or sister to bring them to repentance.
This is why Robert and I encourage the regular gathering together with others in the church. When we spend time together, when we build relational equity together, it also gives permission for us to speak into each other’s lives, holding each other accountable long before our sins overtake us into sinister territory.
Every fallen pastor didn’t start in egregious sin. It started very small and grew. And either they didn’t put themselves into a relationship of accountability, they ignored the discerning voices in their life, or no one thought that they needed a brother or sister to walk with them, in good and in hard.
But know, if you speak too quickly into someone’s life or they are a person who is unreceptive to correction, there is a strong likelihood they will turn on you like a pig, not only trampling the wisdom you carry but also tearing you to pieces.
Quiet Reflection
We are going to pause for quiet reflection now. Ask the Lord what he is pointing out to you today.
Am I guilty of condemning others?
Am I willing to hold others accountable?
Am I willing for others to hold me accountable?
Conclusion
I believe the best way we can conclude our message today is to look at a real-life example Jesus played out in John 8.
'At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? ” They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger.
When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” John 8:2-11
We don’t know what Jesus wrote in the sand. One of my favorite speculations is that he wrote down the sins of all those holding stones. Whatever transpired, not one of them found themselves able to go through with stoning the woman. Jesus, as one with no beams in his eye, was able to hold up a mirror to each one of those who stood in judgment of this entrapped woman.
After they all walk away, notice that Jesus did not condemn her for her past. But he also did not release her to go back to the life she was living. He called her out from her life of waywardness. Jesus told her to go and sin no more. There was exhortation, accountability, and direction. And because of the relational trust (he had just saved her life), he had the freedom to speak this challenge to her.
Jesus loves us too much to allow us to stay unchanged friends.
