What did Jesus mean when he said, “Judge not?”By
Jack Kettler
Matthew 7:1-3 and Luke 6:37
are
passages of Scripture that are routinely
misinterpreted. To some, the verses are
understood, as a ban against stating, that any
action can be called sinful or
wrong, since doing so would mean, “judging” someone.
How do we understand these
Scriptures? Do the Scriptures elsewhere qualify this
seeming ban on making
judgments? If not, how could a magistrate do his
job?
As in previous studies, we
will look
at definitions, scriptures, commentary evidence, and
confessional support for
the purpose to glorify God in how we live.
From the International
Standard
Bible Encyclopedia - Judging Judgment:
JUDGING JUDGMENT
juj'-ing, juj'-ment:
Often in the Old Testament
for “to
act as a magistrate” (Exodus 18:13; Deuteronomy
1:16; 16:18, etc.), justice
being administered generally by "elders" (Exodus
18:13-27), or
"kings" (1 Samuel 8:20) or “priests” (Deuteronomy
18:15); applied to
God as the Supreme Judge (Psalms 9:7,8; 10:18;
96:13; Micah 4:3, etc.; Psalms
7:8 “Yahweh ministereth judgment,” vividly describes
a court scene, with Yahweh
as Judge).
Often in the New Testament,
ethically, for
(1) “to decide,” “give a
verdict,” “declare
an opinion” (Greek krino);
Used also forensically in
Luke
22:30; Acts 25:10; and applied to God in John 5:22;
Hebrews 10:30. The
judgments of God are the expression of His justice,
the formal declarations of
His judgments, whether embodied in words
(Deuteronomy 5:1 the King James Version,
the Revised Version (British and American)
“statutes”), or deeds (Exodus 6:6;
Revelation 16:7), or in decisions that are yet to be
published (Psalms 36:6).
Man's consciousness of guilt inevitably associates
God's judgments as
declarations of the Divine justice, with his own
condemnation, i.e. he knows
that a strict exercise of justice means his
condemnation, and thus “judgment”
and “condemnation” become in his mind synonymous
(Romans 5:16); hence, the
prayer of Psalms 143:2, “Enter not into judgment”;
also, John 6:29, “the
resurrection of judgment” (the King James Version
“damnation”); 1 Corinthians
11:29, “eateth and drinketh judgment” (the King
James Version “damnation”). H.
E. Jacobs (1)
Scriptures
“Judge not, that ye be not
judged. For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and
with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest
thou the mote that is in
thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that
is in thine own eye?” (Matthew 7:1-3)
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not,
and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall
be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
From Barnes'
Notes on
the Bible on Matthew 7:1:
“Judge not ... - This
command refers
to rash, censorious, and unjust
judgment. See Romans 2:1. Luke 6:37 explains it in
the sense of “condemning.”
Christ does not condemn judging, as a magistrate,
for that, when according to
justice, is lawful and necessary. Nor does he
condemn our “forming an opinion”
of the conduct of others, for it is impossible “not”
to form an opinion of
conduct that we know to be evil. But what he refers
to is a habit of forming a
judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance
for every palliating
circumstance, and a habit of “expressing” such an
opinion harshly and
unnecessarily when formed. It rather refers to
private judgment than “judicial,”
and perhaps primarily to the customs of the scribes
and Pharisees.” (2)
As seen from Barnes, Jesus
was not
saying that we should not evaluate whether someone’s
choices are immoral. Jesus
is talking about narcissistic judgment, not
righteous judgment. Practicing
discernment involves evaluating or judging. For
example, “but test everything;
hold fast what is good” (1Thessalonians 5:21 ESV).
Some translation use “prove”
instead of “test.” Proving or testing involves
making a determination, in other
words, making a judgment. We are sanctioned and
commanded to make biblical
judgments. Making a judgment is to be done with
humility, not arrogance.
“Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John
7:24)
In this passage, Christ is
most
certainly responding the accusation from the Jewish
leaders that He was a
Sabbath-breaker. Nevertheless, an application that
can be drawn from this
passage is that we must not judge regarding people
by their outward appearance.
If all judging is forbidden, how do we understand
the
following Scriptures?
“Give not that which is
holy unto
the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them
under their feet, and turn again and rend you”
(Matthew 7:6).
Following these
instructions requires
the believer to recognize who the “dogs” and the
“swine” are. This is a
judgment of determination. Likewise, “Beware of
false prophets, which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
Again, this is a judgment. In addition, “So then, by
their fruit, you will
recognize them” (Matthew 7:16). We are fruit
inspectors. We are to examine. We
are to discriminate between the good and bad.
Church Discipline requires making judgments:
“Moreover, if thy brother
shall
trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between thee and him alone: if
he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more, that in the
mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established. And if he shall
neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the church: but if he neglects to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as
an heathen man and a publican.” (Matthew 18:15-17)
In the Matthew passage,
Jesus lays
out the process for discipline with these words, “if
thy brother shall trespass
against thee.” So from the initial confronting the
brother with his error privately
and then taking the matter before the whole church
if the brother neglects to
hear the matter involves a series of judgments. If
the brother fails to hear
the church, then excommunication may happen.
Excommunication also is a judgment.
In addition, Paul underscores the church’s
responsibility to
judge its members:
“To deliver such a one unto
Satan
for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may
be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not
that a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the
old leaven that ye may be a
new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for
us.” (1Corinthians 5:5-7)
From Gill's
Exposition
of the Entire Bible on 1Corinthians 5:7 we
learn:
“Purge out therefore the
old leaven,
... Meaning either the incestuous person, whose
crime might well be compared to
sour “leaven”, and be called old because of his long
continuance in it; whom
the apostle would have removed from them; this is
properly the act of
excommunication, which that church was to perform,
as a quite distinct thing
from what the apostle himself determined to do. The
allusion is to the strict
search the Jews made (g), just before their passover
after leaven, to purge
their houses of it, that none of it might remain
when their feast began; which they
made by the light of a lamp, on the night of the
fourteenth of the month Nisan,
in every secret place, hole, and corner of the
house: or this may be an
exhortation to the church in general with respect to
themselves, as well as
this man, to relinquish their old course of sinning,
to “put off concerning the
former conversation the old man”, Ephesians 4:22 the
same with the old leaven
here; it being usual with the Jews (h) to call the
vitiosity and corruption of
nature , ‘leaven in the lump.’” (3)
As seen from Gill, purging
out the
old leaven requires a determination or judgment.
There is nothing wrong with
the
above words. The actions in the above synonyms can
be done sinfully or
righteously.
When Jesus says not to
judge, there
is specific context to his teaching. Jesus is
condemning rash, self-righteous,
and unjust judgments, not judgments altogether. The
larger context of Scripture
as seen above bears this out as seen in cases of
church discipline and proving
and testing what is good and discernment when false
prophets and teachers are
plaguing the church.
Jesus in Matthew 7:1-3 and
Luke 6:37
is not contradicting other places in Scripture that
involve people making
discernments. It is obvious from the larger context
of Scriptures that the
Matthew and Luke passages are not blanket
condemnations of making judgments.
Those who take the Matthew and Luke passages as
absolutes:
First, saying the Matthew
and Luke
passages forbid all judgments, cannot be maintained
because as seen above it is
inconsistent with the totality of Scripture.
Second, the individual who
says, “It
is wrong to judge” is making a judgment against
those who judge because it is a
self-refuting contradiction.
Making false judgments is a
violation of the Ninth Commandment!
Westminster Larger Catechism: Questions 143-145:
Q. 143. Which is the ninth
commandment?
A. The ninth commandment
is, Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Q. 144. What are the duties
required
in the ninth commandment?
A. The duties required in
the ninth
commandment are, the preserving and promoting of
truth between man and man, and
the good name of our neighbor, as well as our own;
appearing and standing for
the truth; and from the heart, sincerely, freely,
clearly, and fully, speaking
the truth, and only the truth, in matters of
judgment and justice, and in all
other things whatsoever; a charitable esteem of our
neighbors; loving,
desiring, and rejoicing in their good name;
sorrowing for and covering of their
infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and
graces, defending their
innocency; a ready receiving of a good report, and
unwillingness to admit of an
evil report, concerning them; discouraging
talebearers, flatterers, and
slanderers; love and care of our own good name, and
defending it when need
requireth; keeping of lawful promises; studying and
practicing of whatsoever
things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report.
Q. 145. What are the sins
forbidden
in the ninth commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in
the ninth
commandment are, all prejudicing the truth, and the
good name of our neighbors,
as well as our own, especially in public judicature;
giving false evidence,
suborning false witnesses, wittingly appearing and
pleading for an evil cause,
outfacing and overbearing the truth; passing unjust
sentence, calling evil
good, and good evil; rewarding the wicked according
to the work of the
righteous, and the righteous according to the work
of the wicked; forgery,
concealing the truth, undue silence in a just cause,
and holding our peace when
iniquity calleth for either a reproof from
ourselves, or complaint to others;
speaking the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a
wrong end, or perverting
it to a wrong meaning, or in doubtful or equivocal
expressions, to the
prejudice of the truth or justice; speaking untruth,
lying, slandering,
backbiting, detracting, talebearing, whispering,
scoffing, reviling, rash,
harsh, and partial censuring; misconstructing
intentions, words, and actions;
flattering, vainglorious boasting, thinking or
speaking too highly or too
meanly of ourselves or others; denying the gifts and
graces of God; aggravating
smaller faults; hiding, excusing, or extenuating of
sins, when called to a free
confession; unnecessary discovering of infirmities;
raising false rumors,
receiving and countenancing evil reports, and
stopping our ears against just
defense; evil suspicion; envying or grieving at the
deserved credit of any;
endeavoring or desiring to impair it, rejoicing in
their disgrace and infamy;
scornful contempt, fond admiration; breach of lawful
promises; neglecting such
things as are of good report, and practicing, or not
avoiding ourselves, or not
hindering what we can in others, such things as
procure an ill name.
Judgment and Humility
“Do you not know that we
are to
judge angels? How much more, then, matters
pertaining to this life!”
(1Corinthians 6:3)
The qualifier:
“Speak not evil one of
another,
brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and
judgeth his brother,
speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but
if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge.” (James
4:11)
Notes:
1.Orr,
James,
M.A., D.D. General Editor, “Entry for 'JUDGING,'” International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Eerdmans, reprinted
1986), p. 1777.Albert Barnes, THE AGES DIGITAL
LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’
Notes on the
Bible, Matthew,
p. 121.
2.John
Gill,
Exposition of
the Old and New
Testaments, 1Corinthians,
(Grace
Works, Multi-Media Labs), 2011, p. 9.
“To God, only wise, be glory through Jesus
Christ
forever. Amen.” (Romans 16:27) and “heirs according
to the promise.” (Galatians
3:28, 29)
Mr.
Kettler
has previously published articles in the Chalcedon Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr.
Kettler is the author of the book defending the
Reformed Faith against attacks,
titled: The
Religion That Started in a
Hat. Available at: http://www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com