“Judge carefully for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (2 Chronicles 19:7)

Verse 1. Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

In attempting to understand this passage, we need to be aware that it is talking about judging people on three different levels: civil, moral and spiritual. Very broadly speaking, if we abuse the civil level of life then we act against the police, our neighbour and God; if we abuse the moral level we act against our neighbour and God, if we abuse the spiritual level, we act against God alone because He is the only one who can be truly aware of it because it is done either in secret or in part in ignorance and usually behind a moral mask or pretense.

Here the Lord tells us of the inescapable consequences of judging others: that our judgement will have an effect upon us in one way or another. It will be a good effect if our judgement is honest and charitable, and a bad effect if it is self seeking. Obviously, the Lord is not saying that we should not judge anyone’s actions under any circumstances, or the whole world would be in chaos as there would be no rule of law. However, if we are making judgements about someone’s actions then we automatically judge our own at the same time.

The Lord always speaks not just of the civil or moral activities of people but also of their spiritual states. In this case He is telling us that we cannot judge the spiritual states of other people. That is, we cannot say that such and such a person will be going to hell or heaven, that such and such a person is a bad person or a good person. To do this would be to usurp God’s job and try to take upon ourselves Divine authority, because we simply do not know who is going to end up in either heaven or hell; the Lord alone knows. But we are allowed to judge people’s actions; we are even commanded to do so, both within our own circle of believers and in the secular world; both inside and outside the 'church.' (cf. Deut 16:18-20; Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5;9-13). For example, if a person has stolen something and his guilt is unquestionable due to the evidence then, strictly speaking, it would be better to say "he has stolen something," or "he has been caught stealing such and such," or even "he has a tendency to steal things," rather than, "he is a thief." This is because to say "he is a thief," is to label him a thief perhaps without knowing the circumstances of the theft. And also, to label or classify someone as something can have the effect of binding the title to the person and making it more difficult for him to change. But it is generally easier and more satisfying to the ego to say that, "he is a thief." Theft at the spiritual level, is to rob someone of any truths of faith they may have and perhaps supplant them with false concepts instead, or leave them with nothing.

Both secular society and the church need to make judgements about the actions of people who are their members or both would become disorderly and break down, but what the church cannot do is to make judgements as to whether a person is 'saved' or not. Neither can the church pass damning judgement on others because they are of a different faith.

To judge outward conduct, and even to muse about the motive does not interfere with internal and essential freedom but rather assists it, by keeping the external everyday visible life in some degree of order. But if other people’s internal motives themselves could be seen by us, then spiritual freedom and thus regeneration would be interfered with, because we would all be able to see people as they really are. There would be no opportunity for them to pretend to be good whilst they worked with the Lord towards improving or removing any dubious tendencies/motives they may have without unwanted/unhelpful interference from other people.

Another thing the Lord is forbidding here is the use of hard truth to judge people without the softening effect of charity, i.e. justice without mercy. One reason for this can be ‘prejudgement’ (prejudice): having an opinion before the evidence has been weighed up honestly. This can come from a judge having a motive of wanting onlookers to view him in a good light, or for instance if a scapegoat is wanted, or the judge in some way has an interest in the outcome of his prejudice which may bring him advantages. If a judge judges someone with hard truth without the moderating effect of charity then he judges them without concern for the eternal welfare of either the defendant or himself. It is often not charitable to judge a person by quoting a hard truth from the Word without moderating this by discussing the circumstances in relation for instance to the two great commandments to love God and the neighbour (in this case a defendant) as yourself.

Verse 2. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

This is of the same character as when the Lord said, “..the merciful shall obtain mercy.” If we judge without mercy, then we are judged without mercy. In other words, we make ourselves hardhearted. The Lord doesn’t do anything to us, we do it to ourselves. To the extent that we judge mercifully, to that extend we grow in goodness of heart and goodness has the capacity for happiness whilst its opposite has the capacity for misery. To the extent that we show charity and mercy, to that extent the Lord flows into us and we are happy.

Verse 3. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Here, the hypocrite detects the speck of sawdust in his brother’s eye but not not the plank in his own. The Lord introduces the term brother here because the verse relates specifically to charity, which a brother denotes. The speck of sawdust in the brother’s eye denotes a trifling error or false persuasion in the understanding of one who is nevertheless in the life of charity. Whilst the plank in our own eye means the evil in our will that we confirm by using our intellect in a biased way which perverts our view. All too often we are blind to our own faults and too keen to see the trifling faults of others. All around us, those who are in evil are all too ready to search out evil in others, and are the severest to judge it and the most unrelenting to punish it. The natural or materialistic person looks outwards to find others to fault, but the spiritual person looks inwards and so detects the plank in his own eye before the speck in his brother’s.

Verses 4 & 5. How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Firstly, it is one thing to see the error in our brother’s mind and actions it is another thing to help him to remove it. But this duty cannot be performed by someone who looks at his brother or sister’s failings with an evil eye and with no true regard for their welfare. One cannot really help someone root out error in their life when the root of the error in their own has not been identified. The outcome of such a situation would be to convict the brother of error which demoralizes rather than convince him of the truth that leads him out. If we were to look at a parent trying to lead their child away from error then this would be similar to this situation.

It doesn’t need great intelligence to see the child’s faults, but to correct them needs great moral wisdom. Gentleness, kindness, patience and firmness are needed. The parent who is bad tempered, irritable, violent, harsh, unkind, impatient or infirm of purpose, cannot draw out from the young mind as sensitive as the eye the ‘speck’ that causes its difficulty. And in this sense, we adults are merely grown up children. So these same qualities are also required in us as brothers, sisters, friends, teachers and ministers etc.

Not only clear sight but a kind heart are needed. Not only truth which in itself is hard, but goodness which softens it. Both clear sight and kindness are needed to help effect any work of correction and reformation. To take out the plank of self interest from our own eye then is the first thing we must do before we attempt to help others in removing the speck of sawdust from theirs.

Verse 6. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

Whilst the Lord warns us against acting with truth without goodness, he also warns us against acting with goodness without truth. Both are equally useless. Truth alone is all light and severity, whilst goodness alone is all feeling and tenderness. So long as people are in goodness without truth, they give people who are in error access to the fruit of the tree of life but without administering the leaves which are for the healing of the nations. "They are in danger of passing over to those in error resulting from materialistic, lustful or sensual minds the pure goods and truths of the Holy Word so that they may be profaned and destroyed. It is against this, that the Lord warns us when he says, 'Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.'"(Bruce: bibliography, see below.)

Self-centered people are here compared to dogs and swine who are slaves to their passions and senses to the exclusion of the higher things of life and their living is outside the structures of divine order. The sacred things mentioned are the goods of charity and the truths of faith, and the pearls are knowledges of what these goods and truths actually are. To tell some people that the things they delight in are condemned by the Word would only serve to throw them into tantrums or frenzies so that they would try to change the Word to suit themselves and then turn on you. To cast knowledge of heavenly ways of life unwisely or injudiciously without caution before purely sensual and materialistic people would exasperate and provoke them rather than lead them away from unheavenly life choices and habits. It is for these reasons, that the Lord taught in parables so that the Holy Truths of the Word could work their healing power slowly and imperceptibly. He accommodated himself not only to the states of his hearers but also to their capacities or abilities to hear and understand what he was talking about. Whilst we do not have the divine perceptions of the Lord, it is useful to bear in mind when we are in dialogue with people, with a view to helping them and ourselves to move away from errors we perceive, as to what their background, abilities and situation are. And so it helps if we get to know people before we rush in with our solution; to try to 'sort them out,' without really having knowledge and empathy with their situation could be self-seeking. As the old saying goes, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."

This is a hard passage, it is a difficult teaching and requires focused thought, prayer and real concern for the spiritual well-being of the neighbour if we are to help them and ourselves. As part of the process, we must also look at or judge ourselves. May the Lord be with us in our deliberations. Amen.

Note: The Bible translations used in the text are the New International Version and Young's Literal Translation.

The author wishes to acknowledge that many of the ideas in this article were drawn from, or are paraphrases of, an important source:

Commentary on the Gospel according to St. Matthew

by William Bruce

Publisher: Frederick Pitman (1868)

Language: English

ASIN: B00088F3PG

(References: 2 Chronicles 19:7)