Christ: I'll Be The Judge Of That

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟐𝟑, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐅𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟐:𝟏-𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟑:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑, 𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟐 “𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟕:𝟏-𝟓

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈….” (𝒗.1)

           At first glance it seems that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is telling us to refrain from judging others. That is true but it also depends on the circumstances and how we approach a particular concern before us. Christ not telling us to avoid evaluating other people or not to use or God-given wisdom (1 𝑱𝒏 4:1-6) but it is in these occasions that we are called upon to use the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit.

           The world is full of false Christians and even ministers of Satan (2 𝑪𝒐𝒓 11:13-15) which is why we as Christians must always be on our toes and must try the “spirits” (1 𝑱𝒏 4:1) What Christ is condemning is barbarous judgment and unjust criticism of other people and their motives.

           Note that Christ also used as an example the eye and this is because the eye is the spiritual window through which a person can see what motivates one’s life. Every believer is obliged to test others by their fruits (𝒗𝒗.15-20) but under no circumstance should a Christian judge motives (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 4:5).

           It is in this context that Christ spoke this against judging others recalling to mind that Rabbis in ancient times use to say: “𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥.”  The Jews also believed that there were six great works that bring a man credit in this world and profit in the world to come: study, visiting the sick, hospitality, devotion in prayer, education of children in the Law, and thinking of the best of other people. The Jews embrace this principle that being kind in judgment of others is a sacred duty.

           There are three reasons why no man should judge another: 1) Most of the time, we don’t know the facts or know anything about the other person. 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐥, a famous and respected Rabii, once said: “𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬.”

This simply means that we don’t know the other person’s strengths and or weaknesses. A person born into a good home and Christian surroundings will know nothing of the man brought up in a slum or in a place where evil is present. Similarly, the man blessed with good parents will know nothing of the man who carries a baggage of bad genes on his back.

           The underlying truth is that when we realize what some people have gone through in their lives, we would be amazed at how they succeeded in being good as they are. That is why instead of judging, it would be better to know the whole person first. We may look at a person as gruffy and lacking manners but in other circumstances that same person may be a tower of strength and grace.

           We can just look at an unpolished stone but when it is processed and refined the same stone becomes a thing of beauty and is admired. People are like that. They may seem unlovely because we simply do not know them.

Everyone has something good about him or her. Our task is not to condemn and to judge by what we just see on the outside, but to look for the underlying beauty that is hidden inside. That is what we may want others do to us, and that is what we must also do to them.

2) It is almost impossible for any man to be strictly impartial in his judgment. Time and again we are swayed by our instincts to act irrationally which leads us to easily cast judgment on others. It is said that when Greeks hold an important and difficult trial in the olden days, they will always hold it in the dark so that the judge and the jury would not even see the man on trial and so be influenced by nothing but the facts of the case.

What Christ wants to us to realize is that only a completely impartial person has a right to judge, and it is not in human nature to be completely impartial. Thus, we should not be drawn to judge others as easily as what we see on the surface. Only God can judge and has the authority to judge. It is as if Jesus is saying: “𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”

3) It was Jesus in today’s Gospel who said we should not judge others. Relatedly, no man is good enough to judge any other man. Jesus drew a vivid picture of a man with a plank on his own eye trying to extract a speck of dust from someone else’s eye. The humor behind this narrative is that only someone who has not sinned has the right to look for faults in others.

No man has a right to criticize another man unless he is prepared to try and do better the things that he is criticizing. Take for example a group of friends watching a basketball game. I’m sure this has happened to many of us. Each of us in the group has something to say about how the game should be played. We cuss and criticize the players on the court when they can’t execute a play.

In other words, we become experts at the game as if we can do a better job than the players we are critical of. This is also true in a church setting or a religious association where members are skilled finger-pointers and critics but never even dare accept a position themselves. The world is full of people who claim the right to be extremely vocal but excuse themselves from assuming any position of authority that would expose them to criticism.

Jesus is reminding us that no man has a right to criticize others unless he is prepared to venture himself in that same situation. This means that no man is good enough to criticize his fellow men. We would do well in living as a Christian is we focus on our own faults, try to correct them and, to leave the faults of others to God.

Similarly, what Christ impresses upon us in this Gospel is that we have the right to help others after we ourselves have straightened out our own lives. What Jesus is saying is that it is not wrong for us to help others get rid of their sins but that we should first get rid of our own sins.

Christ is pointing out two specific dangers in the lives of Christians who judge others: 1) That judgment will come back on them, and 2) They will become blind to their own needs and would eventually need help themselves. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 23, 2025)