“Even before a word is on my tongue, you know it altogether.” Those are David’s words, directed to the Lord, in Psalm 139:4. David understood that the all-knowing God knew his thoughts, words, and actions before he thought, said, or did them. Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount feels like it reveals that truth as clearly as any other text of Scripture. As you work your way through the sermon, you may find yourself thinking, “But what about …?” And just as soon as you think it, you see that Jesus is addressing it in the next section of teaching.
We’ve seen that, for example, in the last three sections we’ve looked at. After talking about our need to do our good works, like giving, in secret so that our Father might see what we’re doing and reward us (6:1-18), we might be thinking, “Do I need to have in mind an aim of doing things in order to store up treasure in heaven?” Then, in the very next section, Jesus begins by saying, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (6:20). At that point, we may begin to think, “Well, that’s easy to say, ‘Don’t store up treasure on earth but in heaven,’ when you see that you have all on earth that you need, but what about when we’re not sure we have enough to provide for our basic needs?” Jesus, then, addresses that very issue in 6:25-34, telling us that we can trust our heavenly Father to provide for our needs as we seek first his kingdom and righteousness.
However, at this point, we may be quite tempted to look around and see if we can judge how each one of us is doing. We may well become self-righteous and note ways that our brothers and sister appear to be just behind how well we think we’re doing. So, guess what Jesus does? He speaks in 7:1-5 against being a judgmental people. In fact, every turn that Jesus takes in our text this morning (7:1-12) illustrates his ability to anticipate our next thought and address it before we even think of it. But if we were going to sum up the teaching of 7:1-12, I think it would be fair to say that loving our neighbor well requires grace and wisdom on our part that is only available to us through prayer.
I think this statement summarizes this final section of the main body of Jesus’ sermon before he begins his conclusion in 7:13. I say that this is the final section of the main body of Jesus’ sermon because he gives us a clue in how he’s taught. After his introduction on characteristics of those in the kingdom (the beatitudes) in 5:1-16, Jesus begins the main part of his sermon with a reference to the “Law” and the “Prophets” in 5:17. Then, in 7:12, Jesus returns to this point, against making a reference to the “Law and the Prophets.” This is his way of indicating the main section of his sermon. So, what then does he note in this final section of the body of his sermon? He points us to the grace and wisdom that we need to love our neighbor, a grace and wisdom that is only available to us in prayer. The first commandment Jesus gives us here is that:
We see this command first given explicitly in 7:1, where Jesus says clearly, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Now, as you well know, this verse has probably been more frequently quoted by individuals and more frequently abused by individuals throughout the history of the church than any other. Oftentimes it’s quoted in terms where a man is leaving his wife, for example, and when a Christian brother says, “You can’t do that,” the man is told not to judge. But is this what Jesus means? Is Jesus telling us that we cannot say the adulterer is doing wrong, the thief is dishonoring the Lord, or the murderer that he is not loving his neighbor?
Of course not. In fact, Jesus himself makes judgments. In just a few verses Jesus will warn us in 7:15-20 that we should beware of false prophets. That, of course, means that we judge these men to be false prophets. And in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul actually commands us to judge those who call themselves a brother or sister in Christ and yet are walking in unrepentant sin. He is disgusted that the Corinthians’ haven’t already judged this professing brother who is walking in such open sin.
So, clearly Jesus isn’t telling us not to judge one another’s actions as sinful or not sinful. Of course we need to do such things. What then is he telling us not to do when he says, “Judge not”? The answer, I believe, is that he’s telling us not to be judgmental of one another. That is, don’t be the kind of people who are critical in spirit, looking for areas where we might pounce on one another’s sins and expose them.
In fact, Jesus warns us in verse 2, “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” I think this is nothing short of saying that if we’re consistently characterized by harsh judgment of our brothers and sisters, then we will face the Lord’s harsh judgment on the day of judgment. That is, believers simply must not be characterized in this way of being judgmental of one another.
What makes it worse is that often when we are judgmental of our brothers and sisters, this practice requires that we ignore sin in our own lives. Jesus warns in verses 3-5, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brothers, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
Oftentimes, if we are people who simply look to pounce in judgment upon others, trying to show where they are faltering in the Christian faith, then we are probably revealing of ourselves that we lack love, which is a big deal. Lacking love is the equivalent of having that log in our own eyes. Whereas, if we are people who are poor in spirit, are graciously humbled and broken before the Lord, then we will be quick to try to express our own deficiencies, the weakness of our own hearts and minds, and will actually be in a place to help our brothers and sisters remove specks out of their eyes when such situations arise.
I want to strongly encourage us as a congregation to strive to be the kind of people who aren’t given to judgmentalism because I think the enemy can use that to divide a church. After all, we’re made up of people who make all kinds of different choices, each within the spectrum of Christian liberty. Some educate their children through public school, while others do private school, while others do homeschooling. We spend our money differently, eat different foods, dress differently, and on and on and on. And the enemy would love for us to look upon one another in judgment concerning these differences, while the Lord would have us look upon one another in charity and delight in the fact that as those who have known the Lord’s grace and forgiveness, we can exercise our freedom in different ways in such areas. If we can’t express such charity and only express the judgmentalism Jesus condemns here in Matthew 7:1-5, not only we will find ourselves largely isolated in life, even from fellow believers, but we will find ourselves facing the Lord’s judgment on the last day.
But then, does Jesus want us never to be discerning? Of course he does. In fact, Jesus says in verse 6 that:
Now, this verse is extremely difficult and its application even more difficult. But first, let’s note what Jesus says in verse 6. He declares, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” Let’s first make sure we understand the examples from which Jesus is drawing in his teaching here.
When we think of dogs or pigs, we might think of something nice. Many of us have or have had dogs as pets, and some of us may have had a pig as a pet. It seems for one summer there every movie that came out was about a pet pig and Charlotte’s Web, which is much about a sweet pig named “Wilbur” was probably required reading for most of us in school. Well, Jesus is not talking about those kinds of dogs or pigs.
Jesus is talking about wild dogs and pigs that are probably along the lines of something more akin to a wild boar than cuddly Wilbur. And he first speaks against giving dogs what is holy, which is probably a reference to giving a wild dog a piece of quality meat, maybe even one that has been offered in sacrifice to God, when the dog is quite content with savaging through the trash heap. Don’t waste what is holy on something that cannot appreciate it.
Concerning the pigs, you might imagine being surrounded by a number of wild boars, and you, in a panic, throw pearls before them. At first, the boars will think they are food, but soon, realizing they’re nothing of the sort, will trample them and attack you since you have given them nothing to satisfy their cravings.
In each example, the point is the same: don’t give valuable things to those who have no ability to appreciate them. But discerning what specific application these illustrations are making is more difficult. However, most commentators agree that Jesus is using “what is holy” and “pearls” as a metaphor for the gospel itself.
If that’s the case, though, Jesus is saying, “Don’t hold out the gospel truth to certain people who can’t appreciate its value?” And we all obviously want to pull back from that idea. After all, if we don’t share the gospel with people who don’t appreciate it, then we can’t share the gospel with any unbeliever because sinful people by nature don’t appreciate the glory of the gospel until the Lord opens their eyes as they hear the gospel and believe it.
So, Jesus isn’t saying that we should avoid certain people with the gospel. But I think he is telling us that we should be discriminating in engaging in endless conversations with those who only ridicule and hate the Christian truth and want to argue against it. Think, for example, of Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 10:14 where Jesus sends out his disciples and tells them, “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” That is, Jesus doesn’t tell them to engage in endless conversations about the gospel if all it brings is ridicule and persecution.
Don Carson helpfully notes in light of this verse, “Over the years I have gradually come to the place where I refuse to attempt to explain Christianity and introduce Christ to the person who just wants to mock and argue and ridicule. It accomplishes nothing good and there are so many other opportunities where time and energy can be invested more profitably.”1
And I think Carson gets the point. There is only so much time and energy and ability we have to speak the gospel to individuals. Therefore, don’t use that time and energy simply by continuing endless conversations about the truth of Christ with a person who is simply bent on mocking and rejecting it. Rather, go speak to another who may well be bent toward hearing you. The first person is simply trampling pearls and attacking you in the process, while the second may well see the value of the pearls you possess.
Now, this takes some serious discernment, doesn’t it? On the one hand, we’re not judgmental of our brothers and sisters, and now he calls us to exercise the kind of discriminating discernment to know whether we simply need to end our gospel conversations because they’re being unproductive or continue them? That’s challenging. Indeed it is, which is why I think that next Jesus makes clear that:
As I mentioned to start the sermon, it’s as if Jesus knows our thoughts before we think them. If we’re thinking of being judgmental, he rebukes it. And if we then think that he requires no discernment from his followers, he demands great discernment. And then if we think, well that’s near impossible for us. The Lord will simply have to give us grace and wisdom to know how to be so discerning, Jesus tell us in verses 7-11 to be persistent in praying for the Lord’s grace.
Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened” (vv. 7-8).
Now, when Jesus says this, I believe he is specifically speaking of prayers in light of the obedience to which he has been calling his followers in this sermon. That is, he’s not telling us that if we pray and ask for an “A” on the next exam, that he is promising to give us an “A.” What he is saying, it seems, is that if we cry out to him, asking for grace because we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness but need grace to know how to practice it and strength to do it, he will provide such grace and strength.
He isn’t some pagan deity who delights in watching us in our frustration. He’s not like a person who gets joy in holding a bone out for a dog and pulling it away right as the dog jumps for it. Crazy people! He is, rather, our loving father who delights in hearing his children ask for grace to do his will.
Specifically, Jesus uses an illustration to show how confident we should be that he will answer our prayers for grace and strength in practicing righteousness. He says, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (vv. 9-11)
Now, we get this, don’t we? I am tempted to be selfish and lazy as a dad. But, if my son asked for some bread, I wouldn’t give him a stone that looked like a loaf of bread so that he might break his teeth biting it. Nor, if he asked for a fish, would I toss a serpent into his hands. Rather, I give good gifts. And I’m evil. I’m all-too-often selfish and lazy. Imagine, then, how willing our good heavenly Father is to lavish us on grace and strength when we are asking for help in order to pursue his righteous commands.
What a blessing, then, that our Lord not only commands our obedience, but then tells us that we can pray for him to help us to have wisdom, strength, and grace to obey, and his answer is, “Yes.” And this must be something that we persist in praying for because our future obedience isn’t guaranteed simply because of our past obedience. We must be a people who persist in daily asking for the Lord’s grace so that we might pursue righteousness. And finally:
Just as Jesus began the main body of his sermon telling us that he fulfills the Law and the Prophets in his life, work, and teaching, so he tells that the commands of the Law and the Prophets in regards to loving our neighbor well can be stated in terms of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Specifically, Jesus says in verse 12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Now, notice that Jesus isn’t saying, “What you don’t want people to do to you don’t do to them.” That would be a fair statement. I mean, you shouldn’t try to take your neighbor’s wife if you don’t want him taking yours. But Jesus is actually aiming much higher than that. He tell us to seek to do unto others what we want them to do to us. Therefore, instead of being judgmental, let’s seek to be a people who pounce on others with encouragement, recognizing the grace in one another and taking time to let our brothers and sisters know we see it. Let’s be people who are armed with the gospel, so that even if one person meets the gospel with ridicule and rejection, we’re ready to speak it to the next. Isn’t this what we would want others to do to us?
And most of all, let us be a people who consistently and persistently pray for the Lord’s grace, wisdom, and strength to live righteous lives, knowing he’ll hear and answer that prayer. He’ll answer it because he’s our good heavenly Father. And he’s made us his children by sending his Son to live, died, and be raised for us, something for which we will now give thanks as we come to the table. Amen.