Judge Not….Part II

Last week I tried to establish the point that the Sermon on the Mount was addressed to his disciples, that Matt 7 1-6 was part of the Sermon on the Mount and that the imperative “Do not judge” was specific to his disciples (believers).

Also important in understanding that this section of scripture applies to believers is Matt 7 verses 3 – 5:
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? 4 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? 5 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.” NIV

To reiterate the point made last week, Jesus uses the term “brothers”, meaning fellow believers.

Let’s attempt to flesh out the concept behind these verses out a bit by using a personal example.

How often have you encountered somebody quick to accuse or gossip about one of your failings and yet had some major failings of their own?
I had a conversation with a relative not that long ago, who got all self righteous when he bragged that when he was first saved the first major change was that he quit cursing. As for me, it is still a thorn in my flesh, but I am well aware of this and I let him know I was aware of the problem. Regardless, he kept railing at me as if he didn’t believe I was saved simply because of my occasional slip up. The problem really is that this male relative is a notorious womanizer who has had many wives and continues his adulterous behavior to this day. He bemoaned the speck in my eye in a haughty self- righteous way yet he would bowl people over with the beam in his eye every time he changed direction. He struggles to remove that beam in his eye to this very day.

When you think about it many of us have a problem seeing our own faults. So one of the things we can say is that Jesus is calling believers to be better examples to the world. But how do we do this when we have trouble seeing our own faults?
Through self examination to remove "the plank from your own eye so you can see clearly...."

Think about that for now, there will more on this next week as we have just scratched the surface. I will attempt to put a bow on this then when we will look at Matt 7: 6

Until the next time, may the LORD bless us and keep us, in Jesus name I pray.