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Matt. 7:1-5

Matt. 7:1-5 is a passage that has often been discussed and misunderstood. “Do not judge

so that you may not be judged” is often translated in common parlance as “do not criticize or say

negative things to another person regardless of the situation.” However, this is the farthest thing

from the truth.

Betz mentions that “the verb κρὶνειν (“to pass judgment”) is taken as negative and

destructive conduct.”1 What is being addressed in this passage is refraining from participating in

condemning and hurtful judgments towards others. “The context clearly implies that κρὶνειν

refers to the perpetual human obsession to criticize and correct the behaviour of other people, in

particular those with whom one is closely associated and whom one regards as „brothers‟ ”.2

Many times because someone is close to us, we feel that it allows us the freedom to criticize and

make harsh criticisms. This is the behaviour that Jesus is trying to address in these verses. The

problem is that “once this habit takes hold, pedantry, and self-righteousness becomes the norm.

Any person indulging in such conduct becomes an irritant for everyone else.”3 To fight against

this habit, Jesus advises his followers to make sure that they do not allow themselves to act in a

certain manner.

Lloyd-Jones perfectly captures the reason why we are not allowed to judge others as he

points out “that we are not concerned about righteousness and true judgment at all, because if we

were, we should deal with in ourselves.”4 He goes on to say that “if a man claims that his only

1
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 490.
2
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 490.
3
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 490.
4
Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 442.
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interest is in righteousness and truth, and not at all in personalities, then he will be as critical of

himself as he is of other people.”5 The problem lies in the fact that the minor foibles and flaws

that we are so ready to point out in other people‟s lives looms big and large in our own person.

We must then become mindful of the criticisms we level against another person since those

criticisms can easily be levelled against us as well. This is also a reason why Jesus tells us that

the measure of judgment that we use to judge others will be the same measure of judgment that

shall be used against us. This is a biblical idea similar to the concept of sowing and reaping. If

we judge others harshly, then others will also judge us harshly. If mercy tempers our judgment,

then others will show us the same mercy that we have extended towards them.

In this passage, the word judge is similar to the usage of the word condemn.6 This is a

type of judging that should be prohibited among the people of God. “This passage is concerned

with the fault-finding, condemnatory attitude which is too often combined with a blindness to

one‟s own failings.”7 This, however, does not mean that we are prohibited from discerning and

rebuking someone for actions that displease God. The distinction between condemnation and

discernment must be made when we look at this passage.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
5
Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 442.
6
France, Matthew : An Introduction and Commentary, 146.
7
France, Matthew : An Introduction and Commentary, 146-47.
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Betz, Hans Dieter, and Adela Yarbro Collins. The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the
Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke
6:20-49). Hermeneia--a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1995.

France, R. T. Matthew : An Introduction and Commentary. The Tyndale New Testament

Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.

Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. 1st ed. 2 vols. Grand Rapids,:
Eerdmans, 1959.