Judge Not

Judge Not?

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 6:36-42

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

     That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke in the sixth chapter with special emphasis on verses forty-two which reads as follows:

[Jesus said,] “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Few passages of Scripture are quoted more often by unbelievers, and even by many Christians, than the simple phrase, “Judge not.” It is held up as though Jesus had forbidden every moral evaluation, every criticism, every act of discernment. The prevailing wisdom of our age says that the highest virtue is to approve of everyone’s choices and to leave all matters of truth and error to personal preference.

But that is not what Jesus is teaching. If Christ truly meant that no one should ever judge another person, then He Himself would be contradicting the rest of Scripture. He commands the Church to rebuke false doctrine. Parents are to discipline their children. Pastors are to exercise the Office of the Keys. Civil authorities are to punish evildoers and praise those who do good. Christians are repeatedly told to test the spirits, to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to admonish brothers caught in sin. Jesus does not end our reading by saying, “Leave the speck in your brother’s eye.” Instead He says, “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck.” The goal is still helping your brother. The problem is not judgment itself. The problem is hypocritical judgment.

So what is false judgment? False judgment is condemning another while refusing to acknowledge your own guilt. It is placing yourself above God's Law while applying that Law rigorously to someone else. It is assuming the posture of judge while imagining yourself exempt from the very verdict you pronounce. It is when we hold others to standards, even ones we invent for ourselves, that we do not follow in our own lives.

That is the image Christ paints so vividly. A man with a massive log protruding from his own eye busily trying to remove a tiny splinter from another's. The absurdity is intentional. His vision is distorted. He cannot see clearly because his own sin blinds him.

Hypocrisy always works this way. The Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like other men had a log in his eye. King David, after taking Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, was outraged by Nathan's parable about a rich man stealing a poor man's lamb, never realizing that he himself was the guilty party until the prophet declared, “You are the man.” The sinful heart delights in finding faults in others because it distracts from confronting its own rebellion against God. This hypocrisy comes from pride.

Our old Adam wants to justify himself. He wants to believe that he stands righteous by comparison with others. As long as someone else's sins appear larger than mine, I can imagine that I am doing well enough.

Christ destroys such illusions. Before the holy God there is no room for self-righteous boasting. Every one of us carries not merely a speck but a log. Every one of us has failed in thought, word, and deed. Every one of us deserves temporal death and eternal condemnation. Therefore Jesus begins not by directing our attention outward but inward. “First take the log out of your own eye.”

How is that log removed? Not by pretending it does not exist. Not by minimizing sin.

Not by comparing ourselves to worse sinners. It is removed through repentance. The Holy Spirit convicts us by the Law so that we acknowledge our guilt without excuse. Then He comforts terrified consciences with the Gospel: that Christ Jesus has borne our sins in His own body on the cross, that His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness, and that His resurrection declares forgiven sinners righteous before God. The Christian who has been humbled by repentance and lifted up by forgiveness sees differently. Having received mercy, he becomes merciful. Having been forgiven much, he forgives much.

Notice how our Lord begins today's text: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Mercy does not eliminate judgment; mercy governs judgment. A physician diagnoses disease precisely because he desires healing. A loving parent disciplines a child because he desires growth and safety. Likewise, a faithful Christian who warns a neighbor about sin should do so not from superiority but from love, seeking repentance and restoration.

That leads us to another important point in this text: there are offices of judgment established by God. Not everyone possesses the same authority. God has instituted distinct vocations in which judgment is not only permitted but required. Parents judge the conduct of their children. Teachers judge academic work. Judges in court evaluate evidence and pronounce sentences. Pastors exercise spiritual oversight according to God's Word. Congregations evaluate doctrine and practice that they from their pastor. Even individual Christians make moral judgments every day as they discern right from wrong and encourage one another toward faithful living. These judgments are not exercises in personal superiority. They are responsibilities entrusted by God for the good of the neighbor and the preservation of justice and truth. The abuse and misuse of authority does not abolish authority itself.

Indeed, refusing to judge when God has given you the duty to do so can itself become sinful. A parent who refuses to correct destructive behavior fails his child. A pastor who refuses to warn against false teaching abandons his flock. A civil magistrate who refuses to punish crime betrays his office.

Our Lord's words do not mean “never judge.” Rather, they teach us that we must not usurp God's place. Furthermore, we must not judge according to appearances or self-righteous pride,  and we certainly cannot condemn others while refusing God's verdict upon yourself.

The secular world often proclaims, “You should never judge anyone.” Yet that slogan quickly proves impossible to maintain. The same culture that rejects judging moral behavior constantly judges racism, theft, abuse, dishonesty, corruption, exploitation, and countless other actions. It judges religions, political positions, speech, institutions, and historical figures. Indeed, one of the great questions that is reported among those who do mission work among them is that they wonder why evil is not punished more readily. Such a pronouncement, of course, requires judgement. We human beings cannot escape making judgments because we are moral creatures.

The real question is not whether we judge but by what standard and under what authority.

The Christian's standard is not personal preference but God's revealed Word. Our authority is not autonomous reason or shifting public opinion or personal conviction, but the offices and vocations God Himself has established. Our posture is not arrogance but humility born of repentance.

Jesus therefore calls us away from both extremes. He rejects the Pharisee's prideful condemnation of others. He also rejects the world's moral relativism that refuses to distinguish truth from falsehood and righteousness from sin. Instead He calls His disciples to merciful discernment. Examine yourself first. Confess your own sins. Receive Christ's absolution. Then, with cleansed vision and renewed humility, help your brother remove the speck from his eye, not to shame him, but to bring healing and restoration to him.

After all, this is precisely how our Lord has dealt with us. He alone was qualified to judge, for He alone was without sin. Yet instead of condemning us according to what we deserved, He took our condemnation upon Himself. The Judge stood in the place of the guilty. The Innocent suffered for sinners. Mercy triumphed over judgment because judgment fell upon Christ. Even now the risen Lord still judges. But, He does so through His gracious Word. He exposes our sin in order to forgive it. He wounds our pride and egos in order to heal. He kills the old Adam so that a new man may arise in faith.

Therefore do not fear His judgment when you come in repentance. And do not wield judgment against your neighbor as a weapon of pride. Rather, stand beneath the cross where every boast is silenced and every sinner lives by grace alone. There, with the log removed from your own eye by the mercy of Christ, you can finally see clearly enough to love your neighbor, speak the truth in charity, and exercise whatever office God has given you faithfully and humbly as forgiven saints in the Lord.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts ands minds in Christ Jesus.

[1] Luke 6:42