Luke 6:37–49
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
41 “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? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
A Self-Examined Life
“Don’t judge me!”
These words in Luke 6:37 are possibly the most misinterpreted, misquoted, and misapplied words of Christ. Whether it’s us as followers of Christ who don’t want to be challenged, or those who don’t even claim to know him, saying ‘don’t judge me’ is an easy way for any of us to deflect any questions or criticism.
Throughout the sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly challenged the Pharisees who had come to listen and judge his teachings. Because of their pride in being the righteous ones, they had taken the law and added extra rules and regulations, all focused on outward appearances of religious activity. And they had set themselves up as the judges! But Jesus broke through all of it to address the deeper motivations of the heart. This pushed against the moral superiority of the Pharisees and caused them to look for ways to discredit, and ultimately get rid of Jesus. It’s with this background we come to Jesus words.
Jesus says to us as his followers, “Don’t judge.” It’s important for us to understand what he means. The word that's translated "judge" means "to discriminate," or "to make a distinction" between things. In our present day, the word "discriminate" has a negative connotation—often for very good reason. But it's not wrong for us to "discern" between one thing and another. We "discriminate" between things every day.
This wise discernment is not what Jesus was speaking about in this passage. Here, he is talking about the critical, judgmental, condemning, self-righteous attitudes of the Pharisees. They criticized others for differences in personality or character or actions—even for the motives of their hearts—but none of us can ever truly know the motives of another person’s heart.
A popular take on this passage says that Jesus is telling us to simply love everyone and never judge anyone, but that isn't the full picture of what he is saying.
Leviticus 19:17 says, “Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.” In other words, to allow your brother to continue living in sin is to hate him, not to love him. Love is wanting the best for the other person—and this is only found in obedience to God. When we see people living in sin and we tolerate it, we are hating our brother, not loving him. It’s love that confronts. It’s hate that ignores sin.
When Jesus says, “Do not judge…” he is talking about the ugly, self-righteous, judgmental and critical spirit of the Pharisees. Too often today, we see that same critical, judgemental spirit in ourselves and other Christ followers and this is not reflective of the love, grace and compassion of Jesus.
God is very clear in his word about right and wrong. We are called to live with wisdom, to evaluate the rightness or wrongness of things on the basis of God's word, and to call sin “sin” when the Bible does. In that case, we're not “judging,” but are simply pointing to a judgment that’s already been made by the only One who is qualified to make it.
Consider this scenario: A driver is pulled over for speeding and hears, “Do you realize that the posted speed limit is 50 KM/h and I clocked you going 80?” Can you imagine if the driver stuck their head out the window and said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”? That’s probably not going to go over very well. However, the officer would be able to say, “Sir, I'm not judging you. The judgment has already been made by an authority higher than either you or me; and it’s my job to make sure that it's enforced!”
As followers of Christ, we must discern based on what God says is right and wrong, and care for each other enough to lovingly address sin in the life of a brother or sister—but without becoming a self-righteous and critical judge. It all comes down to the posture of our heart.
Jesus talked earlier about being a generous, giving people, just as God has been generous to us, giving us his mercy. The description “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will be put into your lap” (38) comes from the grain markets of that day. A good merchant would pour grain into his measuring bin. Then he would press it down and shake it so that it would settle, then pour in more grain until it ran over. He would take that overflowing measure and pour it into the lap of your robe, for you to take with you. A true picture of generosity.
God poured out his mercy on us! He didn’t just give us a little. He was generous, far more than he needed to be. So let us be like him—overflowing with generosity to others, generous with our forgiveness and generous with mercy as our Father has been to us.
Next, Jesus tells a very short parable (39–40). A blind person cannot lead a blind person without both of them ending up in trouble. The idea is very simple: Be careful who you follow. Be careful who you submit to as your teacher. Why? Because when you are fully trained you will be like your teacher. We are surrounded by voices in our world who want to influence us—but they are not all worthy of being followed. We need to be careful who we follow, who we listen to, for these voices will form us.
With these things in mind, we should ask ourselves what Jesus means by the picture of the speck and the log in verses 41–42.
Ignoring our own sin while trying to deal with someone else's sin is the height of hypocrisy. That’s why Jesus says, “You hypocrite!” Don’t try and appear to be someone you’re not. Though relationships are always a challenge, Jesus teaches that we deal with relationships in a different way in his kingdom. We realize our own weakness and our own sin, we receive the Father’s mercy, and as we walk in that mercy we extend it to others with humility.
As Jesus comes to the end of his sermon, he gives two illustrations from nature representing two kinds of people—those who are in the kingdom and those who are not. Jesus talks throughout his whole earthly mission about the fact that he wants our hearts to be humble and soft towards him, reflecting Christ-likeness, evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Just as people can see the growth of Christ-likeness in some, they can also see evidence in the lives of people who want nothing to do with Jesus and his kingdom. Those who are content to live separate from God will show evidence of it through the way they live.
Some fruit can appear genuine, but the consistent product of a bad tree is bad fruit.
It’s important that we learn to recognize “good fruit” and “bad fruit,” in our lives and the lives of others. We can fool some people. We can put things up on social media and edit our behavior to show others what we want them to see. But the people who really know us —the people we live with and work with—they will know the truth.
What fruit is being reproduced in your life? Is your heart soft to the Lord Jesus? Is your heart broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus? Are you desiring to walk with Jesus and learn from him and become like him? A disciple when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Jesus makes it clear that some people who say they are followers of Christ are not followers at all. Just because we pray or serve or sing in Jesus’ name does not mean that we are followers of Christ. Jesus said, “The way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” He reinforces that teaching by showing that a person may appear to be active in areas of Christian service, and still not be a Christ follower.
Jesus says, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them—those are the people who love me.” That’s kingdom character expressed in daily life—hearing and obeying. The language is forceful. “Everyone who hears my word and does them,” This is to be the ongoing practice of life—listening to what the Lord says to us and doing it.
Jesus wants our hearts and he calls for us to obey. Jesus challenges everyone who claims to follow him without obeying him. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” The evidence of the authenticity of our faith in the Lord Jesus is not how sincerely we sing songs about how much we love Jesus, nor how many books we are reading, nor how much of the Bible we know. The evidence of the authenticity of our faith is obedience.
Some would argue that this emphasis on obedience contradicts all the teaching about God’s grace. Dallas Willard says, “Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.” Jesus is not talking about salvation by works. If people really trust Christ for salvation, their lives will be transformed, and it will be evident that they are in Christ by the fruit that shows in their lives.
The Lord Jesus himself declared that the proof of our love for him was obedience. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word... he who does not love me does not keep my words” (John 14: 23-24).
We are only brought into relationship with God [or saved] through the finished work of Christ on the cross and the grace of God shown to us. But the evidence that we have received the grace of God is that we “do the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
The Lord Jesus is telling us here that obedience to his kingdom priorities is the solid foundation we’re to build on. The person who hears and obeys the Lord Jesus is like a man who digs down deep until he hits rock, and he builds his foundation on the rock, so that his foundation is solid. When the storms of life hit, and the floods come, the house stands firm because he has a solid foundation. He stands in the grace and mercy of God, knowing his own brokenness and his desperate need of Jesus. Knowing the truth that apart from him we can’t do anything, but we can do all things through Christ who gives us the strength that we need.
Pray
We are formed by who or what we give our attention to. Who or what are you allowing to form you these days?
Do your answers to the above question line up with who you desire to have as the foundation of your life?
Is there evidence of growing Christ-likeness in you? Evidence of a humble posture towards God and others? Evidence of the fruit of the spirit? Evidence of a rock-solid foundation in Christ, even in the midst of the storms of life? What might those who are closest to you have to say about these things?
Author Bio
Bob is married to Karin, and they have 3 children and five grandchildren. Bob was a Pastor in Canada for 24 years before moving to Asia in 2009. They have recently moved to a new work in a creative access country.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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