THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Judging, wasting, obtaining

Chapter 7:1-14

Do not judge others (vv. 1-5)

The first verse, "Judge not, that you be not judged" is one of the most well-known but it is not always interpreted correctly. The word "criticize" also originates from the Greek original translated "judge" here.

The judgment that we must not do is one in which we put ourselves in the place of a judge to condemn, or say ill things about our brother or our neighbour according to our own evaluation (James 4:11,12). Only God can take that position. We do not have the authority of God for that purpose, and only God knows the intentions, of vital importance to make a righteous judgment (1 Corinthians 4:1-5).

We see confirmation of this in the parable of the tares and wheat (Matthew 13:28,29 and 38) with respect to the children of the “wicked one”, and is also taught with respect for our brothers in the faith (Romans 14: 1-13, James 4:11).

It does not refer to the discernment that should be exercised by the believer or by the church to protect themselves against those who do evil or teach falsehoods, or to maintain discipline for the good of the church. In this case, the works are sufficient to determine the measures that should be taken, because "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16). The sense that the word "judge" is used here is not of a trial.

Who dares to judge others will suffer the consequence of this usurpation of power, for he also will be tried by the same measure and will be found lacking. As the saying goes: "people under a glass roof do not throw stones on their neighbour’s house”. The principle of "whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap" also applies here, because God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7-and see Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38).

Let us always remember our own imperfections before we put ourselves in the place of a judge to point out the faults of others. The Lord Jesus calls this hypocrisy: we must first eliminate our own faults and imperfections before we judge those of others. Under this perspective ours may be greater and like having a beam in our eye when we can only see a mote in the eye of our brother.

Do not throw pearls before swine (v. 6)

There is need for discernment (which is not judgment) when we have precious things. There are people who do not give them the value they deserve, coming to the point of destroying them and even turning against us. They are compared to dogs and pigs.

This comparison would be immediately clearer to the disciples than to us. At that time, they still made offerings at the altar and it is suggested that the “holy things” could be the remains of animal sacrifices. Dogs were unclean animals, despicable, scavengers: to give them such things would be most inappropriate.

There are individuals nowadays so immersed in the trash of immorality, atheism, superstition, spiritism and idolatry that to talk to them about things of God is inappropriate. This can be discerned by the manner in which they reject the Gospel.

Pearls are precious objects because of their beauty and rarity. They are now also produced industrially but at that time they had to be found, at random, within shells taken from the bottom of the sea, so were much rarer. To pigs they are of no value at all though they resemble acorns which they eat. Wild pigs roamed by the Jordan Valley at that time feeding from leftovers and were dangerous when they became angry. If someone were to approach and throw pearls at them, they would turn in anger thinking they were being stoned.

Similarly, we should not waste what we know is precious: our faith, our time, our resources, our work, etc., sharing it with people or entities dedicated to the spiritual garbage in the world. When faced with people so perverse that they treat the Divine truths with total contempt, and react with scorn and violence when they hear the Gospel, we have no obligation to continue insisting with them. If we do, we are just increasing the conviction that already weighs upon them.

It is not always easy to tell when a person can be classified in this category, but when in doubt, we have the resource of asking for discernment in prayer.

Ask, seek and knock at the door (v. 7-14)

The teaching here needs to be understood within its context. Some make the mistake of using verses 7 and 8 to understand that God will grant them all they ask with insistence. However, it is not like that.

The Sermon on the Mount contains guidelines, which are very difficult to obey, and we need the power and wisdom from on High to achieve the level of supernatural character necessary to put them into practice. This is the character that the Lord Jesus wants to see in us.

We can imagine the concern depicted on the faces of the disciples when they hear this sermon. The Lord Jesus seemed to want the impossible of them. However, he knew that they, and we, too, have this problem, so now He gives us the solution.

He invites us to ask, seek and knock at the door, and promises us that we shall get what we want, we will find what we seek and the door will open for us. Let us see, one by one:

To Ask: this is to ask the Father on behalf of His Son, by means of what we call prayer. We have much teaching about it in Bible, involving the situation of who asks, what to ask, to whom, etc. For example, Psalm 66:18 teaches us that who prays cannot have sin not confessed to God, prayer must be made with faith (James 1: 6-8), in accordance with the will of God (1 John 5:14), with perseverance (Luke 18:1-8) and sincerity (Hebrews 10:22 a).
To Seek and knock: it may have a broader sense, but concerns mainly the gate and the path that leads to eternal life (v. 14). Having spoken just before of those who reject the things of God, the Gospel, He now treats of those who, on the contrary, seek the path of salvation and knock at the entrance to enter it. The Lord Jesus said on another occasion that He himself is the Door (John 10:9) and the Way (John 14: 6) – there is no other- and He will be reached by whosoever seriously searches for Him..

Returning to the action of asking, if the conditions are met, we have the assurance that God will hear and answer our request. It is not just because of His promise, given through his Son, but the special nature of our relationship with Him: "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name " (John 1:12).

A normal father wants his son's welfare, and when the son asks him for something he needs, the father will grant it, not something else that is going to harm him or will be useless. If a human father can satisfy the request of his son, how much more our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Creator who loves us to the point of giving his Son to die for us on Calvary.

Verse 12 begins with the conjunction "therefore": its contents are linked to the fact that the Father will give us everything we ask. For this reason, we must also be generous to others and do to them all we wish that they would do to us "because this is the law and the prophets", i.e., it is the essence of what God wants of us. This is to "fulfill the righteousness of the law" to walk "in the spirit" (Romans 8: 4), and is quite different from walking "in the flesh". If it were done all over the world, this would be an immensely better world. Christianity does not consist only in abstention from evil, but also involves doing good.

There is a single door to the Kingdom of heaven, and to enter it repentance and acknowledgement (or confession) of sin are necessary, also the acceptance of the redemptive work of Christ, and submission to him as Lord. Many wish to save themselves and participate of the privileges of the saints, but refuse to abide by these conditions. Without this they can never enter. He is also the only Way (John 14:6).

The path that leads to destruction is wide and of easy entry: we all started our life already walking in it, and it is wide because the margins, which consist of our consciousness and the ways of the world, are far away. It is easy to walk in it, giving liberty to selfishness and satisfying our pleasures, but it leads to eternal perdition, far from God, and to punishment for sin.

R David Jones

1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.

2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6 "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you then, being 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!
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew chapter 7, verses 1 to 14